Bruno (bear actor)

Bruno, also called Ben or Gentle Ben (1962 − c. 1981), was a male black bear actor best known for playing the leading role of Ben the bear in the 1967–1969 CBS television series, Gentle Ben. He also played the adult Ben in the feature film prelude to the TV series, Gentle Giant (1967). In 1968, Bruno received a first-place PATSY Award for his work on the Gentle Giant film and a second-place award for his work on the TV series. After the Gentle Ben series ended, Bruno made another well-received appearance in the 1972 John Huston-directed film The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, starring Paul Newman.

He is not related or otherwise connected to the earlier bear actor also named "Bruno the Bear" who appeared in several Mack Sennett comedies and similar comedy films, such as Her Week-End starring Gale Henry, during the 1910s and 1920s.

Bruno was acquired by Ralph Helfer's Africa U.S.A. animal ranch sometime before 1965. Africa U.S.A., at that time located in Soledad Canyon near Saugus, California, provided trained animals to Hollywood for film and television work, including many Ivan Tors productions. According to Ken Beck and Jim Clark, Bruno and a brother were orphaned in Wisconsin as cubs, and later acquired by Helfer from a private party. It was reported during the Gentle Ben series run that Bruno (who at that point had been renamed "Ben" for the run of the show) had been "discovered" in White Lake, Wisconsin, and that he was 6 years old in 1968, making his birth year 1962. Ralph Helfer confirmed in 1970 that one of the bears who appeared in Gentle Ben was obtained from Ivan Walters' game farm in White Lake.

Anthony "Tony" Pelky, owner of the Chain Lake Game Farm near Lakewood, Wisconsin, and his son claimed during Pelky's lifetime and in his 1986 obituaries that Pelky was the "man who raised Gentle Ben" from a cub. According to Tony Pelky, "Gentle Ben" and his two brothers were born near Lakewood in 1962. Shortly after their birth, their mother was killed by a hunter and the cubs were adopted and bottle-fed by the hunter's son. A local game warden took the cubs as wards of the state and offered one cub to Pelky. (According to the Milwaukee Journal, the other two cubs were given to a game farm near Langlade, Wisconsin, and eventually appeared on the Ivan Tors-produced TV series Daktari, which was filmed primarily at Africa U.S.A. using its animals.) Pelky said that the cub, which he named "Smokey", was "the tamest bear he ever saw" although the bear had no training. Smokey, who eventually grew to an adult size of 650 pounds, would allow a man to put an arm in his mouth without biting and would back away from a dog rather than fight.

According to the Pelkys, Africa U.S.A. trainers heard about the bear, were impressed by his docile temperament and large size, and purchased him from Pelky for either $500 or $600. The Pelkys said that they later recognized the bear shown in the opening theme sequence of Gentle Ben, which was Bruno, as the bear they had sold. However, Pelky also said that the sale took place in 1968 whereas Bruno was reportedly acquired by Africa U.S.A. in 1962 and was living at the Africa U.S.A. ranch by 1965. A 1967 interview with Gentle Ben actor Dennis Weaver refers to a bear named "Smokey" that "alternate[d] with Bruno as Gentle Ben" in the series.

After Bruno arrived at Africa U.S.A., he was declawed and his teeth were removed, and he was trained for acting work using Helfer's "affection training" system, a method which seeks to establish a bond between animal and trainer by the trainer giving affection and attention, rather than relying on physical punishment or food rewards. Throughout his career, his weight (which may have fluctuated) was reported at different levels between 600 and 800 pounds, and his height has been variously stated as 7, 7 1/2. or just over 8 feet tall.

Bruno made his film debut in 1965 in the Ivan Tors/ MGM film Zebra in the Kitchen, about animals set free from a zoo. He also appeared on Tors' hit television series Daktari as a guest star, playing a sick circus bear who escapes into the African bush. An April 1966 article by Cleveland Amory in TV Guide described Bruno as "a 7-foot, 700-pound black bear, perhaps the biggest 'working' bear in the world and yet so gentle children can ride him.'"

Before he became known as the star of Gentle Ben, Bruno narrowly escaped death or serious injury at least twice. On December 29, 1965, record rains caused an 8-foot-deep flash flood at the Africa U.S.A. compound in Soledad Canyon. The vast majority of animals were saved, but Bruno was washed away and could not be found after the floodwaters subsided. The Ivan Tors production unit, via radio and newspapers, asked area residents not to shoot him on sight, and assured the public that he had no teeth and was "harmless and just loves Cokes or fruit." A few days later, Bruno returned to the ranch of his own accord and scratched at his cage to be let back in. He was several pounds lighter and covered with mud, but in good health.