text: who was grizzly adams? who was he? when did he live? what did he do? when was he born and when did he die? grizzly adams is the main character from the life and times of grizzly adams, a 1974 film. he is a woodsman who fled into the mountains when he was wrongly accused of murder. while struggling to survive, adams discovers an orphaned grizzly bear cub whom he takes in and calls ben. the bear, despite his huge adult size, becomes adams' closest companion.  in the end, adams proves his innocence.  the title character was loosely based on an actual hunter, james "grizzly" adams (october 12, 1812–october 25, 1860).