Dan Haggerty, Who Played Grizzly Adams

In the 1974 film “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams” and the NBC television series of the same name, Dan Haggerty portrayed a kind mountain man with a lush beard and a bear named Ben. Haggerty passed away on Friday in Burbank, California.

He was seventy-three.

According to his buddy and manager Terry Bomar, the cause was spine cancer.

Mr. Haggerty was employed in Hollywood as an animal trainer and stuntman when a producer asked him to reprise portions of the film’s opening sequences, which were about a woodsman and his bear.

Based on Charles Sellier Jr.’s novel “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams,” it narrated the tale of a man from California who runs away from the woods after being wrongfully convicted of murder. There, he befriends the local wildlife and tames an abandoned bear.

Mr. Haggerty consented, provided that he may do the full film. After being remade for $165,000, the movie finally brought in close to $30 million from ticket sales. After that, it was made into a television series, and in February 1977, Mr. Haggerty returned to his environmentally conscious duty as the forest’s defender and animal buddy.

John Leonard described the first episode in The New York Times as “lukewarm to the heart.” Mad Jack (Denver Pyle) and the honorable red man Makuma (Don Shanks) bring bread and advise to the man and bear who have taken up residence in a log cabin. Bear washes his fur while the man traps his as they depart the cabin. There’s also a lot of connecting with nature, raccoons, owls, deer, bunnies, hawks, badgers, cougars, and a lump in the throat.

Warm and nostalgic, the show won over fans to Mr. Haggerty, who went on to win the 1978 People’s Choice Award for best new series actor. “Grizzly Adams” gave rise to two sequels: “Legend of the Wild,” which aired in 1978 and was eventually released in theaters in 1981; and “The Capture of Grizzly Adams,” which aired as a TV movie in 1982 and saw Adams being brought back to his hometown by bounty hunters in order to clear his record.

On November 19, 1942, Daniel Francis Haggerty was born in Los Angeles. After his parents divorced when he was three years old, he had a difficult upbringing and repeatedly escaped from military school. Eventually, he moved in with his actor father in Burbank, California.

He wed Diane Rooker at the age of 17. The union broke down in divorce. In 2008, he lost his second wife, Samantha Hilton, in a motorbike accident. His children, Don, Megan, Tracy, Dylan, and Cody, survive him.

In his debut movie, “Muscle Beach Party” (1964), he starred with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello as physique builder Biff. Then came came cameos in nature and motorcycle movies, such as “Biker With Bandana” and “Bearded Biker.” In “Easy Rider,” he made a fleeting appearance as a visitor to the hippie commune visited by Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda.

In reality, Mr. Haggerty kept a variety of wild animals that he had either tamed from birth or rescued from harm on his tiny ranch in Malibu Canyon. His abilities brought him work as a stuntman and animal trainer on the television shows “Daktari” and “Tarzan,” in addition to sporadic roles in movies. “People magazine didn’t like actors jumping on them,” he said in 1978.

He acted as a Siberian tiger trapper in “Where the North Wind Blows” (1974), one of his outdoor-themed flicks, and in “The Adventures of Frontier Fremont” (1976). In the David Carradine movie “Americana,” he had an appearance as a dog trainer (1983). He portrayed a figure who was strikingly similar to Grizzly Adams in the movies “Grizzly Mountain” (1997) and “Escape to Grizzly Mountain” (2000).

As his career faded, Mr. Haggerty starred in horror movies such as “Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan” (2013), “Terror Night” (1987), and “Elves” (1989), in which he played an inebriated mall Santa. He was given a 90-day jail sentence in 1985 for supplying cocaine to two police agents who were undercover.

A negligent diner carrying a flaming cocktail ignited Mr. Haggerty’s well-known beard in 1977. He attempted to put out the fire, but instead burned his arms in the third degree. He was sent to a hospital where he would have therapy that would likely take a month.

“For the first few days, I was like a wounded wolf trying to heal myself—I just laid in the dark room drinking water,” he said to People. “Nurses urged me to open the curtains and attempted to give me morphine.” But occasionally, animals have better medical knowledge than humans. After ten days, he left the hospital on foot.

Man Hears His Dog Barking from Afar, Finds It Sitting near an Abandoned Baby – Story of the Day

Jack checked on his dog Ralph who kept barking on the street, only to discover an abandoned baby with him. The baby turns out to be a very special girl who would change Jack’s life forever.

Despite being a wealthy man, Jack was known as one of the kindest and most generous people in town. He could have had it all until three months ago when he discovered his wife had been cheating on him with his best friend.

Jack divorced his wife, and she moved to a different state with his now ex-best friend. He didn’t let the incident harden his heart, and he remained kind towards everyone around him. However, everybody knew that he was quite a lonely man no matter how kind and friendly he was.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

To ease his loneliness, Jack got himself a dog and named it Ralph. “At least you won’t betray me, right Ralph?” he said once he got him, smiling through the pain.

