Bart the Bear

Bart the Bear (January 19, 1977 – May 10, 2000), was a male Alaskan Kodiak Bear who appeared in several Hollywood films. Previously, Bart's mother appeared in the films "Grizzly" and "Day of the Animals".Fact|date=March 2008 Animal trainers Doug and Lynne Seus of Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife, Inc., in Heber City, Utah trained Bart.Fact|date=March 2008 He grew to 9 feet tall and 1780 pounds as an adult.Fact|date=March 2008

John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Steven Seagal, Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin all appeared in films opposite the bear. All of them were reportedly impressed with how well the bear was trained.Fact|date=March 2008

In 2000, Bart died of cancer at the age of 23. Bart died during the filming of television documentary "Growing Up Grizzly" (2001). Brad Pitt, who appeared in "Legends of the Fall" with Bart, presented the piece.

Legacy

Bart was the "spokes-bear" for the Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University but his greatest role was as ambassador for the Vital Ground Foundation. Vital Ground has procured threatened wildlife habitat along the Rocky Mountain front and on Kodiak Island.

Little Bart the Bear is Bart's namesake. Little Bart, born 2000 in Alaska, is another Kodiak raised by Doug and Lynne Seus. He has appeared in "Dr. Dolittle 2", and in an episode of both "CSI" and "Scrubs".Fact|date=March 2008 He also had a prominent role in the 2007 film, "Into the Wild".

Filmography

*"Meet the Deedles" (1998)
*"The Edge" (1997)
*"Walking Thunder" (1997)
*"Legends of the Fall" (1994)
*"On Deadly Ground" (1994)
*"The Giant of Thunder Mountain" (1991)
*"White Fang" (1991)
*"The Bear" (1988)
*"The Great Outdoors" (1988)
*"The Clan of the Cave Bear" (1986)
*"Windwalker" (1980)

Television

*"The Young Riders" - episode Decoy (1990)
*"Lost in the Barrens" (1990)
*Louis L'Amour's "Down the Long Hills" (1986)
*In 1998, Bart made an appearance at the 70th Academy Awards as part of a salute to animal actors.

External links

*imdb name|id=1075976 |name=Bart the Bear
* [http://www.vitalground.org/ambassadors/bart_the_bear.html Bart the Bear at Vital Ground]
* [http://www.bartthebear.com Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife, Inc.]
* [http://members.tripod.com/bartbear/index.htm Fan site]