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. Animal trainers Doug Seus and Lynne Seus of Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife, Inc., in Heber City, Utah trained Bart. He grew to 9' 6" (2.90 m) tall and weighed 1,800 pounds (816 kg) throughout his life as an adult. John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Annette Bening, Ethan Hawke, Steven Seagal, Gregory Peck, Brad Pitt, Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins all appeared in films opposite the bear, the latter even twice. All of them were reportedly impressed with how well the bear was trained. In 2000, Bart died of cancer at the age of 23 while filming the television documentary Growing Up Grizzly (2001). Brad Pitt, who appeared in Legends of the Fall with Bart, presented the piece. 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