Lee Majors looks back on the bionic man Bigfoot and Farrah Fawcett

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MOVIES TV COMICS GAMES Lee Majors looks back on the bionic man, Bigfoot and Farrah Fawcett Nov. 29, 2010 | 11:15 a.m. Lee Majors as Steve Austin on "The Six Million Dollar Man" (ABC) Almost 40 years ago, when he was considering the starring role in a television movie about a “bionic man,” Lee Majors had one major worry: “The big hits at the time were, like, Batman, youknow how campy that was,” Majors recalled. “I said, ‘If you’re thinking about making this a camp character, I don’t want to do it.’” “The Six Million Dollar Man” wasn’t camp at all, and that choice proved to be right on the money for the landmark sci-fi adventure series. But now, in a wry twist of fate, Majors is working withSyFy on a comedy spoof in which he is the bionic mentor to a younger hero. “Hey, what goes around comes around,” joked the easy-going Majors, who starred in eight television series– three of them big hits — and always looked so serene as he ran in slow motion through 1970s pop culture. The signature success of his career is now getting its due with the elaborate 40-disc boxed set “The Six Million Dollar Man: 7 21 55« PREVIOUS POST | NEXT POST » E-mail Print Read Later Latest MOVIES ANIME TOP 10: ‘Evangelion,’ ‘FullmetalAlchemist’ lead 2010 s best » TV VIDEO: ‘Family Guy: It’s a Trap!’ completes the Jedi joke trilogy » COMICS Frank Miller’s Christmas wish… » GAMES Guillermo del Toro: inSANE video gamewill be ‘immersive, powerful’ Lovecraftianadventure » @LATHerocomplex ANIME TOP 10: ‘Evangelion,’ ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’ lead 2010 s best http://lat.ms/flziIV -8 hours ago ‘Tron: Legacy’ is a heritagemoment for Steven Lisberger http://lat.ms/ic0ilN -11 hours ago VIDEO: ‘Family Guy: It’s a Trap!’completes the Jedi joke trilogy http://lat.ms/gkDx2A -12 hours ago VIDEO: ‘Family Guy: It’s a Trap!’ completes the Jedi joke trilogy »Curse of the Spider-Man? Fourth accident for troubled Broadwayproduction »‘The Hunger Games’star search: ‘There are no front-runners yet’ »BLOG INDEX Andre the Giant and Lee Majors (ABC)The Complete Collection ” ($239.95; TimeLife , available only at TimeLife’s website for a limited time and then later going on sale everywhere). Inside are all five seasons (1974 to 1978)packaged in individual boxes,along with the six original made-for-TV movies (three of themreunion projects in 1987, 1988 and 1994), all the crossover episodes with spin-off series“The Bionic Woman ” and hours of interviews and commentary tracks. It’s a bit staggering as a massive television time capsule, butMajors said he won’t be seeing a big check in the mail after the holiday shopping season. “If I seeany money from it, it’ll be very little,” the 71-year-old said affably, adding that he enjoyed hispeak fame long before anyone knew to ask for a cut of syndication and boxed-set sales. “But it’s agood excuse to get out and talk to people.” Majors is absolutely in public-engagement mode these days. For the first time in his life, Majors has begun to attend conventions, where he gets to see old friends like Richard Anderson and even Lindsay Wagner , not to mention fans clutching all sorts of toys. “It was amazing what people would bring in for me to sign,” says Majors, who also starred in “The Big Valley” and “The Fall Guy.” “There’s so much memorabilia I’ve never seen before. Board games, albums,comic books and all kinds of limbs from my body.”Curse of the Spider-Man? Fourth accident for troubled Broadwayproduction http://lat.ms/fdYjIA -13 hours ago ‘Tron: Legacy’: Leather,Lightcycles and futuristic fashion http://lat.ms/e86aVK -1 day ago Comments TLee on ‘The Hunger Games’ star search: ‘There are no front-runners yet’ TLee on ‘The Hunger Games’ starsearch: ‘There are no front-runners yet’ alexia on My Chemical Romance: Ourband was saved by comic books Emily on ‘The Hunger Games’ starsearch: ‘There are no front-runners yet’ justcastitalready on ‘The Dark Tower’:Ron Howard’s plans (and passion) forStephen King epic 'Red 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 300 A- Team Addams Family Alan Moore Alexander Skarsgard Alex Pham Alex Ross Alice in Wonderland Alien Amy Kaufman Andrew Garfield Animation anime Anne Rice Anthony Hopkins Archie Arnold Schwarzenegger Artist at Work Art Spiegelman Asterios Polyp Astro Boy Avatar Avengers Back to the Future Batman Battlestar Galactica BBC Ben Fritz Betsy Sharkey Blade Runner Boom! Studios Brad Meltzer Brad Pitt Brett Ratner Brian Azzarello Brian K. Vaughan Brian Michael Bendis broa Broadway Bruce Timm Bruce Willis Bryan Hitch Bryan Singer Buck Rogers Buffy the Vampire Slayer Caprica Captain America Charles Burns charles schulz Charles Solomon Chloe Moretz Chris Columbus Chris Evans Chris Hemsworth Chris Lee Chris Pine Christian Bale Christopher Nolan Christopher Reeve Chronicles of Narnia Chuck Jones Clash of the Titans Claudia Eller Clint Eastwood collecting Comic-Con Comic Book Store Clerks of America Conan conferences/panels conventions Coraline Cosplay Cowboys and Aliens Creature from the Black Lagoon crime Crime comics Daniel Craig Daniel Radcliffe Daredevil Dark HorseThe real Majors had open-heart surgery in 2003, but the work has been steady in recent years, such as playing God on “According To Jim ” and fun turns on the subversive Showtime hit ”Weeds ,” the NBC sitcom “ Community ” and the Fox action series “ Human Target ,” which is a contemporary counterpart in spirit to the bionic hit of the 1970s. The new work is what keeps Majors running, but he knows the boxed set will spark even more interest in his daysas the machine man of the ABC network. The show, based on the 1972 novel “ Cyborg “ by the late Martin Caidin , had plenty of touchstones, and the boxed collection runs with them. The set’s front features a 3D lenticular image of Majors in the role of Steve Austin , the astronaut who suffered massive injuries in a terrible crash but was implanted with cutting-edge technology that gave him superhuman speed,superhuman strength (in one arm) and superhuman telescopic vision (in one eye). Tilt the boxback and forth and Austin starts running. You have to provide your own metallic-echo sound effect the way kids have done in schoolyard exploits for decades, but open the lid and you hear Anderson’s voice-over intro to the series (“ Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology…” ). Majors has listened to fans recite that opening for decades. They also routinely mention twoelements of the show: the Bionic Woman (for which Wagner won an Emmy) and Bigfoot , the hirsute giant that gave Austin his most sizable challenge and, through the performance by 7- foot-4 wrestler Andre the Giant , an unforgettable image for fans of the show.Dark Shadows Darwyn Cooke David Duchovny David Eick David Mazzucchelli David Ng David Tennant David Yates Dawn C. Chmielewski DC Deadpool Dean Haspiel Deborah Vankin Dexter Dick Tracy digital comics Disney District 9 Doctor Who Dollhouse Don Cheadle Doonesbury Douglas Adams Dracula Drawn & Quarterly Dwayne Johnson E3 EC Ed Brubaker Edward James Olmos Eli Roth Emily the Strange Emma Stone Emma Watson Fantagraphics Fantastic Four Flash Gordon Forbidden Planet Forrest J. Ackerman Frank Beddor Frank Darabont Frankenstein Frank Frazetta Frank Miller Fringe G.I. Joe G4 gaming Gary Kurtz Geek Gift Guide Gene Roddenberry Geoff Boucher Geoff Johns George Lucas George Reeves George Romero Gerard Way Gerrick D. Kennedy ghostbus Ghostbusters Gina McIntyre Godzilla Gore Verbinski Grant Morrison greatest american hero Green Arrow Green Hornet Green Lantern Greg Braxton Guillermo del Toro Guy Ritchie H.P. Lovecraft Harrison Ford Harry Potter Harvey Pekar Hayao Miyazaki Heath Ledger Hellboy Henry Selick Hero Complex Film Festival horror hp lovecraft Hugh Jackman Hulk Human Target Hunger Games I, Spy Ian McKellen Inception Indiana Jones Iron Man Isaac Asimov J. J. Abrams J.K. Rowling J.R.R. Tolkien Jack Black Jack Kirby Jake Gyllenhaal James Bond James Cameron James McTeigue jason statham Jay West Jeff Bridges Jeph Loeb Jerry Bruckheimer jet li Jevon“We just got so much tremendous response from them,” Majors said about the multi-episode appearance of the creature. “Everybody loved them. People now believe there still is a Bigfoot. People go out there searching for this thing…. Andre was so big. We had this scene, we were out in the woods and he throws me about 10 yards and then he’s supposed to take a big run and jump up and land right on top of me. He throws me and I’m laying there and it’s a sunny day and the sun is in my eyes. All of a sudden, this dark cloud appears and he blocks the sun. I’mclosing my eyes and waiting to be pancaked. And he did not even touch me. That’s how good hewas. Those professional wrestlers are something else. That was one time I really thought I wasgoing to get it.” Majors knows about getting walloped. The Detroit native played football at Eastern Kentucky University but a severe back injury during a game left him incapacitated and unsure if he’d ever walk again. “I was in the hospital for two days, but it seemed more like two weeks,” Majors said. That ended his college career, and he headed to Los Angeles to take acting classes and worka job in the city parks system — a job he held even after landing the pilot for the western “ The Big Valley ,” starring Barbara Stanwyck . Aware of how fickle TV can be, Majors took a leave of absence on his city job rather than quitting outright. The skepticism lasted even after the series was picked up, and Majors only officially left his job a few years later. Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett from third season of "The Six Million Dollar Man"(Universal Television/ABC) The role of Heath Barkley on the show gave him a catch phrase – “ Boy howdy! ” – which might have been a lesser man’s only claim to fame. Indeed, when the show was unexpectedly picked up for a final season, Majors had to turn down a role in “ Midnight Cowboy .” Jon Voight famously went on wear the cowboy hat in that film, which won the Oscar for best picture of 1969. (On a positive note, a feature-film version of “The Big Valley” — with Majors now playing the father of Heath — is tantalizingly close to happening.)Phillips Jim Henson Jim Starlin Joe Johnston Joel Silver Joe Sacco Joe Simon John Carpenter John Horn John Lasseter John Milius John Noble Johnny Depp Jonah Hex Jon Favreau Joseph Kosinski Joss Whedon Joyce Farmer Jurassic Park Karate Kid Katniss Everdeen Kenneth Branagh Kenneth Turan Kevin Smith Kick Ass King Kong Kristen Stewart L.A. events Last Airbender League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Lego Leonard Nimoy Let Me In Liesel Bradner Lobo Lon Chaney Lord of the Rings Lost M. Night Shyamalan Mad Magazine manga Marc Guggenheim Marc Webb Maria Elena Fernandez Mark Milian Mark Waid Martin Campbell Marvel Mary McDonnell Mary McNamara Matt Damon Matthew Vaughn Matt Smith Merch Metropolis Michael Bay Michael Chabon Michael Ordoña Mike Mignola Mike Richardson Milla Jovovich MMORPG Moebius monsters motion comics Muppets Music Neal Adams Neil Gaiman Neill Blomkamp Nicolas Cage Ninjas Noelene Clark No Ordinary Family Nosferatu Olivia Munn Olivia Wilde Pan's Labyrinth Panzer 88 Patrick Day Patrick Stewart Paul Newman Paul Pope Paul W.S. Anderson Percy Jackson and the Olympians Peter Jackson Philip K. Dick Piranha 3D Pirates of the Caribbean Pixar Planet of the Apes Pokemon Politics Power Rangers Predator Prince of Persia promobox promobox-lede Quentin Tarantino Quizzam R. Crumb R.L. Stine Rachel Abramowitz Random silliness Ray Bradbury Rebecca Keegan Reed Johnson Religion review Richard Donner Rick Riordan Ridley Scott RIPD Robert Abele Robert Downey Jr. Robert Heinlein Robert Pattinson Robert Rodriguez Robert Zemeckis Robin Hood Robot Chicken Rocketeer Roger Corman Ron Howard Ron Moore Russell Crowe Ryan Reynolds Sam Mendes Sam Raimi Samuel L. Jackson Sam Worthington Sandman Saw Scarlett Johansson Scott Pilgrim vs the World Scott Timberg Scream 4 Scream Awards Seth Rogen sex Sgt. Rock Sherlock Holmes Shrek Signature Series Sigourney Weaver Simpsons Sin City Six Million Dollar Man Smallville Smurfs special effects Spider-Man Spiderman Stan Lee Stan Winston Stargate Star Trek Star Wars Stephenie Meyer stephen j. cannell Stephen King Steve Ditko Steve Niles Steven Moffat Steven Spielberg Steven Zeitchik Sucker Punch Super Superman Susan Carpenter Susan King Suzanne Collins Swamp Thing SXSW SyFy Sylvester Stallone Tarzan Taylor Lautner Television Terminator The Avengers The Cape The