cases of lemonade spritzer...” Tamahori laughs.
He recalls pizzas being a particular favourite
of Bart’s. In one scene, the bear had to chase
Anthony Hopkins across a field. “Well, that was
Doug Seus doing the running and Bart’s chasing
Doug,” the director says. “But the reason he’s
chasing Doug is ’cause Doug ’s towing a pizza
along behind him!”
Whether batting at fake spears or pursuing
Italian pies, Bart loved his work, Doug and
Lynne assureEmpire, thanks mainly to the fact
that their training process is based entirely
on positive reinforcement. “He was a bit of
a glory hog, kind of a rock star,” says Lynne. If
he started flagging towards the end of a day, she
and Doug would encourage the crew to cheer
for Bart. “When he felt that applause he stood
a little taller, his shoulders got broader and he
got a sparkle in his eye. He was like an actor
on Broadway.” According to both Lynne and
Tamahori, Bart’s The Edge and Legends Of The
Fall co-star Anthony Hopkins had particular
respect for him as a fellow thespian.
“You have an enormous admiration for
a prehistoric creature which can be calm and sit
around looking at us as if we’re all idiots, then
get up and do his job, and go back and sit around
again,” says Tamahori. “I think that’s why Tony
liked him so much. Because he was like a proper,
professional actor.”
Indeed, Bart received the best reviews of
any actor involved in The Edge. “They don’t give
Oscars for Best Supporting Bear,” wrote the Los
Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan, “but [Bart’s]
performance here, the capstone of an illustrious
career, is a milestone in ursine acting.” Tamahori
Right: Bear hug:
Bart and trainer
Doug Seus enjoy
a cuddle. Below
right: The pair
take to the
stage at the
1998 Oscars.Above: Bart The
Bear II picked up
Bart’s mantle
after the latter
died in 2000. Here
he is in Game Of
Thrones in 2013.
Right: Seus and
Brad Pitt hang
out with Bart II
in Growing Up
Grizzly in 2001.
Bart I and Pitt
were co-stars in
1994’s Legends
Of The Fall.couldn’t agree more. “He was a marvellous
creature,” he tellsEmpire. “Probably the best
actor I ever worked with!”SADLY, BART NEVER had the chance to top his
achievements in The Bear and The Edge. After
appearing in the 1998 Paul Walker surf-dude
comedy Meet The Deedles and on stage during
the ’98 Academy Awards (introduced by a
nervous-looking Mike Myers), he was diagnosed
with cancer of the paw and given a few months
to live. Thanks to the care and treatment of his
owners he actually survived until 10 May 2000,
when Doug and Lynne realised the pain was too
much for Bart and had him euthanised. Bart died
peacefully in Doug ’s arms, so close he felt the
bear’s last breath on his face. To Lynne, “It wasas close as you could come to losing a child.”
But their grief was salved by “a miracle”,
as Lynne describes it. Moments after she called
Bart’s vet to arrange the euthanisation, the
phone rang. It was the Alaska Department Of
Fish And Game. “We have two orphan grizzly
bears here,” they said. “Is there any way you
can take them?” The Seuses had the cubs,
a brother and sister, fl own down immediately.
The female they named Honey Bump. The
male? Bart The Bear II.
Alongside Honey Bump and a third Seus
bear named Tank, Bart’s successor has continued
his namesake’s work. He starred alongside Eddie
Murphy in Dr. Dolittle 2, worked with Sean
Penn in Into The Wild, and made a memorable
appearance in a fi ghting pit opposite Gwendoline
Christie for 2013 Game Of Thrones episode
‘The Bear And The Maiden Fair’. It also seems