Speaking of "Smarter than the average bear.." I present: Bart the bear

Bart the bear, (born January 10, 1977) was perhaps the most famous bear actor of his time.

Bart the Bear is perhaps one of Hollywood's most remarkable animal stars. The Alaskan brown bear was born in 1977 and was brought in by Hollywood animal trainer Monty Cox. Bart's mother was a bear who was also in films like "Grizzly" and Day of the Animals. Bart started to train in acting in 1980 and grew to 9 feet tall, the average for brown bears.

Bart starred in numerous movies, including Clan of the Cave Bear, The Great Outdoors, On Deadly Ground and The Edge. Bart's co-stars included John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Steven Seagal, Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin, all of whom were very impressed with how good a bear could be trained to act, and enjoyed the experience with working with animals. Sadly, Bart died in 2000 of natural causes at the age of 23, around the age when bears usually die, but Bart does have cubs who just may be introduced to the screen in the future.

Bart died during the filming of the documentary Growing Up Grizzly (2001) (TV) which was presented by Brad Pitt - who plays Tristan Ludlow in Legends of the Fall (1994), the character that is killed by Bart at the end of the film.

Bart the Bear's Trademark legacy went far beyond his film career. He is the "spokesbear" 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. Because of Bart¹s life in captivity many of his wild brothers are able to roam free.

Bart's Offspring: Little Bart the Bear who had a cameo at the end of Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) was named after Bart.

*Wikipedia