''Born Free'' is an American

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

based on the 1966 movie of the same name. It aired on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television network from September 9 to December 30, 1974, produced by

Columbia Pictures Television Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution studio. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gem ...

and starring and narrated by

Diana Muldaur Diana Muldaur (born August 19, 1938) is an American film and television actress. Muldaur's television roles include Rosalind Shays on ''L.A. Law'' and Dr. Katherine Pulaski in the second season of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. She also ...

Synopsis

Gary Collins stars as

George Adamson George Alexander Graham Adamson MBE (3 February 1906 – 20 August 1989), also known as the ''Baba ya Simba'' ("Father of Lions" in Swahili), was a Kenyan wildlife conservationist and author. He and his wife, Joy, were depicted in the film '' ...

and

portrays

Joy Adamson Friederike Victoria "Joy" Adamson ( Gessner; 20 January 1910 – 3 January 1980) was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, ''Born Free'', describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. ''Born Free'' was printed in several langua ...

. The couple live in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

with their adopted lioness Elsa, where they protect the animals in the surrounding area from all sorts of danger, both natural and human. An unrelated

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

called ''Born Free: A New Adventure'' was broadcast by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1996, starring

Linda Purl Linda Purl (born September 2, 1955) is an American actress and singer, known for her roles as Ashley Pfister (Fonzie's girlfriend) on '' Happy Days'' (she originally played Gloria as Richie’s date in season 2 episode 6), Sheila Munroe in the 198 ...

and

Chris Noth Christopher David Noth ( ; born November 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Mike Logan on '' Law & Order'' (1990–95), Big on ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), and Peter Florrick on ''The ...

. Joy and George Adamson do not appear as the main characters in the story.

Cast

Main

* Gary Collins as George Adamson *

* Hal Frederick as Makedde *

Dawn Lyn Dawn Lyn Nervik (born January 11, 1963) is an American former child actress who acted from age 4 to 15. She is best known for her role as Dodie Douglas during the last three seasons of the sitcom ''My Three Sons''. Her brother, Leif Garrett, is ...

as Reagan * Peter Lukoye as Nuru

Guest stars

Guest stars included

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary ''Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and sen ...

Barbara Parkins Barbara Parkins (born May 22, 1942) is a Canadian-American former actress, singer, dancer and photographer. Early life Parkins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia.Alex Cord Alexander Viespi Jr. (May 3, 1933 – August 9, 2021), known professionally as Alex Cord, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, better known as Archangel, in 55 episodes of the television series ''A ...

Susan Dey Susan Hallock Dey (born December 10, 1952) is a retired American actress, known for her television roles as Laurie Partridge on the sitcom ''The Partridge Family'' from 1970 to 1974, and as Grace Van Owen on the drama series '' L.A. Law'' from ...

Juliet Mills Juliet Maryon Mills (born 21 November 1941) is an English-American actress. She is the daughter of actor Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell and the eldest of three siblings; her younger siblings are actress Hayley Mills and director Jonathan ...

had a recurring role as Dr. Claire Hanley.

Production

The series was set in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and filmed in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

Reception and cancellation

''Born Free'' was scheduled opposite

's Top 20 hit ''

The Rookies ''The Rookies'' is an American police procedural series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department (SC ...

'' and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's Top 30 hit ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...

''. Rating for the series were low and it was canceled in the middle of the 1974–75 television season after thirteen episodes.

Episodes

DVD release

The complete series ''Born Free'' was released in DVD format on August 7, 2012, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment via its "manufacture on demand" program. It was later re-released by Mill Creek on September 25, 2018.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0070972, title=Born Free *See Also That Series A
rapidTVGeorge Adamson information website with photos, letters and much information and featuring Elsa the Lioness.
1974 American television series debuts 1974 American television series endings 1970s American drama television series English-language television shows NBC original programming Live action television shows based on films Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Kenya