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The star of such canine adventures as Jack London's Call of the Wild (1921) and White Fang (1925), Strongheart was a German shepherd discovered (in Germany, of course) by director Lawrence Trimble and his wife, screenwriter Jane Murfin. Trimble, who earlier had enjoyed some success with Jean, the Vitagraph dog, was planning a series of films based on the London stories and reportedly searched all over Europe before discovering Etzel Von Ceringen, who became Strongheart. Although a trained attack dog known as a "deadly, four-legged fighting machine," Strongheart took to screen acting like a fish to water and became popular enough to have a dog food named after him. Although his fame may have been eclipsed somewhat by Warner Bros.' Rin-Tin-Tin, Strongheart's following remained solid until his premature death in an on-set accident in 1929. In fact, the Stronghart brand dog food kept his name familiar to future generations of kids and in 1940 he was even the subject of a book, Letters to Strongheart, edited by J. Allen Boone.