Behind The Pages Of 'RIN TIN TIN: The Life And The Legend'

STUDIO CITY (CBS) — New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean brings us the captivating tale of Hollywood's first canine superstar and beloved international icon in "RIN TIN TIN: The Life and the Legend."

Orlean stopped by KCAL9 Tuesday to spill secrets behind the pages of her new book.

The story begins when a young American soldier named Lee Duncan discovers an orphaned German shepherd puppy near a battlefield in France and smuggles him home to California at the end of the war. Duncan, a lonely soul who came of age in an orphanage himself, saw star potential in his new companion, whom he named Rin Tin Tin, or "Rinty." He shopped Rinty around to the then-fledgling movie houses, and Warner Brothers picked him up—eventually casting him in 23 blockbuster silent films and making him Hollywood's No. 1 box-office star.

For more information on Susan Orlean, click here.