Safe from bears, Bern Kubiak, center & facing camera, rows off into the sunset with Lewis & Clark...

Bern Kubiak is crashing through the woods, lunging over logs and rocks. Sweat is pouring onto his terror-stricken face. The terror is there for good reason; claws and teeth—lots of ‘em—are breathing down his neck. An 800lb grizzly bear is right behind him. He and the other members of the Lewis and Clark expedition might not make it. But just before the bear catches them, they get to their boats on the river. Bern and the crew are safe. It all went according to the script.

The experience may have well-prepared Kubiak for what he was doing this April at New Kensington-Arnold’s Greenwald Elementary. Once you face a grizzly and live to tell about it, how scary can elementary school kids be? And telling about it was just what Bern was doing. A Greenwald class was studying the 1800s Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery journey that explored the Northwest USA. The class had plans to visit Pittsburgh Mills to watch the IMAX movie, “Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West”. Bern, now living in Utah, was in town visiting his family and was happy to help out, since he actually was IN the movie.

Bern Kubiak grew up in New Kensington. He has fond memories of spending his summer days with his brothers Brian and Bill, playing in Fairmont Park, fishing at Burrell Lake and getting ice cream at Glenn’s Custard and Jerry’s Custard. Son of Bern and Dara Kubiak, he went to Martin Elementary School, and played baseball and football at Valley, graduating in 1986. Bern graduated from Slippery Rock four years later with a Public Administration and History degree. He had not acted since second grade at Martin Elementary, but during college he took drama and lit classes. He soon realized how much he enjoyed a good story and began studying acting much more seriously. Then by the mid-90s, for him, the trail led west.

Bern Kubiak

“Much like Lewis and Clark, I wanted to see what was out there,” Kubiak says. What has been out there on the trail has meant time in L.A. before finally settling in Utah, now one of the three or four top locations for filmwork. His own personal expedition has traversed various work in films, including acting, makeup artist, stuntman, and assistant director. He has worked with Cuba Gooding, Dennis Farino, Brooke Shields, Mary Steenburgen, and Gary Oldham. The Cuba Gooding movie, Daddy Day Camp, comes out this August.

The Lewis and Clark movie playing at the IMAX was actually shot in December of 2000 and was released in 2002. But it’s making its way around the country’s huge screen IMAX theaters, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the journey of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. The explorers left on May 14th 1804 and covered 8000 miles over the next two and a half years. “We shot it in 30 days,” Kubiak says. “It was a lot of waterwork. My buckskin never really dried out.” He played Sgt. Patrick Gass, an actual member of the expedition. Bern says it’s believed Sgt. Gass coined the phrase “Corps of Discovery,” the name for the exploring team. Gass, who was in his early 30s on the voyage, was born in Pennsylvania, the first to publish his journal and the last member of the team to die, at age 96.

The movie was shot in remote isolated locations near many of the places Lewis and Clark actually went: Jackson Hole, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Idaho. Life was actually fairly rugged. “It was a very wild film,” says Kubiak, who did his own stunt work. “Everyday was very physical, often on class 3 and 4 rapids. You did get a small sense of the hardships and reality they went through—although the food was very good—I don’t think Lewis and Clark had caterers!” They might have wished they did. The caterers on the movie set may have just saved Bern and the others from becoming bear food.

Kubiak, in a scene from the movie, The Connecticut Kid

It seems the actual Lewis and Clark expedition really came across a grizzly bear that chased them. Of course, Bern and the others had to actually act it out with a real grizzly. The bear trainer only used a 12-inch stick for protection. “One of the best advice I was given,” Bern says, “was if the bear wants to play with you, let him play with you, just don’t look him in the eye. I just listened, I didn’t question.” Bern obeyed, and the bear didn’t eat him. He says the caterers made sure the bear had Gatorade and muffins everyday for lunch.

Look up Bern Kubiak’s filmwork on Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com

Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery Educational Resource Page http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/LewisClark2/HomePage/HomePage.htm

Read a biography of Sgt. Patrick Gass: http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/lewisandclark/biddle/biographies_html/gass.html

a sample of Sgt. Patrick Gass’ journal:

On Monday the 14th of May 1804, we left our establishment at the mouth of the river du Bois or Wood river, a small river which falls into the Mississippi, on the east-side, a mile below the Missouri, and having crossed the Mississippi proceeded up the Missouri on our intended voyage of discovery, under the command of Captain Clarke. Captain Lewis was to join us in two or three days on our passage.