Dan Haggerty, the actor best known for his role as the furry-faced mountain man and his bear sidekick Ben in the NBC series and the film Grizzly Adams, died on Friday in Burbank, California. He was 73 years old. While Ben Clennon, his manager and friend, is dead, he did add that spinal cancer was the cause of death. Before getting the role that made him famous, Dan Haggerty was already known in Hollywood as an animal wrangler and a stunt actor.
He stated that it was when a producer called him to the set and asked him to shoot a couple of introductory scenes for a particular movie in which a woodsman has a bear for a pet, his big break commenced. In summary, it tells a story of a man who is falsely convicted of a crime and while on the run in the woods, makes friends with animals and adopts a bear cub.
Haggerty agreed to accept the role, but he made one condition: it was for the entire movie. Although it had a modest budget of 165,000 dollars, the remake of the film made around 30 million dollars at the box office. Due to this success, there was a series made, and in February 1977 Haggerty returned to the role of the rough-and-tumble backwoods guardian.
The viewers liked the show. It palpitates the heart, as John Leonard of The New York Times kirjoittaa