Bill Berloni for The Theatrical Animals Fund (8/17/2020)

Published: Aug. 17, 2020, 10 p.m.

William “Bill” Berloni is an American Animal Behaviorist, Humanitarian and Author, known for his training of rescue animals for stage, film and television. Bill Berloni was a 20-year-old apprentice at the Goodspeed Opera House when Martin Charnin offered him his big break: a chance to act professionally and gain his Equity Card. In return, all Bill had to do was find and train a dog to play Sandy in the original production of Annie. What Bill didn’t know was that this was a bigger challenge than it seemed. Animal performances in movies or television can be stitched together using different takes, different camera angles, even different animals. To perform in a featured role, an animal actor would have to be trained to ignore the distraction of the audience and respond to the same cues the same way night-after-night, just like his human counterparts. It had never been done before. From Broadway to Hollywood and beyond, William Berloni's Theatrical Animals are stars of many mediums. They are beloved by many, all over the world, but most importantly...by Dorothy and Bill Berloni. The animals, most of whom are rescued and adopted, are cared for with the highest standards of medical and emotional welfare. From dogs to donkeys, pigs to parrots, llamas to lizards, scores of Theatrical Animals have comfortably lived and been trained by Bill Berloni over the past 40 years at their farm in Connecticut. There are currently 25 dogs, 3 cats, 2 horses, 2 pigs, 2 geese, 1 donkey, 1 Macaw and 1 Dwarf bunny at the farm! https://www.gofundme.com/f/animal-actors-fund