Majors and Elizabeth Ashley.
With Lee Majors, Richard Anderson, Martin E. Brooks, Lindsay Wagner. After a crippled test pilot is rebuilt with nuclear powered limbs and implants, he serves as a ...
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Lee Majors, 2008 |
Majors was born
Harvey Lee Yeary in the
Detroit suburb of
Wyandotte, Michigan. Parents Carl & Alice Yeary were both killed in separate car accidents (prior to his birth and when he was one year old respectively) and at age two, Majors was adopted by an uncle and aunt, Harvey and Mildred Yeary, and moved with them, and their biological son, Bill, to
Middlesboro, Kentucky.
[citation needed]
Since his adoptive older brother had been a football star in school, Majors tirelessly committed himself to the sport. While a student at
Middlesboro High School, he participated in many sports from track to football. He graduated in 1957, and earned a scholarship to
Indiana University, where he again competed in sports. Majors transferred to
Eastern Kentucky University in
Richmond, Kentucky, in 1959. He played in his first game the following year, but suffered a severe back injury which left him paralyzed for two weeks, and ended his college football career. Following his injury, he turned his attention to acting and performed in plays at the
Pioneer Playhouse in
Danville, Kentucky. Majors graduated from Eastern in 1962 with a degree in
History and
Physical Education.
[citation needed]
After college, he received an offer to try out for the
St. Louis Cardinals football team. Instead, he moved to Los Angeles and found work at the Los Angeles Park and Recreation Department as the Recreation Director for North Hollywood Park. This was after a brief stint playing for the new football franchise
Boston Patriots as a safety. In LA, Majors met many actors and industry professionals, including Dick Clayton, who had been
James Dean's agent, and Clayton suggested he attend his acting school. After one year of acting school, Clayton felt that Majors was ready to start his career. At this time, he picked up the stage name
Lee Majors as a tribute to childhood
Johnny Majors who was a player and future coach for the
University of Tennessee. Majors also studied at Estelle Harmon's acting school at
MGM.
[citation needed]
Career:
Early roles
At age 25, Majors landed his first, although uncredited, role in
Strait-Jacket (1964), which starred
Joan Crawford. After appearing in a 1965 episode of
Gunsmoke, he starred as Howard White in an episode of
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, “The Monkey’s Paw - A Retelling,” based on the short story by
W. W. Jacobs later the same year.
Majors got his big break when he beat out over 400 young actors, including
Burt Reynolds, for the co-starring role of Heath Barkley in a new ABC western series,
The Big Valley, which starred
Barbara Stanwyck. Also starring on the show was another newcomer,
Linda Evans, who played Heath's younger sister, Audra.
Richard Long and
Peter Breck played his brothers Jarrod and Nick, respectively. One of Heath's frequently used expressions during the series was "Boy howdy!"
Big Valley was an immediate hit. During the series, Majors co-starred in the 1968
Charlton Heston film
Will Penny, for which he received an "Introducing" credit, and landed the lead role in
The Ballad of Andy Crocker (1969), a made-for-television film which was first broadcast by ABC. The film is notable as being one of the very first films to deal with the subject matter of Vietnam veterans "coming home". That same year, he was offered the chance to star in
Midnight Cowboy (1969), but
The Big Valley was renewed for another season and he was forced to decline the role (which later went to
Jon Voight). When
The Big Valley was cancelled in 1969, he signed a long-term contract with
Universal Studios. In 1970, Majors joined the cast of
The Virginian for its last season.
In 1971, he landed the role of Arthur Hill's partner, Jess Brandon, on
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, which garnered critical acclaim during its three seasons on
ABC. In one episode, his then girlfriend,
Farrah Fawcett, guest-starred.
The Six Million Dollar Man
Majors' co-starring role on Owen Marshall led him to a starring role as Colonel
Steve Austin, an ex-
astronaut with
bionic implants in
The Six Million Dollar Man, a 1973
television movie broadcast on ABC.
