How Many People Remember Grizzly Adams And Ben The Bear. I Used To Watch Every Sunday, Made My Day 😁 Check the comments 👇

Grizzly Adams — the gentle mountain man known for his flowing beard and loyal bear companion, Ben — was memorably portrayed by Dan Haggerty in the 1974 film The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams and the subsequent NBC television series. Haggerty, who brought warmth and authenticity to the iconic role, passed away Friday in Burbank, California.

His friend and manager, Terry Bomar, stated that the cause of death was spinal cancer.

At the time, Mr. Haggerty was working in Hollywood as a stuntman and animal handler when a producer approached him with a request: to appear in reshot opening scenes for a film about a reclusive woodsman and his bear.

 

The film told the tale of a California man wrongly accused of murder who escapes into the wilderness, forging deep bonds with the animals around him—most notably an orphaned bear he tames. The story was inspired by The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, a novel by Charles Sellier Jr.

 

Haggerty agreed to take part—but only on the condition that he star in the entire film. The new version was made on a modest budget of $165,000, yet it went on to gross nearly $30 million at the box office. Its success led to a television adaptation, and in February 1977, Mr. Haggerty reprised his beloved role as the forest protector and friend to animals.

In his review of the first TV episode, The New York Times critic John Leonard wrote that it “lukewarms the heart.” The show featured memorable characters like Mad Jack, played by Denver Pyle, and Makuma, a respected aboriginal elder portrayed by Don Shanks. Together, they brought flour and advice to the log cabin sanctuary where Grizzly Adams and Ben lived. Scenes filled with raccoons, owls, deer, hawks, and cougars captured the raw beauty of nature, weaving a story rich with wilderness wisdom and heartfelt emotion.

Viewers quickly fell in love with Mr. Haggerty, earning him the People’s Choice Award in 1978 as the most popular actor in a new series. The show’s warmth and nostalgia resonated deeply with audiences. Its success inspired two follow-ups: Legend of the Wild (broadcast in 1978, released in theaters in 1981) and the television movie The Capture of Grizzly Adams (1982), where Adams is brought back to town by bounty hunters and ultimately clears his name.

Daniel Francis Haggerty was born on November 19, 1942, in Los Angeles. His early years were turbulent—he repeatedly ran away from military school before moving in with his father, an actor, in Burbank. His parents divorced when he was just three years old, and he often tried to escape his circumstances.

At 17, he married Diane Rooker, though the marriage ended in divorce. His second wife, former model Samantha Hilton, tragically died in a motorcycle accident in 2008. Mr. Haggerty is survived by his children Megan, Tracy, Dylan, Cody, and Don, who carry on his legacy.

His film debut came in 1964’s Muscle Beach Party, where he played Biff, a bodybuilder alongside Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Throughout the 1960s, he appeared in various biker and nature-themed films, often cast as “Bearded Biker” or “Biker With Bandana.” He also had a brief cameo in Easy Rider as a member of a hippie commune.

In real life, Haggerty lived modestly on a ranch in Malibu Canyon, sharing his home with wild animals he had rescued or raised. His skills with animals landed him jobs as a trainer and stuntman on TV shows like Tarzan and Daktari, as well as various film projects. In a 1978 People magazine interview, he humorously noted that actors often disliked animals jumping on them during scenes.

His love for the outdoors was reflected in films such as Where the North Wind Blows (1974), where he played a Siberian tiger trapper, and The Adventures of Frontier Fremont (1976). He also appeared as a dog trainer in David Carradine’s Americana (1983). Later, he revisited Grizzly Adams–like roles in Grizzly Mountain (1997) and Escape to Grizzly Mountain (2000).

As his career slowed, Haggerty took on roles in horror movies like Terror Night (1987), Elves (1989), and Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan (2013), playing an alcoholic mall Santa in the latter two. In 1985, he served 90 days in jail after being convicted of distributing cocaine to undercover officers.

One of the most infamous moments in his life occurred in 1977 when his signature beard caught fire at a restaurant due to a flaming cocktail carried by a careless patron. He suffered third-degree burns on his arms and was hospitalized for nearly a month.

Recalling the ordeal to People magazine, he said, “During the first couple of days, I did nothing but lie in the dark room drinking water, like a wounded wolf trying to heal himself.” Nurses tried to give him morphine and encouraged him to open the curtains, but he believed animals sometimes know better than people how to heal. Remarkably, he left the hospital on his own after just ten days.