Good Boy

There's a lot of extraordinary adventure hidden behind the lives of two individuals with plain, ordinary names.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I
Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full
of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet

(00:27):
of Curiosities. It could be tough finding a place to live.
There are so many factors to consider, like how much
it costs, what the property taxes are like, and the
quality of the school district, just to name a few.
Not everybody gets to live in their dream home either,

(00:49):
but for those who do, they are afforded a life
of peace and comfort where they can make years of
memories watching their family grow and prosper. Unless they've moved
into one particular their home, that is. It was built
in the Hollywood Hills in nineteen fifty, an English country
revival with a breathtaking view of the San Fernando Valley.
Palm trees line it's perimeter and loom tall over the

(01:12):
kidney shaped pool out back. It sits on three quarters
of an acre and measures over three thousand square feet,
but feels more like a private bungalow than a Hollywood mansion.
Perhaps that's why this secluded residence has attracted so many
high caliber owners. Thomas Thompson, the writer for Life magazine
and the author of the best selling nineteen two novel Celebrity,

(01:35):
once lived there. Before him, there was Ali Saddic. Ali
was a cotton broker who, along with his twin brother Ahmed,
kicked up a fight at a Hollywood press banquet with
another pair of twins. Apparently, Scandinavian journalists Burtle and gust
Of Unger were upset that the Saddics were sitting in
their seats. Patricia Barren owned the house after Sattic in

(01:56):
nineteen fifty five. Baron was a journalist whose father, Frank Barham,
published the Los Angeles Harold Express and was a business
partner of William Randolph Hurst. Young Patty spent countless weeks
roaming the grounds of Hurst Castle as a welcome guest.
But Patty wasn't just the daughter of a newspaper publisher.
She made quite a name for herself, writing articles and

(02:17):
books about the glitterati, including the late actress Thelma Todd,
Marilyn Monroe, and even a book on Resputin, which she
co wrote with his daughter. After she moved out, the
lavish house on Woodrow Wilson Drive saw its fair share
of celebrities walk through its door. There was former Beatle
Ringo star actress Alfrey Woodard, and Mama Cass of the

(02:37):
nineteen sixties supergroup The Mamas and Papa's. In fact, while
Cass was living in the home, she would often entertain
other famous musicians and actors, asking them to write a
little something on one of the walls in her living room.
Among her guests were David Crosby, Eric Clapton, Ryan O'Neill,
and future Miami Vice star Don Johnson. For decades, this

(02:58):
home witnessed the presence of more celebrities than most awards ceremonies.
But in the nineteen eighties, a new owner and his
wife moved in, and what they thought would be their
dream home turned into a living nightmare. Daniel was an
up and coming actor. He'd been on television and was
starting to get some movie roles, working his way up
in Hollywood. However, soon after the couple settled in, they

(03:20):
started experiencing some really odd things. Daniel's StairMaster exercise equipment
would turn itself on out of nowhere. He sometimes heard
his piano being played even though nobody was sitting at it.
He caught his wife's jewelry moving across their bedroom dresser,
all on its own. In one extreme instance, Daniel had
been asleep in his bed when he felt someone cuddle

(03:42):
up beside him. Thinking it was his wife, he rolled
over and went back to sleep. It wasn't until after
he woke up later that he realized nobody was there.
With so much paranormal activity going on throughout the house,
Daniel thought the ghost of Mama Cass had returned. She
hadn't died there, but he felt her presence everywhere he went. Eventually,

(04:02):
it all became too much to handle, and Daniel put
the house back on the market. It took a while
to sell, especially since he had to disclose all of
those ghostly happenings going on, but in that time he
started working on a new project. It was a movie
script about a team of out of work scientists who
start up their own business in New York City and

(04:23):
their job busting ghosts. Daniel was snl Alum dan Ackroyd,
and after seeing something strange in his neighborhood, he got
to work writing one of the greatest horror comedy films
of all time, Ghostbusters. A hero can come from anywhere.

