Tracking the History of Grizzly Adams in
American Pop Culture
Part Three By Tod Swindell
©2018 The Grizzly Adams® Company
Back to 1974, on the heels of Jeremiah Johnson and John Huston’s first-ever screen depiction of Grizzly Adams in, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Schick Sunn Classic premiered its new low-budget feature film with its obvious re-purposed title of, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams.
The movie was a huge success and proved a ‘four wall method’ theatrical release could actually work. It took in over $55 million at the box office marking it as one of the highest grossing independent films ever made.
With its limited budget, though, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams was technically sub-standard. Shot on 16MM, its completely dubbed soundtrack even looped in another actor’s voice to cover Dan Haggerty’s dialogue. Just the same, the movie played to a far-greater audience than anyone expected it to, leaving Sunn Classic Pictures to take some of its profit margin and make yet another mountain man movie, once again starring Dan Haggerty—only this time, they let him speak for himself.
Originally titled, Beyond the Wind River during production, it was ultimately changed to, The Adventures of Frontier Fremont upon its release. The screenplay was written by David O’Malley and the film was once again directed by Richard Friedenberg, who later went on to receive an Oscar nomination for writing Robert Redford’s, A River Runs Through It. Sunn Classic’s, Charles E. Sellier, once again produced the movie, Frontier Fremont, along with screenwriter, O’Malley.
Above, one sheets for The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams and The Adventures of Frontier Fremont. Both motion pictures served as the template for the popular Grizzly Adams TV series.
In Frontier Fremont, Dan Haggerty played Jacob Fremont—a character similar in many ways to Grizzly Adams; an eastern greenhorn who must learn to survive in the wilderness the hard way and he has a few run-ins with wild animals while doing so. Haggerty was also joined on-screen by an irascible and grizzled mountain man named Mean Bill Driggers, played by Denver Pyle.
Filmed with a larger budget and in 35MM TechniScope wide-screen format, Frontier Fremont had a more polished look than the original Life and Times of Grizzly Adams feature film. Its theatrical release didn’t nearly achieve the same box office heights of Grizzly Adams, but it did strong enough business to attract the attention of Hollywood and its television networks.
When NBC picked up Frontier Fremont for a network primetime run, they were happily startled by its success in attracting a TV audience. Drawn to the storyline and the addition of Denver Pyle as Mean Bill Driggers, they decided to greenlight a Grizzly Adams TV series modeled after Frontier Fremont. Everyone agreed that Dan Haggerty made a great Grizzly Adams, and Don Shanks was cast to play ‘Nakoma’, the role he originated in the Grizzly Adams feature. Denver Pyle emulated his same mountain man character as well, although his name for the series was changed to ‘Mad Jack’, a name originally used for a character played by Ray Walston in Paint Your Wagon.
Once again titled, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, the show became a hit prime-time TV series for NBC, and by the end of the 1970s it was a pop-culture phenomenon. Few connected it to The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean title or John Huston’s first interpretation of ‘Grizzly Adams’ on the silver screen.
NBC’s Grizzly Adams series was also a far cry from the real mountain man of the 1850s, but Haggerty’s suave, rugged-beard look and Charles Sellier’s innovative low-budget producing style enhanced a growing TV marketing trend that remains in place today.
As well, after the series came out it wasn’t long before kids were toting Grizzly Adams lunch pails around and begging their parents for a Grizzly Adams’ Halloween costume or dozens of other GA brand items put out by NBC. Beyond representing a ‘wannabe image’ for men and boys from every walk of life, Dan Haggerty’s rugged and handsome look became a new heartthrob to the female gender as well. In the spirit of its Gilligan’s Island-like formula that focused on only a few characters in an isolated setting, weekly episode guest stars were also easy for NBC to come by.
Above: Denver Pyle as ‘Mad Jack,’ Dan Haggerty as ‘Grizzly Adams,’ and Don Shanks as ‘Nakoma’ in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams.
Incredibly enough, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams TV series was still highly rated when NBC canceled it in 1979. There were several reasons the network had for doing such a thing, beyond the trappings of how ‘great fame’ but ‘little fortune’ took its toll on Dan Haggerty that was listed among them. Big money for television series stars from ‘syndication profit shares’ down the line and ‘image rights’ bonuses were not commonly featured in contracts back then. Haggerty, whose Grizzly Adams image was promoted worldwide in various forms, made no money from it. By contrast, in today’s world the same exploitation of his brand connected image would have made him millions.
Charles Sellier, who was credited for creating both the film and TV series, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, continued producing for Universal Television and CBS after the show was canceled. After his passing in 2011, the Grizzly Adams trademark lapsed out of his estate and was filed on by Grizzly Adams® LLC, a company comprised of past filmmaker associates of his whom managed to secure rights going forward for new Grizzly Adams film and television offerings.
Above: Gene Edwards and Tom Tayback’s Grizzly Adams’ movies.
Before the brand entered trademark protection, other actors tried their hands at playing the legendary mountain man on film. Two of them, Tom Tayback and Gene Edwards, had hoped to claim the famed Grizzly Adams mantle (see one sheets below), but ultimately realized little success while doing so.
It seems the loud Grizzly bell that the NBC rang proved impossible to un-ring in terms of where ‘Grizzly Adams’ ended up falling into the pantheon of American pop-culture. While the name appears in search engines associated with the popular TV series, it is also used to describe a burley beard style. But the strong bear image isn’t overlooked either; the inclusion of ‘Grizzly’ in the name itself doesn’t allow it to be.
References to ‘Grizzly Adams’ also commonly appear in press releases and in entertainment venues; from Seinfeld to The Big Bang Theory, from The Tonight Show to The New York Times, from CNN to Letterman and SNL, etc.
Many also recall the quote from Happy Gilmore starring Adam Sandler, where famed golfer, Lee Trevino (left) counters Shooter McGavin’s challenge with his comment of, “Grizzly Adams did have a beard!”
In another cinema reference, filmmaker, Art Linson’s self-inspired feature, What Just Happened, featured a movie producer played by Robert De Niro who was befuddled upon hearing his next picture’s lead actor—Bruce Willis, playing himself—was “overweight” and “wearing a Grizzly Adams beard.” It became a major bone of contention when the studio insisted Willis should be forced to shave off his “Grizzly Adams beard”.
The popular cartoon series, Family Guy, also did a hilarious spoof on The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams in one of its episodes; Amy Poehler was seen wearing an old Grizzly Adams T-shirt on her TV series, Parks and Recreation; and even a professional hockey team in Wolfsburg, Germany named itself “Grizzly Adams.” (The TV series was very popular in Germany, Australia, and England.)
Above, left to right, Robert De Niro as a major film producer in ‘What Just Happened’ is upset with Bruce Willis who refuses to shave his Grizzly Adams beard; Grizzly Adams and Ben are spoofed on ‘Family Guy’; followed by a Wolfsburg, Germany pro hockey jersey. Last photo: golf pro legend, Lee Trevino, sums it up in, ‘Happy Gilmore.’
“I drove up into the mountains with a buoyant and hopeful spirit, upon mounting the scarred and rugged shoulders of the Sierra. I seemed to be a part of the vast landscape, a kind of demigod in the glorious and magnificent creation.”
– Grizzly Adams
The term GRIZZLY ADAMS is a registered trademark of The Grizzly Adams® Company.
The Grizzly Adams® Company
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Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Email: [email protected]