Actor Burt Ward was just 19 when he landed the role of Robin, the short-caped protégé of Adam West’s Batman in the original “Batman” series that launched in 1966. The “Dynamic Duo” of Batman and Robin—aka Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson—were crime-fighting superheroes protecting Gotham City from a rotating cast of nefarious villains in the beloved, campy show.
In 1990, when Ward married actress Tracy Posner, the daughter of Victor Posner, a prominent businessman with notable investments in RC Cola and Arby’s, the former Robin found himself part of a real-life dynamic duo. Together, the pet-loving couple embarked on a quest to save abandoned dogs from what could often be a tragic end.
“We created a rescue, and anything my wife and I do, we end up doing in a big way,” said Ward in an interview with The Epoch Times. “We’ve become the world’s largest giant breed dog rescue.”
This off-screen superhero couple has found forever homes for more than 15,500 dogs through their nonprofit, Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoption, in Norco, California. The rescue covers 15,000 square feet and offers a safe space for approximately 50 dogs, with many others ready for adoption.
“We’ve gone to the dogs,” laughed Ward about their combined living and rescue spaces.
As their time with the dogs grew, they became aware of the shorter lifespans of large-breed dogs. Through their own experiences, they began to realize what kept the dogs healthy.
“We have dedicated ourselves to helping them live longer and healthier because a dog is still man’s best friend,” said Ward. “We love these animals. And people love them.”
To share what they learned, the couple launched Gentle Giant Products, an all-natural, non-GMO pet food business.
“We vowed that if there was a way that we could help them live longer, we would,” said Ward. The couple’s goal is to keep costs as low as they can so that as many pet-loving owners as possible can provide Gentle Giants pet food to their animals. They take no salary for running the pet food business.
Between the rescue and the pet food business, Ward’s days can be quite busy.
“We get about 1,100 people a week who contact us,” Ward said. “I’m so glad we’re talking earlier in the day because if we had set this appointment around 5 p.m. I'd be down to a whisper. Every single day people call—[and] not just phone calls, emails, text messages, Facebook messages, all kinds of contact.”
His hard work has not gone unnoticed. Last July, the couple was honored with a President’s Lifetime Achievement Award and a United Nations Association of the United States of America Humanitarian Award, recognizing their efforts in animal rescue. Ward also received a President’s Volunteer Service Award.
Although animal rescue has been a priority for the past 30 years, Ward, who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Jan. 9, 2020, keeps one foot in the entertainment business. At this moment, he and Posner, who together used to own a visual effects company, Boy Wonder Visual Effects, are putting together their own production house.
“Wonderful family entertainment for all ages” is how Ward describes the TV series and films they hope to create and produce.
“Everything we’re doing, we’re doing ourselves. We have our own equipment. We have our own beautiful animation studio to do all the stuff we want to do. We have our own recording studio. We have our own sound stage,” he said.
Ward, who turns 80 in July, does not sound like a man who is slowing down. “The first hundred years are the hardest,” he said with a laugh. “My mother, until she passed away, was right at 102, and I had to stop her from doing those somersaults. I said, ‘No more somersaults.’”
Like his mother, Ward has been athletic his whole life, earning the moniker “world’s youngest professional ice skater” at just 2 years old when he performed in his father’s traveling ice show.
“Athletics was something that I enjoyed throughout school and afterwards,” he said.
“My wife and I are very health-oriented. We have never taken any drugs. We don’t even drink. We don’t smoke. We try to eat healthy. We don’t want to do anything to reduce the ability to focus and be sharp on our surroundings and life.”
Of course, Ward has no choice but to stay sharp, given all the things he still wants to accomplish. There are dogs to save and entertainment projects to get off the ground.
“There’s an old saying: ‘Abuse it and lose it,’” Ward said. “So we’ve tried to do our best to stay healthy, and it’s encouraged us because what we’ve done with these animals actually changed our own lives.”
