Alan Cumming's Former Chimpanzee Costar Rescued

Tonka, the 38-year-old chimpanzee who appeared when he was a baby alongside Alan Cumming in the film Buddy, has been found and rescued by PETA following a years-long legal battle with his former owner, Tonia Haddix.

Haddix swore in court that the chimpanzee had died and that his body was burnt in her husband's backyard. After the judge and PETA doubted her claims, Tonka was discovered beng held in a tiny cage in Haddix's basement. Tonka is now at his new home at an accredited sanctuary, Save the Chimps.

"I feel so emotional about this great news. When I met Tonka while filming the movie Buddy, I made a true friend, and I was honoured that he thought of me as a fellow chimp," Alan Cumming stated. "I'm dancing a jig that PETA has rescued Tonka from the woman who locked him away alone in a basement and lied about it. The thought of Tonka being able to wander free and happy at Save the Chimps' lush, spacious sanctuary for the rest of his life has me singing a happy song."

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Cumming had met Tonka on the set of "Buddy," stating that they "became good friends, playing and grooming each other and just generally larking about."

PETA had previously sued the Missouri Primate Foundation over the chimpanzee's living conditions after reporting that they were kept in "filthy, virtually barren enclosures." PETA had been given clearance to move Tonka and six other chimpanzees to a better sanctuary in July of 2021. However, once they came to collect Tonka, he was missing.

Instead of allowing Tonka to be moved to a sanctuary, Haddix had relegated Tonka to her basement and repeatedly lied to the court about his whereabouts. In the basement, he could only take a few steps in any direction, he was not allowed to go outside, he had no companionship with other chimpanzees-something extremely important to chimpanzees' welfare-he was overweight, likely from lack of exercise, and he was not receiving proper veterinary care.

On Saturday, when Haddix knew Tonka would be leaving within days, she left him for over 12 hours so that she could travel to an exotic-animal auction, presumably to buy and/or sell more wild animals.

Buddy is a 1997 family comedy that followed a wealthy man, Dr. Bill Lintz, and his eccentric wife, Trudy, who were the owners of a large collection of wild animals. Alan Cumming played Dick Croner, Trudy's assistant.

Alan Cumming won a Tony Award for his performance as the Emcee in the 1998 revival of Cabaret. He has also been seen on Broadway in Design For Living, The Three-Penny Opera, and Alan Cumming's Macbeth.

He played political spinmeister Eli Gold on seven seasons of THE GOOD WIFE for which he received multiple Golden Globe, Emmy and SAG award nominations; he is the author of five books including a #1 New York Times best-selling memoir; he played the first ever gay leading role on an US network drama, CBS's instinct. He appeared on Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, topless in Playgirl and naked on the cover of his second album.

He has received over forty awards for his humanitarianism and social activism, three honorary doctorates, both the Great Scot and Icon of Scotland awards from his homeland and was made an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) for his contributions to the arts and LBGT equality by the Queen, whose portrait was taken down when his was unveiled at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2014.

PETA-whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to abuse in any way"-opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski