 | ||||||
| ||||||
Lee Majors (born April 23, 1939) is an American actor, primarily known for several high profile roles on television in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.
Majors is known for his roles as Barbara Stanwyck's husband's illegitimate son, Heath Barkley, in The Big Valley (1965–1969), as Arthur Hill's law partner/friend, Jess Brandon, in Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law (1971–1974), as Colonel Steve Austin, in The Six Million Dollar Man (1974–1978), and as Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy (1981–1986). He also had a recurring role as Col. Seymour Kooze in Son of the Beach.
Majors was born Harvey Lee Yeary on April 23, 1939, in the Detroit suburb of Wyandotte, Michigan. He was the only child of Carl Yeary, who was killed in a work-related accident before Harvey was born, and Alice Yeary, who was killed in a car accident when her son was a year old. At age two, Yeary was adopted by an uncle and aunt, Harvey and Mildred Yeary, and moved with them to Middlesboro, Kentucky, where they already had another son, Bill.
Since his adoptive older brother had been a football star in school, Yeary tirelessly committed himself to the sport. While a student at Middlesboro High School, he participated in sports, from track to football. He graduated in 1957, and earned a scholarship to Indiana University, where he competed in more sports. Yeary left Indiana in 1959 and transferred to Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky, after he got into a fight at a fraternity house. 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.
He then turned his attention to acting and performed in plays at the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, Kentucky. Yeary graduated from Eastern in 1962 with a degree in History and Physical Education.
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. There, Yeary met many actors and industry professionals, including Dick Clayton, who had been James Dean's agent. Clayton suggested he attend his acting school. It took one year of studying in order for Clayton to help the newly christened Lee Majors start his career. Lee also studied at Estelle Harmon's acting school at MGM. At 25, Majors landed his first role in Strait-Jacket (1964), which starred Joan Crawford.
Majors chose his stage surname because of his childhood hero Johnny Majors who was a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy at the University of Tennessee and was later the head football coach.
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. Majors went on to do some films such as Will Penny (1968) with Charlton Heston. Majors got a lead role in “The Ballad of Andy Crocker”, a 1969 American 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 went to Jon Voight. When The Big Valley was finally 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 for three seasons on ABC. In one episode, his girlfriend, and future wife, Farrah Fawcett, guest-starred.
Majors' co-starring role on Owen Marshall led him to a starring role as Colonel Steve Austin, an ex-astronaut with bionic limbs 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 Steve Austin's boss, Oscar Goldman, and Martin E. Brooks as Austin's doctor, Rudy Wells (initially played 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 in which Fawcett appeared.
During the show's third season, the producers gave Steve Austin a love interest on the show, Jaime Sommers (played by actress Lindsay Wagner). Steve and Jaime are romantically linked before she is injured in a skydiving accident and is bionically rebuilt, comparable to him except with a bionic ear instead of a bionic eye. At the end of the two-part episode, Jaime dies. 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 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 didn’t 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).
Majors first major foray into feature films was a co-starring role in the 1968 Charlton Heston film Will Penny, where he received an "Introducing" credit. After his role as Steve Austin, Majors starred in several movies: The Norseman (1978), Steel (1979), Killer Fish (1979), Agency (1980), The Last Chase (1981), and also made cameo appearances in Scrooged (1988) Out Cold (2001) Big Fat Liar (2002) and The Brothers Solomon (2007) The Story of Bonnie and Clyde (2010)
In 1981, Majors returned to television. 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 "The Unknown Stuntman." Majors also invited several longtime friends, Linda Evans, Peter Breck and Richard Anderson, to guest-star in various episodes. The series ran for five seasons until 1986.
After The Fall Guy, Majors' career became more low-key, and he made a series of made-for-TV movies and several pilots for unsuccessful TV shows. Between 1987 and 1994, he and Lindsay Wagner reunited in three The Six Million Dollar Man/The Bionic Woman TV movies. In 1990, he had a recurring role in Tour of Duty, and a recurring role in the short-lived 1992 series, Raven.
In the middle of 2003, Majors had single heart bypass surgery.
I was never into my looks. What's important to me is my health and family
Lee Majors
Lee Majors was a star athlete in high school and is a member of the Middlesboro High School sports hall of fame; the school later named their football field Lee Majors Field.
Lee Majors
| ||||||
Harvey Lee Yeary
23 April 1939, Wyandotte, Michigan
| ||||||
Son, with Kathy Robinson, Lee Majors II.
Children, with Karen Velez: daughter Nikki Majors and twin sons Dane and Trey.
Turned down the Mac Davis role in North Dallas Forty (1979) in favor of an independent production that never got off the ground.
Suffered three separate whippings in "The Big Valley" (1965). In a Mexican jail in "Legend of a General" shown 9-19-66. In a penal camp in "The Iron Box" shown 11-28-66. At the hands of a religious sect in "Journey into Violence" shown 12-18-67.
Landed the role of Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy (1969) but "The Big Valley" (1965) was picked up for another year and was contractually obligated to pass on the role, which was then made famous by Jon Voight.
Starred concurrently in two TV shows at the same time - Playing Jess Brandon in "Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law" (1971) and Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man (1973) (TV) TV movies.
Lee is not related to Johnny Majors, the 1956 Heisman Trophy runner-up at Tennessee, and became a great college football coach at Iowa State, Pitt and Tennessee. Lee adopted Majors' name after meeting him and becoming friends.
Signature exclamation as Heath Barkley in "The Big Valley" (1965) was "Boy, Howdy!".
His hometown is Middlesboro, Kentucky.
In 1976 he and wife Farrah Fawcett made TV history - a husband and wife each starring in separate top-rated shows.
Prior to getting his big break, Lee Majors was the limo driver for producer Jim Barnett, the man who created the TV show "World Championship Wrestling."
Graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky.
Was one of the judges in 1981 Miss Universe pageant.
Was played by Ben Browder in Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels' (2004) (TV).
He entered Indiana University on a football scholarship but was expelled two years later for his involvement in a fraternity fight. After transferring to Eastern Kentucky University, a game injury paralyzed him from the waist down for two weeks. That revealed a condition of congenital spondylolisthesis, an alignment defect of the spine, and he was forced to leave what was beginning to look like a great football career.
Best known by the public for his starring roles as Col. Steve Austin in "The Six Million Dollar Man" (1974) and as Colt Seavers in "The Fall Guy" (1981).
Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Paul Newman and James Dean are his idols.
Before he was an actor, he did everything from working as a high school teacher to a recreational director.
His ex-wife Farrah Fawcett died in 2009, after a long battle against cancer.
| ||||||
