Grizzly Adams: "The Man in the Mountains" has died

Dan "The Man in the Mountains" Haggerty is dead. The American actor died of cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 74. Anyone who lived through the 70s knows him best from the series “The Man in the Mountains”. I loved this outlaw as a kid who was alone in the wilderness looking for peace with the animals of the forest, especially Grizzly Ben. Now he is gone too.

In the past few weeks, the world has had to say goodbye to stars one after the other, for whom cancer was fatal. First Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister died, then world star David Bowie and on Thursday also the actor and "Harry Potter" star Alan Rickman. Dan Haggerty was never as well known as these three, but the older semesters among us will probably know him from the series "The Man in the Mountains". It starred him as the long-haired, bearded recluse James "Grizzly" Adams, who fled to the mountains after being convicted of a crime he didn't commit. In the wilderness he builds a new life for himself.

Loud "TMZ» Haggerty died in the early hours of January 15 at a Los Angeles hospital. He had been undergoing treatment for months before for a cancer that his doctors discovered while looking for a cause of his back pain. His family and closest friends had said goodbye to him at the bedside in the past few days – the end was already so foreseeable, reports TMZ. Haggerty was married twice and had three children. Early in his acting career, he had roles in Muscle Beach Party and the Elvis Presley film Girl Happy. He worked as an actor, animal trainer and stuntman, including on Ron Ely's TV show "Tarzan".

Haggerty began his acting career in minor roles in the '60s. He also appears in the cult film "Easy Rider" or played the rocker in "Pink Angels". In his career, Haggerty has appeared in TV series and films from time to time, and has also made guest appearances in well-known TV series, including "CHiPs" and "Charlie's Angels", but after "The Man in the Mountains" there was no role among them of greater importance. In the 70s, probably due to increasing ecological awareness and the "back-to-nature" philosophy of the hippie movement, NCB broadcast the 37-part series "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams". She designed a kind of natural utopia in which humans and animals, represented by dropouts James Adams and his grizzly bear Ben, live together in harmony.

James "Grizzly" Adams flees to the mountains of Northern California after being convicted for a crime he didn't commit. Life in the wilderness doesn't seem easy to him at first, but then nature sends him a teacher: Adams saves a bear cub on his way, which grows into his companion and shows him what nature has to offer in terms of food. Adams gave him the name Ben, after his great role model Benjamin Franklin. With Ben as his faithful companion, he soon discovers that the wild is a generous host and kind to those who live with it, not against it. Not only Ben, but also the other animals recognize a friend in Adams and lose their fear of him.

Grizzly Adams: "The Man in the Mountains" has died

"The Man in the Mountains" is a television-turned-back-to-nature philosophy that shows such a utopian image of life in the wild that one can't help but envy Grizzly Adams that he can pet bears and deer next to each other put him on the grass to sleep. The title song "Maybe" by Thom Pace, which stormed the charts in Europe, made it clear to him what the series was about:

Maybe
there's a world where we don't have to run
maybe
there's a time we'll call our own
livin' free in harmony and majesty
take me home

You can't really take the series seriously anymore. But it was the charm of a carefree life in the beauty of nature that made the series special. I and millions of people loved Ben and Adams' TV adventures starring Trapper Mad Jack with his stubborn donkey number seven and Native American Nakoma. These adventures mostly consisted of a threat to friends and casual acquaintances who find themselves in dire straits and dangers that Adams faces alone and with the support of others. In contrast to other western series of this time, depictions of violence and the use of firearms were generally avoided. Rather, it deals with problems relating to family, hunting, resettlement by "whites" and conflicts with the local Indian tribes and these are just as relevant today as they were then, even if the colors of the nature pictures (see above 1st episode ) seem pale today. Thanks Dan for your outlaw. Thanks for the beautiful moments. I'll never forget you. Take care…