[HIGHLIGHTS] Joe Camp, the director of the adorable Benji dog movies, has died

Joe Camp, creator, director and screenwriter of the Benji movies, died this Friday, March 15. Camp died Friday morning at his home in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, after a battle with illness.

He raised US$500,000 for the first film, which grossed US$40 million. Camp would follow the original film with For the Love of Benji, in 1977, and Oh! Heavenly Dog, in 1980. The series also spawned a television Christmas special in 1978 and a television series in 1983.