The actor was diagnosed with cancer of the spine in August and died at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, his manager, Terry Bomar, told the Hollywood Reporter.
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Haggerty starred as gentle giant California mountain man James Capen “Grizzly” Adams, who adopts an orphaned bear.
THE actor fans knew as Grizzly Adams passed away this morning.
Haggerty outlived his Grizzly co-star Bozo, a female grizzly that played Ben on the show and died in 1999 at age 39.
A low-budget movie, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams became one of the biggest hits of 1974.
“The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams” lasted two seasons, but the show’s unique subject and Haggerty’s rugged looks gave the star a name.
Haggerty died surrounded by his loved ones, said Bomar. He returned to his iconic role four years and 18 operations later in “Grizzly Mountain” and its 2000 sequel.
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). After “Grizzly Adams”, he made horror movies and outdoorsy flicks. His love of exotic animals was shed by his wife and daughters who helped him work on his ranch with the family’s tiger, cougar, and leopard, People magazine reports. He also contributed to films as an animal trainer, on movies like David Carradine’s Americana (1981). He opened a restaurant in Los Angeles but then suffered significant injures during a motorcycle.
The ensuing decades hadn’t been as kind to Haggerty.
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Haggerty is survived by five children: Megan, Dylan, Cody, Tracey and Don.
