Orangey, the Cat Who Won Hearts in Breakfast at Tiffany's

We believe that cats are much more than pets.

They are more like family members—and in many cases, they play a huge role in our lives as emotional support animals!

So, today we would like to celebrate Orangey, the cat that has acted in multiple movies and blown the minds of people across the globe. This star service cat played a role in the timeless classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s and was the only cat to win two PATSY Awards.

Let’s explore and celebrate the life and career of this amazing cat! Keep reading for more on this fascinating animal actor.

Who Was Orangey Minerva?

It wouldn’t be wrong to call Orangey Minerva, aka Orangey, a movie star.

Orangey was a male marmalade tabby cat owned by Frank Inn, an animal handler for movies. 

Orangey was born in 1950 and lived to the ripe age of 1967, making him sixteen years old.

While he’s arguably most famous for his appearance in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, that role didn’t come until 1961, when he was eleven years old. Before then, he acted in Rhubarb in 1951, where he played a baseball team owner at only one year of age!

In addition to those two productions, Orangey also starred in:

• This Island Earth in 1955
• The Incredible Shrinking Man in 1957
• The Diary of Anne Frank in 1959
• Visit to a Small Planet in 1960
• Gigot in 1962
• The Comedy of Terrors in 1963
• Village of the Giants in 1965

What an exhaustive career he had!

His longest role, though, was in a TV series entitled Our Miss Brooks, where Orangey played Minerva the Cat from 1952 until 1958. 

Orangey holds other claims to fame besides an impressive list of acting roles. He’s also the only feline to ever win a PATSY Award twice. 

In fact, Orangey’s handler, Frank Inn, was quite the trainer, as his list is quite extraordinary, too. Thanks to his work with Orangey the cat and other pets (including famous dogs like Lassie), Frank Inn won over forty PATSY awards in his career.

More on Orangey’s achievements next!

Orangey the Cat: The Only Feline Double-Winner

There have been many cats in movies and TV shows, but not all of them can say (we mean, meow) that they’ve won awards.

Orangey, on the other hand, has won not one, but two PATSY Awards.

The PATSY Awards began in 1951, only one year after Orangey’s birthdate—what a coincidence! The acronym stands for:

• Picture
• Animal
• Top
• Star (of the)
• Year

The American Humane Association is the host of this awards ceremony, the same agency that adds “No Animals Were Harmed in the Making of this Film” disclaimers to the beginning and end of films. In 1958, the PATSY Awards added a category for television animal actors, too.

What productions did Orangey win awards for starring in?

He’ll have Rhubarb (1951) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) to thank for those opportunities!

Rhubarb

In Rhubarb, Orangey the cat played Rhubarb, the film’s namesake—a feral cat that stole golf balls off a course nearby to one eccentric millionaire named T.J. Banner.

After Banner catches the cat, they become companions, and when Banner passes away, he leaves his legacy to Rhubarb. Within that legacy was a not-so-great baseball team named the Brooklyn Loons, of which Rhubarb becomes the new owner. Rhubarb’s new owner—Banner’s publicist, Eric—convinces the baseball team that Rhubarb is a lucky charm, and if they pet him before games, they’ll win.

The thing is, it works, and the baseball team starts winning. Of course, problems still ensue as Eric’s fiance is allergic to Rhubarb, and Myra, Banner’s daughter, is not pleased to discover the cat was the recipient of her father’s fortune. 

What happens next? You’ll have to watch it to find out!

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

In Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Orangey gets the pleasure of acting beside the beloved Audrey Hepburn, who plays Holly Golightly.

Orangey plays, simply, Cat.

Cat is a homeless feline that visits Golightly, who calls him a “poor slob without a name” (and still doesn’t offer him one herself!). Cat was an obvious representation of Golightly’s feelings. She also says in the film about her and Cat:

• “We belong to nobody, and nobody belongs to us. We don’t even belong to each other.”

Since Golightly isn’t in the business of settling down, she never claims Cat as her own. Still, viewers can assume she grew to care for the cat, as evidenced by her regret over dropping him off in a strange neighborhood on her way to the airport. 

Does she ever find him again? Rent the movie to learn Cat’s fate!

Cats Are Family

If Orangey the cat’s two PATSY Award-winning appearances proved anything, it’s that cats become family—whether you mean them to or not.

In Rhubarb, Rhubarb becomes the sole heir to a millionaire’s fortune, highlighting a companionship that transcended boundaries. In Breakfast at Tiffany’s, one homeless cat becomes the mirror to a lost girl’s life, prompting her to make connections. Felines are more than pets—they’re extensions of ourselves!

Do you have a wonderful cat like Orangey in your life? If so, you have the right to make him or her an emotional support animal. 

Contact American Service Pets today to discuss your emotional support animal certification needs. From official letters that are accepted nationwide, to free qualification tests and opportunities to speak with healthcare professionals, American Service Pets is your all-in-one solution.

We look forward to helping you!