The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams is a 1974 independent feature film produced by Charles E. Sellier Jr. and Raylan D. Jensen for Sun Classic Pictures. The film's popularity led to an NBC television series of the same name. The title character, played by Dan Haggerty, was loosely based on California mountain man John "Grizzly" Adams (1812–1860). Plot The film portrays the somewhat fictional Grizzly Adams as a frontier woodsman who fled into the mountains in the year 1853, after he was accused of a murder he didn't commit. While struggling to survive, Adams saves an orphaned grizzly bear cub he adopts and names Ben. The bear, while growing to its huge adult size, becomes Adams' closest companion. Consistently kind and gentle, Adams discovers and demonstrates an uncanny ability to gain the trust of most of the indigenous wildlife of the region, and he helps, sometimes rescues, takes in and tames many species. Originally a hunter, with his learned affection for wildlife Adams resolves never to harm another animal whenever possible. Adams also gains two human friends, an old mountain man trader named "Mad Jack" (Denver Pyle) who is often featured with his mule ("Number Seven"), and a Native American by the name of "Nakoma" (Don Shanks). Adams, Mad Jack, and Nakoma help myriad mountain visitors while protecting wildlife at the same time. NBC aired the series finale of the TV series on February 21, 1982, by way of a two-hour TV movie called The Capture of Grizzly Adams; it presents an ending diverging from the 1974 TV movie portrayal. A hateful rancher, whose partner Adams allegedly killed, uses Adams' daughter Peg, who was not seen or mentioned since the 1974 film, in a ploy to lure the fugitive mountain man back to civilization and kill him. In the end, Adams exposes the rancher for the murder for which he was himself accused, proving his innocence. Cast TV series Dan Haggerty as James Capen 'Grizzly' Adams Denver Pyle as Mad Jack Don Shanks as Nakoma John Bishop as Robbie Cartman Bozo (a grizzly bear) as Ben (named after Benjamin Franklin) In addition to Ben, there were many other named animals in the TV series, the most prominent being Number 7, Mad Jack's ornery mule. Bart the Bear, then a bear cub, made one of his first acting appearances in the series playing Ben as a cub. 1974 film Lisa