Dan Haggerty, who gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of the kind mountain man with a striking beard and his bear friend Ben in the NBC television series and 1974 film “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams,” passed away on Friday in Burbank, California. His age was 73 years.
Terry Bomar, his manager and friend, stated that spinal cancer was the cause of death.
Dan Haggerty was creating a name for himself in Hollywood as an animal handler and stuntman before landing his famous part. When a producer requested him to appear in a few opening moments for a film about a woodsman and his bear, it was his big break. The plot, which is based on a novel by Charles Sellier Jr., centers on a man who flees to the woods after being wrongfully convicted of murder, becomes friends with the local wildlife, and takes in an abandoned bear.
Haggerty accepted to do the part, but he had one requirement: he had to appear in the whole film. Despite having a relatively low budget of $165,000, the film’s remake brought in close to $30 million at the box office. Because of this popularity, a television series was created, and in February 1977, Haggerty went back to playing the character of the wild and outdoorsy wilderness guardian.
The audience responded well to the show. It lukewarms the heart, as The New York Times’ John Leonard observed in his review. A large lump in the throat and a lot of communing with nature are experienced when a man and a bear hide out in a log cabin. Haggerty won a 1978 People’s Choice Award for being the most well-liked actor in a new series because of the series’ warm and sympathetic tone, which won over a lot of viewers.
The series also yielded two follow-ups: “Legend of the Wild,” which was broadcast on television in 1978 and eventually released in theaters in 1981, and “The Capture of Grizzly Adams,” a 1982 television film in which Adams ultimately exonerates himself of the false charge.
Born in Los Angeles on November 19, 1942, Daniel Francis Haggerty had a difficult upbringing. He had a turbulent childhood, breaking out of military school several times before coming home with his actor-father in Burbank when his parents divorced when he was three years old.
Haggerty was married twice in his personal life. When he was 17, he got married to Diane Rooker, but they later got divorced. In 2008, he lost his second wife, Samantha Hilton, in a horrific motorbike accident. His children, Don, Megan, Tracy, Dylan, and Cody, survive him.
In his debut motion picture, “Muscle Beach Party” (1964), Haggerty portrayed bodybuilder Biff. After that, he played supporting parts in motorcycle and wildlife movies. He was a hippie commune member in “Easy Rider.” He also played the role off-screen, living with a variety of wild creatures he had either tamed or rescued on a small ranch in Malibu Canyon.
His expertise with animals led to positions as an animal trainer and stuntman for television shows including “Daktari” and “Tarzan.” He kept taking on parts like “Where the North Wind Blows” (1974) and “The Adventures of Frontier Fremont” (1976) that highlighted his affinity for the natural world. His love of outdoor parts brought him roles evoking Grizzly Adams to movies like “Grizzly Mountain” (1997) and “Escape to Grizzly Mountain” (2000).
Haggerty had appearances in a number of horror movies later in his career, such as “Terror Night” (1987) and “Elves” (1989). He was involved in court in 1985 and was given a 90-day jail sentence for distributing cocaine to police officers who were undercover.
Tragic incidents also occurred in his life. Haggerty suffered third-degree burns to his arms when a diner carrying a burning drink unintentionally caught his renowned beard on fire in 1977 when he was dining. Despite being admitted to the hospital and supposed to stay for a month, he left after just ten days, claiming to have expertise of curing animals.
“The first couple of days I just lay in the dark room drinking water, like a wounded wolf trying to heal myself,” he said, reflecting on his injury, to People magazine.
Carrie Underwood’s Tennessee Farm, Where She Lives with Husband & Sons, Caught Fire
When a spontaneous fire started at singer Carrie Underwood’s secluded house on Sunday, June 16, things became dangerous.
The cause of the fire remained unknown as firefighters battled the unrelenting blaze late into the night, leading to an ongoing investigation into what started the flames.
Singer Carrie Underwood’s Tennessee house, where she lives with her husband and family, caught fire in the late evening, marking a tragic conclusion to the evening. It is estimated that the fire broke out at 9:45 p.m.
Williamson County Fire Rescue crew members were sent to Underwood’s residence in the Pinewood neighborhood, west of Leiper’s Fork, to put out the fire that had taken hold of the home’s garage.
Underwood’s residence is located in a rural place, therefore the County Fire Rescue had to send all eight of its stations to respond to the call. To get to the property, the crew had to go up a long driveway and then another long road, according to officials.
The home’s 10,000-gallon water tank helped the crew members rapidly put out the fire.
The firefighters had to remain on the scene for several more hours in order to control the flare-ups and stop the fire from spreading further because it had, regrettably, penetrated into the walls and continued to flare up in hot spots.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt, and Underwood’s family, who was at home at the time, was unharmed. The main home was likewise unharmed.
The Williamson County Fire Rescue detailed the previous night’s events in a statement posted on its Facebook page early on Monday morning. It stated, among other things, that investigations were being conducted to find out what might have started the fire. However, there are rumors that a UTV that was parked close to the garage may have started the fire.
A statement was also sent by Carrie Underwood’s spokesperson after the event, stating that a fire broke out on the property on Sunday night and was promptly put out. They also stated that the family and their pets were safe and that there was no fire damage to the main property.
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