Dian Fossey was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups from 1966 until her murder in 1985. She studied them daily in the mountain forests of Rwanda, initially encouraged to work there by paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey. Gorillas in the Mist, a book published two years before her death, is Fossey's account of her scientific study of the gorillas at Karisoke Research Center and prior career. It was adapted into a 1988 film of the same name.
The mountain gorilla is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018.
Daktari is an American family drama series that aired on CBS between 1966 and 1969. The series is an Ivan Tors Films Production in association with MGM Television starring Marshall Thompson as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veterinarian at the fictional Wameru Study Center for Animal Behavior in East Africa.
Betsy Drake was an American actress, writer and psychotherapist. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant.
Ivan Tors was a Hungarian playwright, film director, screenwriter, and film and television producer with an emphasis on non-violent but exciting science fiction, underwater sequences, and stories involving animals. He started a Miami-based film studio now known as Greenwich Studios, and later a music company.
James Marshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.
George of the Jungle is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Sam Weisman and based on Jay Ward and Bill Scott's 1967 American animated television series of the same name, which in turn is a spoof of the fictional character Tarzan, created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Written by Dana Olsen and Audrey Wells, and starring Brendan Fraser, Leslie Mann, Thomas Haden Church, Holland Taylor, Richard Roundtree, and John Cleese. It tells the story of a young man raised by wild animals who falls for an heiress and contends with the heiress's spoiled fiancé. The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and was released in theatres throughout the United States and Canada on July 16, 1997. It was later aired on Disney Channel in the United States on December 5, 1998. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $174 million worldwide. A sequel, George of the Jungle 2, was released direct-to-video on October 21, 2003.
Gorillas in the Mist is a 1988 American biographical drama film directed by Michael Apted from a screenplay by Anna Hamilton Phelan and a story by Phelan and Tab Murphy. The film is based on the work by Dian Fossey and the article by Harold T. P. Hayes. It stars Sigourney Weaver as naturalist Dian Fossey and Bryan Brown as photographer Bob Campbell. It tells the story of Fossey, who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.
Antonie Marinus Harthoorn, or 'Toni' Harthoorn was a veterinarian and environmentalist known for his role in the development of large-animal tranquilizers and their impact on the conservation movement. Additionally, Harthoorn's animal sanctuary was the inspiration for the television series Daktari.
Mighty Joe Young is a 1998 American epic adventure film based on the 1949 film of the same name about a giant mountain gorilla brought to a wildlife preserve in Los Angeles by a young woman who raised him, and a zoologist, to protect him from the threat of poachers until one seeks Joe out in order to take his revenge. It was directed by Ron Underwood and stars Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, and creature suit actor John Alexander as the title character. In this version, the ape is much larger than in the original. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $50.6 million in the United States against a production budget of $90 million.
Marine World/Africa USA was an animal theme park located in the Redwood Shores area of Redwood City, California. The park was named Marine World when it first opened in 1968, before merging with a land-animal park called Africa USA in 1972. In 1986, the park relocated to Vallejo, California, and is now known as Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.
Cheryl Lynn Miller is an American actress and musician.
Safari West is a 400-acre (160 ha) private wildlife preserve located 12 miles north of the city of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, California, United States, owned and operated by Nancy and Peter Lang.
Ralph Helfer is an American animal behaviorist, creator of Marine World/Africa USA, and author of books about animals.
Susanne Hart in South Africa), also known under the short form Sue Hart or as Susanne Harthoorn, was a South African veterinarian and environmentalist.
Andrew Marton was a Hungarian-American film director. In his career, he directed 39 films and television programs, and worked on 16 as a second unit director, including the chariot race in Ben Hur (1959).
George Beals Schaller is an American mammalogist, biologist, conservationist and author. Schaller is recognized by many as the world's preeminent field biologist, studying wildlife throughout Africa, Asia and South America. Born in Berlin, Schaller grew up in Germany, but moved to Missouri as a teen. He is vice president of Panthera Corporation and serves as chairman of their Cat Advisory Council. Schaller is also a senior conservationist at the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society.
Gentle Giant is a 1967 American drama film about a young boy's friendship with an American black bear, based on the 1965 book Gentle Ben by Walt Morey. It was produced by Ivan Tors, directed by James Neilson and written by Edward J. Lakso and Andy White. The film stars Clint Howard, Dennis Weaver, Vera Miles, Ralph Meeker, Huntz Hall, and Bruno the Bear. The film was released on November 15, 1967, by Paramount Pictures.
Mark of the Gorilla is 1950 Jungle Jim film starring Johnny Weissmuller. It was the third in the series.
