Dan Haggerty
Daniel Francis Haggerty (November 19, 1941 – January 15, 2016) was an American actor who was best known for playing the title role in the film and television series "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams". Early life. Haggerty's birthplace is given as Pound, Wisconsin, and his birth year has been reported as 1941. His parents separated when he was three. Acting career. Haggerty was cast in a small non-speaking role as a bodybuilder in the 1964 film "Muscle Beach Party" and also as a bodybuilder in "Girl Happy". These were followed by appearances in various biker  and wildlife films such as "Easy Rider", "Angels Die Hard", "The Adventures of Frontier Fremont", and "Terror Out of the Sky". His experience with animals also brought him work as an animal trainer and handler in films produced by Walt Disney Studios. Additionally, Haggerty also worked as a stuntman on the television series "Tarzan", and as set builder on various other projects. He directed white tigers, wolverines, eagles and wild boar in "When the North Wind Blows" and worked with bears, foxes and hawks in the 1997 film "Grizzly Mountain". Haggerty portrayed the character Grizzly Adams in the title role  of the 1974 Sunn Classic Pictures feature, "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams". From this feature film evolved the NBC television series of the same name which ran from 1977 to 1978, and Haggerty became known to movie-goers for his portrayal of nature-loving James Capen "Grizzly" Adams. Haggerty appeared briefly in David Carradine's film "Americana" and provided a fighting dog for the production. In the film, he not only played the role of the dog's trainer, but also assisted in set design and the restoration of a broken down carousel, which figured prominently in the  film. He assisted in building the motorcycles featured in the film "Easy Rider", and had a bit part as a hippie in that film, as well as stunt work and supporting roles in numerous low-budget biker films of the era. He also starred in the 1989 film "Spirit of the Eagle". Haggerty continued to work as both an actor and infomercial spokesman. One of his endorsements was for the Pap-Ion Magnetic Inductor (PAP-IMI), a device alleged to have health benefits. He had only been hired as a spokesperson and was found not to be part of the  fraud that later embroiled the manufacturer. Haggerty played lead roles in the films "Repo Jake" (1990), "Elves" (1990), "Grizzly Mountain" (1995), and "Escape to Grizzly Mountain" (2000). He was also featured as a character in Al Franken's novel, "Why Not Me?". Haggerty starred in the television film "Condominium" (1980), which also starred Barbara Eden, Ralph Bellamy and Stuart Whitman. Haggerty played a hydrology expert trying to warn residents that their Florida condos were about to be demolished in an approaching hurricane. He was also on "Charlie's Angels", season 5 episode 5, called "Waikiki Angels" as Bo Thompson that  aired January 4, 1981. He guest-starred on "The Love Boat" in 1983 ("World's Greatest Kisser"). He cameoed as an attorney in "Terror Night" (1987) with John Ireland and Cameron Mitchell, starred in "Night Wars" (1988) as a Vietnam veteran who is a psychologist dealing with nightmares of his fellow veterans, and appeared in horror films such as "Elves" and the Linda Blair film "The Chilling" in 1989. In "Big Stan" (2007), he played Tubby, and appeared as a lumberjack foreman in "Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan" (2013). Haggerty also did several voice-overs and can also  be seen in music videos by Hank Williams Jr. and Rogues of the Empire. Haggerty appeared on the U.S. television show "American Pickers" in its episode "California Kustom", which aired February 25, 2013. Personal life. Haggerty was married twice. He married Diane Rooker in 1959 at a Las Vegas wedding chapel in the Silver Slipper Hotel when they were 17. Haggerty and Diane had two daughters, Tracey and Tammy. They divorced in 1984, after which Haggerty married Samantha Hilton. Haggerty and Samantha had two sons named Dylan and Cody and one daughter named Megan. They were married until Samantha's  death following a motorcycle accident on August 10, 2008. Haggerty lived on a small ranch in Malibu Canyon with an assortment of wild animals that he had tamed at birth or rescued from injury. In 1977, his beard caught fire from shooting back a flaming cocktail. Trying to put the flames out, Haggerty received third-degree burns on his arms. Production on "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams" television series was halted while Haggerty recovered. In 1991, Haggerty was again hospitalized after a motorcycle accident left him in a coma, recovering with no aftereffects. In 1985, Haggerty was convicted  of selling cocaine to an undercover police officer, receiving a jail sentence of 90 days and three years' probation. Death. Haggerty was diagnosed with spinal cancer after undergoing back surgery, when a tumor on his spine was discovered in August 2015. He died of spinal cancer on January 15, 2016, in Burbank, California.