Jon Provost

Jonathan Bion "Jon" Provost (born March 12, 1950, Los Angeles, California) is an American actor, best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the CBS series, Lassie.

Life and career

At the age of four, Provost was cast in the film The Country Girl (1954), starring Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. He then appeared in Back from Eternity (1956) with Anita Ekberg and Escapade in Japan (1957), with Teresa Wright, Cameron Mitchell and an unknown (and uncredited) Clint Eastwood.

In 1957, Provost won the role of Timmy Martin in the CBS television series Lassie. He joined the show at the top of the fourth season as co-star to Tommy Rettig, Jan Clayton, and George Cleveland. Midpoint in the season, George Cleveland died and the show was completely revamped with Provost becoming the primary human star after the departures of Rettig and Clayton. The following year, he met June Lockhart on the set, who would play his mother, Ruth Martin, on the set, and would remain close friends. On December 25, 1958, Provost and Lassie were holiday guests on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. This was the only time of the five years that the Ford program ran that an episode actually aired on Christmas Day. Ford sang the carol "Some Children See Him" for the first time on this episode.