Lucan
the Wolf Boy the- 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. NOTE: "Lucan"
is from the Greek word "Lykos",
meaning wolf. But in the series, 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.