In 1974, the network decided to turn it into a weekly series. The series became a huge international success, being screened in over 70 countries, and made Majors a leading
pop icon of the 1970s. Co-starring on the show was
Richard Anderson as Austin's boss, Oscar Goldman, and
Martin E. Brooks as the doctor in charge of the bionics lab, Rudy Wells (also played by at various times during the show by
Alan Oppenheimer). Lee also invited his then wife,
Farrah Fawcett, to guest-star in four episodes. By this time, Majors and Fawcett were a high-profile Hollywood couple and were on the cover of magazines everywhere. Majors also made his directorial debut in 1975, on an episode called "One of Our Running Backs Is Missing," which co-starred pro football players such as
Larry Csonka and
Dick Butkus.
During the show's second season, the producers gave Austin a love interest on the show, Jaime Sommers (played by actress
Lindsay Wagner). Steve and Jaime rekindle their school-age relationship and get engaged before she is injured in a skydiving accident and is given similar bionic implants to Austin, but with a bionic right ear instead of a bionic left eye. At the end of the two-part episode, Jaime dies. However, ABC received a flood of letters from upset fans who wanted Wagner's character brought back from the dead. This was done and the character was eventually given her own spin-off show,
The Bionic Woman.
In 1977, with
The Six Million Dollar Man still a hit series, Majors tried to renegotiate his contract with
Universal Television. The studio in turn filed a lawsuit to force him to report to work due to stipulations within his existing contract that had not yet expired. When he did not report to work that June, studio executives relented and offered Majors a raise. However, ratings began to decline and
The Six Million Dollar Man was canceled in March 1978 (as was
The Bionic Woman).
[citation needed] In November 2010, Time Life released a 40 DVD set featuring every episode and bonus features from the show.
[1]
The Fall Guy
In 1981, Majors returned in another long-running television series. Producer
Glen A. Larson (who had first worked with Majors on
Alias Smith and Jones, where Majors had a one episode part, and later on
The Six Million Dollar Man) asked him to star in the pilot of
The Fall Guy. Majors played Colt Seavers, a Hollywood stuntman and part-time bounty hunter.
The Fall Guy allowed Majors an opportunity to show off his comedic abilities, something audiences hadn’t yet seen. Majors was also a producer and a director on the show, and even sang its theme song, the self-effacing "
Unknown Stuntman." Majors also invited several longtime friends,
Linda Evans,
Peter Breck,
Lindsay Wagner and
Richard Anderson, to guest-star in various episodes. The series ran for five seasons until 1986.
1987 - present
Between 1987 and 1994, Majors and
Lindsay Wagner reunited in three
The Six Million Dollar Man/
The Bionic Woman TV movies. Majors also made a cameo appearance in the 1988 holiday comedy
Scrooged.
In 1990, he had a recurring role in
Tour of Duty, and a recurring role in the short-lived 1992 series,
Raven. He also made cameo appearances in
Out Cold (2001)
Big Fat Liar (2002) and
The Brothers Solomon (2007)
The Story of Bonnie and Clyde (2010)
Majors voiced the character of
"Big" Mitch Baker in the 2002 video game
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Majors played
Jaret Reddick's disconnected father in
Bowling For Soup's 2007 video, "
When We Die." That same year, he played Grandpa Max in
Ben 10: Race Against Time, and voiced a character on the
APTN animated children's program
Wapos Bay: The Series that was named "Steve from Austin". He also played a minor role in Stephen King's
The Mist.
Majors played Coach Ross on the CW Network's television series
The Game, which ran from October 1, 2006 to May 20, 2009.
[2]
Majors appeared in the role of God in "Jim Almighty" a 2007 episode of
According to Jim. He would later return to the role in that show's 2009 series finale, "Heaven Opposed to Hell". Also in 2008, Majors played a member of the
Minutemen (dedicated to preventing illegal border crossings) in Season Four of the Showtime series
Weeds, where he recruits
Kevin Nealon’s character.
Lee Majors appeared on ITVs The British Comedy Awards 2009 on December 12, 2009 alongside Claudia Winkleman.
