Lucan the Wolf Boy - The short-lived series
LUCAN/ABC/1977-78 (16 episodes - 4 unaired) told
the tale of Lucan the Wolf Boy (Kevin Brophy), a
youngster raised by feral wolves in the woods of
Northern Minnesota.
Found by a group of hunters in 1967, Lucan was
held for study against his will and used for
experimentation by a ruthless anthropologist
named Dr. Hoagland (John Randolph).
At the age of 20, Lucan escapes his captivity
(ending up in Los Angeles) and sets out to find
his parents and survive in "civilized" society.
On his trail is a bounty hunter named Prentiss
(Don Gordon).
Lucan used special inbred wolf-like senses that
he learned in the wild to elude his hunters and
to help others in distress.
Along the way, Lucan takes a job as a caretaker
for baby animals because he "speaks their
language," a construction worker, a prizefighter
and the protector of Russian gymnast in danger.
At one point, Lucan returned to his old forest
haunts to save his wolf friends from hunters.
Lucan's other traits included his preference of
sleeping in the daytime, his ability to run
really fast and to sense anyone following him.
TRIVIA NOTE:
"Lucan" is from the Greek word "Lykos", meaning
wolf. In the series, however, the recently captured
wild boy overheard the phrase "You Can" and
began to believe his name was "Lucan."
In real life, a case of a wild boy (Victor of Aveyron)
found by huntsmen in a French forest in 1798. He
was taken to a research facility and studied by
Dr. Jean Itard of the Deaf and Dumb Institute in
Paris. French filmmaker François Truffaut
adapted the storyline for his 1969 movie
L'Enfant sauvage (The Wild Child) starring
Jean-Pierre Cargol as Victor, the Wild Child.
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