Bart the Bear

Bart the Bear

Bart with trainer Doug Seus (right), 1997
Born January 19, 1977
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died May 10, 2000 (aged 23)
Park City, Utah, U.S.
Occupation Bear Actor
Years active 1980 – 2000

Bart the Bear (January 19, 1977 - May 10, 2000) was an Alaskan Kodiak Bear that appeared in several Hollywood films, including The Bear, White Fang, Legends of the Fall, and The Edge.[1] Animal trainers Doug Seus and Lynne Seus of Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife, Inc., in Heber City, Utah, trained Bart.[2] He grew to 9' 6" (2.90 m) tall and weighed 1,500 pounds (680 kg) throughout his life as an adult.[2]

Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Daryl Hannah, Annette Bening, Ethan Hawke, Steven Seagal, Tchéky Karyo, Brad Pitt, Alec Baldwin, Trevor Howard, and Anthony Hopkins all appeared in films opposite the bear, the latter even twice.[3] All of them were reportedly impressed with how well the bear was trained. Film directors Jean-Jacques Annaud and Lee Tamahori, both of whom directed Bart in The Bear and The Edge respectively, called Bart "The John Wayne of Bears".[4]

In 2000, Bart died of cancer at the age of 23 while filming the television documentary Growing Up Grizzly (2001), for which Brad Pitt, who appeared in Legends of the Fall with Bart, provided narration.

Legacy

Little Bart is Bart's namesake. Little Bart or Bart II, born in 2000 in Alaska, is an unrelated Alaskan brown bear raised by the same trainers, Doug and Lynne Seus. He has appeared in An Unfinished Life, Into the Wild, Evan Almighty, Without a Paddle, We Bought a Zoo, and Game of Thrones. Bart the Bear II has appeared with his sister Honey Bump in Dr. Dolittle 2 and Zookeeper. Both bears were featured in the Animal Planet series, Growing Up Grizzly (2001) and Growing Up Grizzly 2 narrated by Jennifer Aniston in 2004.

Bart was the "spokes-bear" for the Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University and an ambassador for the Vital Ground Foundation. Vital Ground procures threatened wildlife habitat along the Rocky Mountains, on Kodiak Island in Alaska, and in the Gobi Desert.

The first Bart's mother also appeared in films, including Grizzly (1976) and Day of the Animals (1977).[1]

Anthony Hopkins had worked with Bart in two movies: Legends of the Fall and The Edge. According to Lynne Seus, "Tony Hopkins was absolutely brilliant with Bart...He acknowledged and respected him like a fellow actor. He would spend hours just looking at Bart and admiring him. He did so many of his own scenes with Bart."[3]

Filmography

Bart the Bear

Bart the Bear II

Television

Bart the Bear

Bart the Bear II

Commercial

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Biography for Bart the Bear at The Internet Movie Database (accessed April 7, 2010)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bart the Bear at Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife (accessed April 7, 2010)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Foy, Paul (19 May 2000). "Bart the Bear, a veteran of several films, dies at 23". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Bart the Bear 2". Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife.

External links