 His aunt was actress and dancer Ruby Keeler, while his half-brother, Joey D. Vieira, played "Porky" on the first three seasons of "Lassie" under the stage name of Donald Keeler, beginning in 1954.His uncles were Frank and Rudd Weatherwax, Lassie's trainers and owners of the first dog to play the role.Weatherwax made his acting debut in the early 1960s when he was nine years old, playing a boy named "Chester" in Gleem toothpaste commercials alongside Alice Pearce.