Arts & Entertainment
Sierra Madre Dog Stars in Hallmark Channel Movie
Sierra Madre's "Lex Woofer" can be seen in "A Crush on You," next airing on July 10.
You may know him from a recent ad campaign for Ralph Lauren, or you may have simply passed him on the street. Either way, Sierra Madre canine "Lex Woofer" is becoming a better known celebrity each day.
And the latest stop along his path to stardom is the Hallmark Channel original A Crush on You, which premiered this month.
Like so many models turned actors, Lex got his start by modelling for Ralph Lauren's Chaps and Rugby.com divisions. Since then, photos of him have been seen in national magazine's such as People and In Style.
Karol Ballard a Sierra Madre resident since 1988, co-owns the dog with Kathy Mickaliger. Ballard reached out to Patch recently to share the news of her border collie's newfound stardom.
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According to Ballard, that first photo shoot went even better than could have been expected.
"When the crew asked me how many years Lex has been a model, I told them this was his first shoot," Ballard said. "They said, 'No Way!' Then said of all the many years they've worked w/scores of dogs, Lex was in the top one percent!"
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From there, the transition to films was inevitable.
"Lex really enjoyed it, and border collies need a job to be happy," Ballard said.
Still, the transition from still shoots to motion pictures is still evolving.
"On photo shoots, Lex is trained hold a pose, to look at me for cues, and I can verbalize," Ballard said. "On film sets, Lex must sometimes interact with the actors and sometimes listen to other trainers, often off of hand signals."
Those challenges aside, Lex made it through the shoot in fine style, and now Lex is increasingly "is asked for by name," Ballard said.
A Crush on You, which next airs at 4 p.m. on July 10 on The Hallmark Channel, stars Brigid Brannagh, Sean Patrick Flanery, and Michael Clark Duncan.
Hallmark describes the movie this way:
"When Ben McCauley e-mails Chloe, a beautiful mystery girl who keeps crossing his path, he sends a message to single mother Charley Anderson by mistake. Ben begins dating Chloe, but she never quite lives up to the e-mail relationship and anonymous friendship he develops with Chloe’s co-worker Charley."
Lex's friends and fans can keep up with the latest via his Facebook page and on IMBD.