As he was a busy man, Jack had Ralph trained to behave. He would allow Ralph the freedom to run in their backyard in the afternoons, and once he grew tired, the adorable dog would find its way back inside the house.

One day, he let Ralph outside. He was watching a movie on TV when he realized Ralph had not returned home yet. He stepped out and heard the dog barking from afar.

Jack ran over the fence to get closer. Once he reached the road, he saw Ralph next to a baby lying on the grass.

“You poor child,” he said, saddened that someone would leave a helpless baby out on the street. He checked around the area for a bag that might have belonged to the child, but there wasn’t any. A tiny baby was crying, lying in a basket, while my dog sadly nudged her with his nose, as if out of sympathy. Inside the basket, I found a note. I read it with a heavy sigh.

“Don’t look for her parents. This child is yours now. Take care of her.”

Before taking her home, he went to the nearby convenience store and purchased baby milk and diapers so that he could properly care for the child. When they got home, he fed her and changed her diapers. Then he called the police and reported the incident.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

“This poor baby was left alone on the street with nothing but her clothes. There were no other adults in the area, so I took her in,” Jack explained.

The police said that they would check CCTV footage in the area to find her parents. However, they were to search for foster parents for the baby for now.

After hearing this, Jack didn’t hesitate. “Can I become her guardian?” he asked. “I run my businesses from home, so I wouldn’t have any problems taking care of her.”

The police got a couple more details and proof of identification from Jack, and they allowed the little girl to live with him. Jack took care of her for months, and when it was determined that her parents could not be identified, she was up for adoption.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

As soon as he could, Jack processed the papers needed to adopt the little girl, whom he named Emily, legally.

He raised Emily as his own daughter, even naming her after his mother who also raised him on her own. He loved Emily dearly and provided her with everything she needed and more.

Likewise, Jack was Emily’s hero. She looked up to her dad and always wanted to be around him. Together, they enjoyed every meal together and would go to the park, their favorite ice cream parlors, and the arcade where they spent time a lot of time together.

When Emily turned seven and started going to school, many of the parents and even teachers would note how Jack and Emily looked alike. Even Jack’s friends would say that they “looked like twins.”

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

Jack never thought of Emily as his adopted daughter, so he took these as compliments and would simply smile every time someone spoke about their resemblance.

One day, while Emily was playing with Ralph in their backyard, she fell and scratched her head on the pavement. As Jack began to treat the wound with an antiseptic, he noticed an incredible thing.

“Would you look at that, sweetheart? We have the same birthmark!” he said, surprised. He never noticed Emily’s birthmark before because her hair covered it.

“We were always meant to be together, dad,” she said, wiping her tears away and smiling at her dad.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

Curious about how this could happen, Jack decided to do a DNA test. He took a sample of Emily’s hair and sent it alongside his own. He didn’t think much of it, but he was stunned when the results came about three weeks later.

The test showed a 99.9% match that Emily was his daughter. He had always been a loyal man, so it only meant one thing – his ex-wife had been pregnant with his child.

He decided to give her a call, and she answered. “What do you want, Jack?”

“Why didn’t you tell me we had a daughter?” he asked her as soon as she answered.

“I didn’t want to raise your child, nor did I want to see you ever again, so I left her on the road. I knew you’d find her anyway. Bye now, and please don’t ever call me again,” she said before putting down the phone.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

Jack couldn’t believe it and was in tears. While knowing that Emily was actually his biological daughter did not affect his love for her, he was glad to know that he was able to care for his own daughter.

“What’s wrong, dad?” Emily asked after she saw her dad crying.

“Nothing’s wrong, sweetheart. I’m just really happy,” he explained. “Remember what dad told you? That you were sent to me from heaven even though I was not your real dad?” he asked her.

Emily nodded. “You are my real dad, dad. Don’t forget that,” she corrected him.

“Yes, sweetheart. I am your real dad. These DNA results prove that” he said, handing her the paper.

“I told you, dad. We were always meant to be together,” Emily said, hugging him.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

A few years later, Jack found love again. Having been present in all of Emily’s school activities, he eventually fell in love with one of her teachers.

Two years after they got married, Emily gained a baby sister. Emily took on being a big sister with a lot of pride and joy.

Since then, Jack, Emily, and the rest of their family have lived peacefully and happily. They valued their time together as a family more than anything. This prompted Jack to retire early to spend more time with his children.

What can we learn from this story?

  • Experiencing hardships should not harden our hearts. No matter how painful it was for Jack to lose his wife and his best friend after they betrayed him, he didn’t allow it to embitter him. Instead, he picked himself back up and found ways to cope while remaining kind, generous, and truthful.
  • It’s never too late to start again. Jack never imagined ever having a family after what happened to him, but Emily entered his life and taught him what true love means. Through his healthy relationship with his daughter, he was hopeful that he’d be able to find love again, and he eventually did.

Share this story with your loved ones. It might inspire them and make their day.

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