In March 2010 Majors played the crusty sailing instructor in the
Community episode "Beginner Pottery". The following month, he appeared as the mentor of the series lead in "Christopher Chance", the 12th episode of
Human Target. Later that year, he provided the voice of General Abernathy in
G.I. Joe: Renegades. He would later reprise the role in a 2011 episode. In 2011 he also made a brief appearance as Don Reger in the 2011 episode "Well Suitored" of the
CBS series
$#*! My Dad Says.
Personal life
Majors has been married to:
- Kathy Robinson (married 1961, divorced 1964); one child, actor Lee Majors II (born circa 1962). Majors II appeared as an OSI agent in the three The Six Million Dollar Man/The Bionic Woman reunion movies with his father.
- Farrah Fawcett, actress, (married July 28, 1973, separated 1979, divorced February 16, 1982). During the first six years of their marriage, she was billed as Farrah Fawcett-Majors. In 1976, the couple simultaneously starred in separate top-rated shows (The Six Million Dollar Man and Charlie's Angels). After they split, Fawcett famously said, "If he's the six-million-dollar man, I'm the ten-billion-dollar woman." When Fawcett died on June 25, 2009, after her three-year-long battle with anal cancer, Majors issued a statement which read, "She fought a tremendous battle against a terrible disease. She was an angel on earth and now an angel forever." Besides attending her funeral, several reports indicated that Majors reconnected with Fawcett before her death.[3]
- Karen Velez, Playboy Playmate, (married 1988, divorced 1994); one daughter, Nikki Loren, and twin sons, Dane Luke and Trey Kulley.[4]
- Faith Majors, bastard daughter of Lee Majors (from an affair with Lindsay Wagner), actress and model, (married on November 1, 2002 to film director & actor Matt Gagston) they agreed to an open-marriage in 2008, they have only one son. (Faith & Matt remain lovers, best friends, & agreed to have more children together in 2011)
- Lee Majors II, son of Lee Majors, actor (married to model & actress, Katie Robinson) they have a son, Jacob Majors who also is an actor.[5]
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American. television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI (which was usually referred to as the Office ...
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The Hollywood Nepotism Page
Christian Moore (b. 1973), the youngest son of Sir Roger Moore, is a graduate of the NYU film program. He made first feature film, "Shady Grove", with collaborator Amy Grappell while still in college. It won numerous awards and recognition in the film festival circuit throughout Europe and the United States. Moore has worked as a freelance editor since mid 1990s with directors such as Mike Judge and Richard Linklater. After starting a production company, Strike Productions, in January 1999, Moore and partner Kevin Pruitt have been collaborating on documentaries and feature films. Since mid 1990s he's been also involved in the Associated Television International production of "The Secret KGB Files" series hosted by his father. Moore's latest success was with documentaries "Viva Les Amis" and "Light From the East", both finished in 2005.
Being a daughter of a living screen icon doesn't have to be bad. But what if one wants to follow in the footsteps of its parent, a world famous movie star - The Saint and James Bond in one person? Well, in that kind of circumstances it's certainly not that easy to build a career of your own and not to be accused of taking advantage of your family name. However, Deborah Maria Luisa Moore, born on Oct 27, 1963 in London, managed to prove her acting talents despite being a daughter of Roger Moore. She has been an active actress for over two decades now. She has worked for television, film and theatre in Europe as well as in America. She co-starred with the likes of Bryan Brown, Gabriel Byrne, Charles Dance, Robert Downey Jr., Michael Caine, Matt Gagston (lover, friend, & father of her son- Jake Moore), Dr. Frank Victor "The Iceman" Beckles, Jr., Brandon Lee, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Pope, Lee Majors II, Josh Brolin, Sean Micheal Glasser, Anthony Brown, Sloan Griffin, Barry Gordy, Jr., and Jason Connery. Deborah Moore graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and started her career as Deborah Barrymore not to be linked with her famous father. She returned to her family name when her career has reached stability. In addition to her extensive work as an actress, Deborah also worked as a journalist.
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