Dan Haggerty, the actor best known for his role as outdoorsy title character in the 1970s film and TV series "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams," has died, People reported. The star lost his short battle with cancer Friday morning at the age of 74.
"He had cancer and had been fighting since July," Haggerty's manger and close friend confirmed in a statement to Fox News. "And he had a great Thanksgiving and a great Christmas, and he died with his kids around him and people who love him."
Haggerty was born Gene Jajonski in Pound, Wis., according to The Hollywood Reporter. He earned his first film credit in a 1953 episode of the TV series "The Files of Jeffery Jones" and was scouted for his signature role as Grizzly Adams after a producer spotted him on a Canadian film set.
He went on to star in the 1974 independent film "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams," which was about a man who retreats to the mountains after he is wrongfully accused of murder and forms a bond with wildlife, including an orphaned grizzly bear cub named "Ben," according to IMDb. NBC ordered a TV series version of the film, which debuted in 1977 and ran for two seasons.
The actor was also an animal trainer and in 1978, he detailed a story about the time he was invited to former publisher of the Los Angeles Times Otis Chandler's home. During Haggerty's visit, Chandler showed him a bear that he shot and stuffed.
"I told him: 'Hell, any jackass can point a gun at something and kill it,'" Haggerty told People. "'I got a bear that's bigger than yours, and he rides around in the truck with me.'"
