Dan Haggerty
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| Dan Haggerty | |
 Dan Haggerty in 1978 |
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| Born | Daniel Haggerty November 19, 1941 Hollywood, California |
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| Years active | 1959— |
| Spouse(s) | Diane Rooker (1959–1984) Samantha (1984–2008) |
Dan Haggerty (born November 19, 1941, in Hollywood, California) is an American actor, best known for the title role in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. He was born in Hollywood, growing up amid the Southern California bodybuilding lifestyle. He had early roles in Muscle Beach Party and the Elvis Presley film Girl Happy. His ease in working with animals got him work as a trainer and handler for Walt Disney films, and he found work as a stuntman on the Ron Ely's TV show Tarzan.
Haggerty was a free spirit, living in the Malibu Canyons with his animals while making his own furniture and clothing.[citation needed] He also worked as a set builder on films. He worked on the motorcycles featured in the film, Easy Rider, and had a bit part as a "hippie" in the movie. He showed up in several low-budget biker films of the era as both a supporting player and stuntman before being tapped to play the outdoorsman in the independent film The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. The picture was a surprise hit and spun off into a popular TV series that made Haggerty a household name.
His fame was fleeting, however, as a well-publicized drug arrest and motorcycle crash kept him from work. He appeared often during the late 1980s in the direct-to-video boom, but by the early 1990s devoted his energies to the Studio City restaurant "Haggerty's Bistro" and marketing his own barbecue sauce. He continued to work as both an actor and infomercial spokesman.
Haggerty was the lead role in the movies - Repo Jake (1990), Grizzly Mountain (1997), and Escape to Grizzly Mountain (2000).
He was also featured as a character in Al Franken's novel, Why Not Me?.
Haggerty has appeared in endorsements for a fraudulent piece of medical equipment, the PAP-IMI, although he was not in on the fraud.[1]
Haggerty's wife of over 20 years died after a motorcycle accident on August 10, 2008.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ "Miracle Machines: The 21st-Century Snake Oil". Seattle Times. December 26, 2008. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/medicaldevices/.
- ^ "Grizzly Adams Star's Wife Dies After Motorbike Tragedy". IMDb. August 21, 2008. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353624/news#ni0554790.
Haggerty was last seen on on the HBO Documentary series Cathouse, which follows a Nevada Brothel known as the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. Haggerty was a friend of the owner and had been ordained as a minister in Nevada so he could perform wedding ceremonies. Haggerty was there to perform the wedding of a group of guests at the brothel.
