Neil - Ghostly St. Bernard seen (and not seen) on the sitcom TOPPER/CBS/ABC/NBC/1953-56. Neil was an inebriated mountain rescue dog working in Switzerland. When American tourist Marian Kerby (Anne Jeffreys) first saw Neil, she remarked "First time I saw a St. Bernard who couldn't carry its own liquor." When an avalanche killed Marion, George, her husband (Robert Sterling) and Neil, their ghosts returned to haunt the Kerby home which had since been sold to a stuffy banker named Cosmo Topper (Leo G. Carroll). Neil preferred drinking martinis (olives up) and brandy. Neil's real name is Buck. The role of Neil the dog was played by St. Bernards raised by Beatrice Knight of the Sanctuary Kennels in Oregon. The series was based on the movie Topper (1937) which was inspired by the novel The Jovial Ghosts written by Thorne Smith. In the novel, the dog is called Oscar. In the movie the Kerby's owned a wire terrier named Mr. Atlas (played by Skippy) who later played "Asta" in the TV series THE THIN MAN.