Golden star era actor Joey D. Vieira has passed away at age 80 while in hospice care. Vieira passed on Monday, just before his birthday, which was announced by Jon Provost (played Timmy Martin, joining the show in 1957) in a shared Facebook post for the actor. With a rich history in the film industry beginning in the 1950s, Vieira is most notably recognized for his role as Sylvester Brockway or “Porky” in the black and white tv series ‘Lassie’, created by producer Robert Maxwell and his dad’s brother, animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax. While Vieira portrayed the role, however, he took on an alias by the name of Donald Keeler to professionalize himself. ‘Lassie’ ran for 91 episodes, focusing on the Miller family and their adventures with Lassie and a basset hound named Pokey. Next to Vieira, his co-stars for the tv show were fellow child actor Tommy Rettig, who starred as Jeff in the tv series, and in several movies during the 1950s such as The Cobweb (1955) and Jan Clayton, who starred as Porky’s mother.
In 1955, during his time on ‘Lassie’ while he was just 10 years old, Vieira also starred in a melodramatic romance The Private War of Major Benson, which was produced by Universal Pictures. Throughout the years, he continued to star in many recognizable films such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and The Patriot (2000). Vieira’s success on screen was not only for his magnificent acting ability but also being known by his aunt, Ruby Keeler, who starred in several Warner Bros. musicals from 1933 to 1938.
After the ending of ‘Lassie’ with an entirety of 15 seasons, Vieira played similar roles to Porky, showing up in different episodes of My Three Sons and Shirley Temple’s Storybook. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Vieira remarked in an 1982 interview on his previous roles stating, “I can’t tell you how tired I got saying those same lines over and over again,” he continues, “Finally, I decided I’d had it with the tennis shoes and the beanie.” After a much needed break in England, Vieira returned to the United States to continue his acting career, gaining a role in the 1965 NBC sitcom Hank, created by Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson.
Vieira is also known for his relation to Ken Weatherwax, a half brother, who played the role of Pugsley in the 1964 ABC comedy The Addams Family. The longtime actor is survived by his daughter Shanyn and his late son Beau who passed of cancer in 2023. In the heartwarming Facebook post by Provost, he pays tribute to his childhood friend, remembering meeting him at the age of 7 and being friends ever since, finally adding that Joey D. Vieira is now with his son again.
