When Sean "Hollywood" Hamilton talks, people listen"”5.7 million fans tune in to hear him every weekday on the radio. As the host of the Weekend Top 30 Countdown and the Remix Top 40 Countdown, his strong voice resonates across the airwaves in more than 250 cities, plus he appears live weekday afternoons on WKTU in New York City. In April of this year, Hollywood became the host of the coveted afternoon drive time, from 3-7 p.m., on KBIG. This makes him Clear Channel's only "music" radio personality to have an afternoon show broadcasting in both New York and Los Angeles, Monday through Friday.
It's a sweet life for a guy who's loved talking on-air since he was a teen; the 1990 Christian Slater movie Pump Up the Volume was based on Hollywood's experience running a pirate station out of his parents' basement in Reno, Nevada. He was pulled off the air by the FCC, but that brief gig and the notoriety it earned him got Hollywood his first job in radio. Now, many jobs later, when he's not on the air, two loyal, longtime listeners manage to capture and hold Hollywood's attention without making a sound: His two strong-willed-but-silent Shiba Inus, Dino and Frankie.
Named after legendary Rat Pack figures Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, Dino's the dark one and Frankie's the blonde. "We're thinking of getting a Sammy," Hollywood says with a smile. Of course, Sammy the Shiba would be named for yet another Rat Pack legend: Sammy Davis Jr.
Sean "Hollywood" Hamilton along with his beautiful wife, Marina and Shiba Inus, Dino and Frankie.
His voice, personality, and reach are huge, but Hollywood Hamilton stands five foot seven inches tall. Likewise, his dogs are big personalities in compact, twenty-pound packages. Hollywood puts it more succinctly: "I'm petite, and so are these dogs!" He's appeared in an advertisement for the Lancome men's fragrance Drakkar Noir, but his dogs sport their own signature scent ... by Dolce & Gabbana!
Dino has even appeared on air with Hollywood. While Dino sat in the studio listening to his master's voice, Hollywood's audience was encouraged to call in and do what they could to make Dino bark for a chance to win $100. So many callers succeeded in making this otherwise quiet dog pipe up that the producers had to discontinue the contest or risk going broke!
Proving that all dogs are individuals, even dogs of the same breed, Hollywood catalogues the duo's differences: "Frankie's an Aries, Dino is a Gemini...Frankie sheds, Dino doesn't... Dino's the dominant one, and he's aggressive with other dogs, but Frankie is really calm... Frankie doesn't like to sleep with us, Dino does... Dino chases balls like a jackrabbit"”he got hurt once running after a ball, and dislocated his hip. Dino could definitely play for the Padres, but Frankie couldn't care less about the ball."
Frankie, age 5, is a homebody, but Dino, 6, has his eye on the territory ahead of the rest. "If given a chance, Dino will run for freedom at any given time," Hollywood explains. "He's run away four times"”once he was gone for four days, and after a massive search he showed up on our doorstep; this was during hurricane season. Another time, we were on vacation in Mexico; fireworks went off on the beach and Dino went missing for 18 hours." (Many dogs suffer stress in stormy weather conditions, hence the recent invention of the "Anxiety Wrap," a vest designed to calm thunder-phobic pets.)
However, these very different dogs do have two important things in common: both share a love of romping in the snow and swimming in the ocean. And so, Dino and Frankie have accompanied their favorite couple on many exciting excursions, including camping and boating in Lake Tahoe, where they wore flotation vests for safety.
This sit-down with The American Dog is the Shibas' first official interview/photo shoot. "I've never been a dog person until these two dogs," Hollywood confides. "I always liked the independence and the personality of the cat"”and I love the fact that these dogs are very feline." The smallest and most ancient of Japan's native breeds, the Shiba does indeed exhibit many catlike tendencies: climbing, nimble-footed agility, keeping themselves quite clean, and"”last but not least"”an independent streak (plus a habit of looking down on other creatures, including us mere humans). And Dino and Frankie are textbook Shibas in that regard: captivatingly catlike canines.
Like all great love affairs, this one happened without warning. "One day about six years ago my wife Marina and I were jogging through Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills," Hollywood recalls. "We saw a dog just like Dino and asked where can we get one?" Marina, an accomplished singer-songwriter, had been a dog lover since childhood, but that day in the Hills, Hollywood underwent a major conversion. To paraphrase a Sinatra song, the Shiba got under his skin.
Today, the dynamic dog duo enjoy the run of the couple's Jersey City apartment. Stay tuned for glimpses of Dino and Frankie in Hollywood's latest project: the reality series based on his life that his production company, Mischief Media, is developing. We suspect his charismatic canines"”merry mischief-makers in their own right"”will secure a walk-on, or several. "These are the first dogs I've ever been attached to," Hollywood concludes. "They are deeply loved."
