BURBANK, Calif., Jan. 15, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — The star of TV’s “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams,” Dan Haggerty has passed away at age 74 after battling cancer.
Terry Bomar, Haggerty’s personal manager, said the star had been battling spinal cancer.
“He had cancer and had been fighting since July, and he had a great Thanksgiving and a great Christmas, and he died with his kids around him and people who love him.”
Haggerty is best known for portraying the character Grizzly Adams in the title role of the 1974 Sunn Classic Pictures feature, “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams.”
NBC television bought the rights to the film and turned it into a series, which ran from 1977 to 1978, and propelled Haggerty into stardom.
Early in his career, Haggerty assisted in building the motorcycles featured in the 1969 film “Easy Rider,” in which he had a bit part as a hippie. He also found 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”.
After “Grizzly Adams,” Haggerty worked 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 movies “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?”
In 2007 he co-starred with Rob Schneider in “Big Stan,” and appeared as a lumberjack foreman in “Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan” (2013).
His last appearance was as himself on the History Channel TV show “American Pickers.”
