There is a quirky, quintessentially Joel and Ethan Coen "moment" in their remake of "True Grit" in which Rooster Cogburn ( Jeff Bridges) and Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) meet the Bear Man.
Dressed in a mammoth bear skin coat complete with the beast's head, the character rides into frame leading another horse weighted down with the body of a dead man. Speaking in a low, slow drawl, the Bear Man tells Rooster and Mattie that he obtained his cargo by trading with an Indian "who said he came by him honestly. I gave up two dental mirrors and a bottle of expectorant." Then, he asks, "Do either of you need medical attention?"
Though the scene lasts just minutes, Ed Corbin, the Los Angeles-based character actor who plays the Bear Man, makes an indelible impression with his gravel-pit of a voice, his overgrowth of gray beard and, of course, that costume.
"I had this picture that the Bear Man had been in the wilderness for 20 years and that Jeff Bridges would be the first white man I had seen in so long I just relished the conversation with him," says Corbin, who has had small parts in such TV series as "Weeds" and "Saving Grace."
