We had a very fun program with Sharon Evans, the recipient of the 2021 Wild West Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award for more than 50 years in film and television as an animal trainer.   Sharon shared her memories of training a variety of animals including rats, cats, dogs, pigs, raccoons and horses for show business, as well as her experiences working with Hollywood actors and producers.  She will have autographed pictures available for sale.

After graduating from high school in 1986, Sharon first went to work for a top animal trainer, Frank Inn.  She started doing kennel work for Frank, which included taking care of and playing with pigs that had the role of “Arnold,” the clever and amusing pig on the sitcom, “Green Acres.”  Frank and his trainers also supplied animals for two other Southern-themed sitcoms, “Petticoat Junction” and a raccoon on “Beverly Hillbillies.”  After a year of doing kennel work, Sharon advanced to animal trainer.  She won her first animal-training award in 1973: the American Humane Association Performing Animal Top Star of the Year, for her work with “Midnight,” the cat, for the CBS Mystery Theater.