1977-1978 Dan Haggerty Grizzly Adams Signed LE 11x14 Color Photo (JSA)

Description

On August 17
th
, 2013 the professional staff of the MEARS Pop Culture division contracted with 1970s TV icon Dan Haggerty, the star of “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams”. We met Dan Haggerty in Wheaton, IL at the Zurko All Night Flea Market.
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams is a 1974 independent feature film and subsequent television series inspired by a 1972 historical fiction novella written by Charles E. Sellier Jr.. 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 James "Grizzly" Adams (1812-1860), whose real name was "John Capen Adams," a one-time Boston shoe and boot maker.
The film and TV series portrayed the fictional Grizzly Adams as a frontier woodsman who fled into the mountains after he was wrongly accused of murder. 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. In the television series, Adams had two human friends, an old mountain man trader named "Mad Jack" played by Denver Pyle who was often featured with his mule, ("Number Seven") and a Native American by the name of "Nakoma" played by Don Shanks. Adams, Mad Jack, and Nakoma helped myriad mountain visitors while protecting wildlife at the same time.
During the signing, Mr. Haggerty signed (50) 16x20 full color photos which were taken from a grand prize award winning image. The full color and contrast of the image combines to make a photographic master piece. Also during the course of the signing Mr. Haggerty signed (50) of the images in a smaller 11x14 size, and (100) index cards. As an added bonus, he added a “bear paw” sketch to each and every signature. Numerous pens were rotated throughout the signing, insuring that each and every signature was near mint and flawless. After the signing, autograph authentication experts JSA (Jimmy Spence Autograph Authentication) reviewed each signature to authenticate the images. The official JSA hologram appears on each photo.