(04:54):
A bystander pulling someone back onto the sidewalk as a
bus speeds by, a sibling rescuing their baby brother from
drowning in the pool, or even a child telling a
bully to leave someone else alone. Anyone can be a hero,
no matter how small the act. But sometimes someone does
something so heroic he doesn't just affect the person he's helped,

(05:15):
He wins the love and respect of an entire city.
And that's what happened to Jim in n Jim lived
at fifty seven West fifty seven Streets in New York
City with a man named Dr Harry Tower Galpin. Galpin
owned an apartment building in ran the drug store on
its ground floor, But on the morning of October one,
Jim noticed a strange smell coming from the basement. He

(05:37):
got to work right away, and after doing some sniffing around,
he realized that everyone needed to evacuate the building immediately.
He tried to wake up Dr Galpin, but the man
was in a deep sleep. What nobody knew was that
a vacuum cleaner had exploded in the basement, which had
ruptured the caps on twenty two gas meters directly above it.
While everyone was fast asleep, gas was filling Dr Galpin's apartment,

(06:01):
where his brother and a family were staying. They were
slowly being killed by the ensuing gas leak, so Jim
jumped into action. He clamped his mouth around Dr Galpin's
hand and bid him hard enough to rouse him awake.
Dr Gelpin, realizing something was wrong, hurried to the window
and threw it open. The apartment aired out quickly and
everyone was saved, and Jim was a hero. He had

(06:24):
left a hundred and six tooth marks on Dr Galpin's hand,
an unusual way of waking someone up. So why didn't
Jim just open the window himself? Because he couldn't. Jim
was a dog, you see, a great Dane to be exact.
Reporters who arrived at the scene asked Dr Galpin about
what had happened. He told them how Jim had saved everyone,

(06:45):
adding that he was grateful for each and every bite
mark he received. To celebrate Jim's heroism and to show
their appreciation, Dr Gelpin and others through the giant pooch
a special lunch in his honor. It was held at
the Alps, a restaurant, a match to Gelfin's apartment building,
where Jim was able to eat to his heart's content.
From that point on, Jim the Great Dane became something

(07:07):
of a celebrity. His name was in all the papers,
even the ones published outside of Manhattan. Folks as far
away as Canada knew about the dog's courageous act, but
he didn't let it go to his head. Jim started
making the rounds among New York's elite, who very much
wanted to be seen dining with this plucky pooch. The
president of the New York Women's League for Animals had

(07:28):
him in her Fifth Avenue home for a banquet. A
hundred people attended, each one eager to shake pause with
the one d and twenty seven pound Jim. One month later,
he attended afternoon tea with Miss Kate Sanborn and her
high salutant friends. He was even photographed taking a puff
from a hookah while he was there. But Jim was
finally given the honor of a lifetime when he received

(07:51):
a life saving award on Memorial Day of nineteen fourteen,
and he wasn't the only one. There were three other
dogs receiving the same award, a police dog that had
saved a child whose clothes had caught on fire, a
Japanese spaniel who had woken up his family after a
fire had erupted in their home, and a new fee
named Teddy, who had pulled two people out of the

(08:11):
Hudson River and saved them from drowning several years before.
Later that year, Dr Galpin and Jim traveled to Saratoga Springs,
where the Great Dane was hit by a car. His
hip was badly injured, and the veterinarians did the best
they could, but the wound wasn't healing properly and it
kept him from getting around. Jim didn't hesitate, though, he

(08:32):
bit into his flesh and punctured it, creating two holes
so the wound could drain. Two days later, he was
back on his feet as if nothing had ever happened. Sadly,
jim Storied life came to an abrupt end in nineteen nineteen.
It was a Monday night and Dr Galpin had closed
the drug store for the evening. He went up to
his apartment and directed Jim to the basement, the dog's

(08:53):
normal sleeping spot. Hours passed. At five am, Dr Galpin
was startled awake by the sensation of Jim's cold, wet
nose on his hand. Something was wrong. Jim and Dr
Galpin ran to the drug store, where a robbery was
already in progress. Jim ran in after the thieves. There
was a scuffle, followed by whimpers. Dr Galpin found his

(09:15):
beloved pet bleeding on the floor. He had been bludgeoned
by something heavy after attacking the robbers. They'd broken his
ribs and caused serious damage to his midsection. Jim passed
away a short time later. Jim the Great Dane was
a dog, a bodyguard, a friend of high society, and
a best friend. But above all else, he was a

(09:36):
hero to the man who loved him, and a good boy,
No the greatest boy there ever was. I hope you've
enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe
for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the
show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was

(09:59):
created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works.
I make another award winning show called Lore which is
a podcast, book series, and television show and you can
learn all about it over at the world of Lore
dot com. And until next time, stay curious, Yeah,