L.A.-born actor Dan Haggerty, whose “Grizzly Adams” movie and TV shows showcased his outdoorsy talents and iconic beard, died early Friday of cancer, said his friend and manager Terry Bomar.

Dan Haggerty as "Grizzly Adams." Photo via Twitter
Dan Haggerty as “Grizzly Adams.” Photo via Twitter
The Los Angeles Times reported that Haggerty learned he had cancer of the spine in August and died at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. He was 74.

His parents wanted him to be a priest, but Haggerty proved a “wild child” who “went off track and became fast and furious,” Bomar told he paper.

“As a young man he got a job with a ranch in the San Fernando Valley that trained animals for movies,” the Times said. “He became an animal handler, wrangling rabbits and frogs for various film productions, and was a stuntman on the side.

“The combination of skills led to his discovery as an actor. He was working on a movie shoot in Canada, filming a scene that required him to chase a tiger across a frozen lake in an attempt to rope it, Bomar said.”

His daughter, Megan, had turned to a crowdfunding site in a bid to raise money for his fight against “this bear known as cancer.” She had raised about $10,500 toward a goal of $100,000, according to the Hollywood Reporter.     

Early in his career, Haggerty portrayed a character named Biff in the Frankie Avalon-Annette Funicello film Muscle Beach Party (1964) and later appeared in Girl Happy (1965) opposite Elvis Presley and in Easy Rider (1969).

But his best-known role was that of James Capen “Grizzly” Adams, who is wrongly accused of murder and heads into the mountains, bonds with animals and adopts an orphan cub in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1974). The character was based on a real-life trapper who lived in California in the 1880s, according to the Reporter.

The independent film was made for less than $200,000, grossed $45 million and spawned an NBC series that debuted in 1977 and lasted two seasons. He later played Adams in a feature released in 1981 and in a 1982 telefilm.

In 1985, Haggerty was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years’ probation for selling cocaine to two undercover police officers. He claimed he was set up.

Haggerty also had a motorcycle accident that left him close to death and underwent 18 operations. But he later returned to play another mountain man in Grizzly Mountain (1997) and in a 2000 sequel.

Haggerty, preceded in death by his second wife, Samantha, is survived by daughters Megan and Tracy Haggerty, sons Dylan, Cody and Don, all of Los Angeles, and one grandson.

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