Sammy first lived at a Miami tourist attraction owned by an orangutan breeder When he was only 18 months old he was sold along with infant Geri to a Los Angeles trainer who worked chimpanzees in Hollywood Sammy and Geri grew up together in the entertainment world working in many commercials and TV shows such as Baywatch They also starred in several movies The Flintstones Planet of the Apes and Sammys most famous movie Dunston Checks In where Sammy played the part of Dunston When Sammy became too strong and dangerous to work he was retired to a small cage at the trainers compound where he became a breeder Sammy and Geri produced one infant Jam who was hand raised by the trainers Then in December 2004 both Sammy and Geri were sent to the Center for Great Apes one of the only nonprofit sanctuaries in North America dedicated to the rescue and permanent care of orangutans Their son Jam arrived at the sanctuary four months later Sammy was very attached to his lifelong companion Geri While Geri has been reintroduced to her offspring Jam Sammy was aggressive to Jam during howdy sessions and was likely jealous of Geris attention to the youngster So Geri spent her time between Sammy and Jam Sam did have an odd quirk He passionately disliked bare feet and would chase anyone away from his enclosure even spit at them if they were wearing sandals or flipflops Sadly Sammy passed away in December 2010 He was found very early in the morning still in his night nest and appeared to have passed away peacefully in his sleep His passing came as a shock to all the Center staff and a necropsy showed that he died of heart failure fibrosing cardiomypathy a serious problem for adult male great apes gorillas bonobos chimpanzees orangutans
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