Joe Camp Dies: ‘Benji’ Franchise Writer, Director & Producer Was 84
deadline.comJoe Camp, who wrote, produced and directed a series of films and TV shows that elevated a pooch stage-named Benji to Hollywood’s canine pantheon alongside Lassie and Rin Tin Tin, died today at his Tennessee home.
He was 84. His death was announced by his son, the director Brandon Camp, who told Deadline that his father died after a prolonged illness at his home in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, surrounded by family.
In addition to the long-lasting Benji franchise that began in 1974 and would continue well into the 21st Century, Camp co-wrote and directed Hawmps!, the 1976 Western comedy that replaced horses with camels, and 1979’s The Double McGuffin, a mystery film starring Ernest Borgnine and George Kennedy.
While he also wrote a series of books about horses, including the popular The Soul of a Horse and Why Horses Are Barefoot, Camp’s most enduring contribution to Hollywood was and remains the beloved and heroic mutt introduced in Camp’s independently financed 1973 family film Benji.
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