A brief history of Jackie, one of the MGM lions known as “Leo”

One of several cats with the stage name “Leo,” Jackie was domesticated and gentle – by lion standards. He appeared in several movies, as well as the opening roar that runs before the credits in films including The Wizard of Oz

The studio put him in a monoplane in the 1920s to travel across the US, but he crash-landed in the Arizona desert. He survived unharmed, and toured the US on the ground. But lions aren’t built for that kind of treatment.

AKA Leo [The Memory Palace]

Leo the Lion (MGM) [Wikipedia]

Photo source: Wikipedia