Well, I went to school with Jan and Dean, Ryan O'Neal, some of the Beach Boys we all use to party together.

Marijuana. Boy, I thought that was just terrible. How could this great man do this to his life?

There was this little shaggy dog on it, and Frank Weatherwax was working the dog. One day we were all sitting around, and Frank said, listen, my brother Rudd just got the rights back from MGM for Lassie, and said have your agent check into it. I did, and I went for a screen test.

We each had to spend a week out at Lassie's ranch, and whoever got along best with the dog got the part.

I was still thought of as a kid actor even though I was in my mid twenties.

I had always turned it down-to me, smoking pot was absolutely the worst thing in the world. I thought of it as an addiction, and all my friends who smoked it, I felt they really needed help.

Well, I went to school with Jan and Dean, Ryan O'Neal, some of the Beach Boys we all use to party together.