Crow The DarkMore TV work followed “Big Valley,” and Majors worked with talent like producer Aaron Spelling on an early TV movie about Vietnam vets and director Steven Spielberg in one of the wunderkind’s first assignments at Universal. Then came “The Six Million Dollar Man.” Like “The A-Team ” in the 1980s, it was a bloodless action show, one reason Majors believes it proved such a hit for families. “We never killed anybody,” says Majors. “We’d walk away [after a fight] and you’d see them getting up or rolling around. You knew they were alive. We didn’t use a lot of blood. It was basically a father-son, father-daughter show. A lot of kids watched it and they emulated it. Ihope I wasn’t responsible for any broken bones.” Majors insists that even though it and “The Bionic Woman” were in the Top 10, the impact the show had never really sank in. “When I was not working, I had a little place up in Arizona where I would spend my off time,” Majors said.“I didn’t have a television or a phone. I just fished andwould grow a beard and hide out. I knew it was a big show and in the Top 10 but I never thoughtabout how big it really was.” But surely the tabloid madness surrounding him and then-wife Farrah Fawcett couldn’t be ignored? “Well, we did have a problem then because she was doing ‘Charlie’s Angels,’” Majors says, moving on to discuss their divorce. “I saw her two weeks in one year, so that’s what happened tothat. It wasn’t anything other than we didn’t have time to see each other.” The 1980s brought the hit series “ The Fall Guy ,” which gave the guy’s-guy actor a chance to work with practically every stuntman in Hollywood. He hoped it would separate his career from his bionic days, and it did — to a degree. “I jumped at ‘The Fall Guy’ when it came along because I thought it might help me get rid of the Steve Austin image,” Majors said. “It didn’t, really.Everywhere you go that’s the one they remember. It doesn’t matter because I can say I’ve doneeight other series and I’m still working. I can say I wanna be just like Ernie Borgnine when Igrow up – 93 and still working.” – Michael GiltzRECENT AND RELATED Michael C. Hall on knives, stargazing and O.J SimpsonJoss who? Meet the writer of the new ‘Buffy’ film“True Blood” star finds his own voice in “Red Hill” It’s on: “Twilight” vs. “Buffy” A Whedon-less Buffyverse continues “True Blood” still “frustrating but not unlikable” “Sherlock” brings a new cranky genius to TVJennifer Love Hewitt revisits “Ghost Whisperer”‘Walking Dead’ as Gary Cooper in zombie hell? MORE IN: TV , SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN Comments (7) More Times Movies Coverage 24 FRAMES 'The Fighter' sisters, Round 2 » THE BIG PICTURE Net neutrality: The sky is falling, or not, with new FCCrules » COMPANY TOWN Call of Duty: Black Ops breaks billion-dollar salesbarrier » THE ENVELOPE Contender Q&A: Stephen Dorfftalks about 'Somewhere' » Who’s Behind the Mask? 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Back IssuesLee Majors is absolutely the coolest guy on the planet! I have loved him from day one and will continue to follow his work and admire him as an actor. I wish him only the best and continued success in life, he truly deserves it, what a humble human being for all that he has done! Amazing!! Reply how do these guys still look so good? Reply lee majors is the sexiest man i adore him i have several of his items from the show he will always bemy favorite actor. Reply The guy is a legend but hey Lindsay Wagner was beautiful Reply i love lee majors he is so hot and always will be may he continue great success in life. Reply he's also an awesome professional scuba diver, as seems as a frequent guest on 1980s Scuba Worldtelevision series... Reply very cool actor. very cool article. Reply Name Email Comments by If you are under 13 years of age you may read this message board, but you may not participate. Here are the full legal terms you agree to by using thiscomment form . 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Lee Majors looks back on the bionic man Bigfoot and Farrah Fawcett

📄 Lee Majors looks back on the bionic man Bigfoot and Farrah Fawcett

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