Mara the Lioness Mara the Lioness Mara the Lioness is an animal actor who appeared as Elsa in the 1966 movie "Born Free", based on the true story of Elsa the Lioness raised by George and Joy Adamson. Mara was born in the wild in 1965, a premature cub abandoned by her mother during a violent rain storm. She was found lying on sodden ground, caked in mud on the plains of Masailand by Samwel, an African game scout and Larry Wateridge. Sick with hunger and in a semi coma, she was taken to a nearby coffee plantation in Kenya owned by British
Born Free The film was one of the most popular movies at the box-office in Britain during 1966. Won Nomination The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: The book "Born Free" (1960) was followed by two other books, "Living Free" (1961) and "Forever Free" (1963). In 1972, a film sequel entitled "Living Free" was released. While deriving its name from the second book, the film was based on the third book in the series. It starred Susan Hampshire and Nigel Davenport as Joy and George Adamson. A documentary follow-up to "Born Free", entitled "The Lions Are Free", was