Lindsay Wagner

Who Is Lindsay Wagner?

Lindsay Wagner is an acclaimed actress best known for her role in “The Six Million Dollar Man,” where she portrayed Steve Austin’s childhood sweetheart who later becomes bionic herself. The popularity of her character led to the creation of the spin-off series, “The Bionic Woman,” for which Wagner earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Throughout her career, Wagner has achieved significant success, appearing in over 40 television movies, five miniseries, and 12 feature films.

Early Life

Lindsay Jean Wagner, a distinguished actress, author, and activist, was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 22, 1949. Her father, William Wagner, was a professional photographer, and her mother, Marilyn Wagner, was a building contractor. Following their divorce when Wagner was seven years old, she relocated with her mother to Eagle Rock, a suburb of Pasadena, California.

Wagner’s introduction to acting was somewhat serendipitous. At the age of 12, while babysitting for the children of family friend James Best—who later gained fame on the TV show The Dukes of Hazzard—Best encouraged her to join his acting class. Wagner quickly became captivated by the craft. She had experienced severe ulcers during her childhood, and she later reflected that acting provided her a vital outlet for her pain. As she recalled, “Finally I had a place where I could express my pain, and I felt safe because I didn’t have to put my name on it. I think acting kept me alive back then.”

Aspiring Actress

Wagner made her onstage debut when Best cast her in a local production of Tennessee Williams’ This Property is Condemned. With striking beauty and a promising talent, she also ventured into modeling, often collaborating with her aunt, actress and model Linda Gray. However, Wagner’s burgeoning career faced a setback when her family relocated to Portland, Oregon, following her mother’s remarriage. She briefly attended the University of Oregon but left after a year due to challenges posed by dyslexia. At 19, Wagner left college and took a brief stint as the lead singer of a rock band before returning to Los Angeles to focus on acting.

Upon her return to Los Angeles, Wagner resumed modeling, appearing in several television commercials and serving as a hostess on Hugh Hefner’s talk show, Playboy After Dark. In 1971, she signed a contract with Universal Studios, earning $162 per week. That same year, Wagner made her television debut in an episode of the police drama Adam-12. Throughout the early 1970s, she continued to build her career with guest roles on various television shows, including a notable five-episode arc on Marcus Welby, M.D.

The Bionic Woman

In 1975, Universal Studios decided to release Lindsay Wagner from her contract, marking the end of her tenure with the studio. Her final role under this contract was a guest appearance on “The Six Million Dollar Man,” a popular series starring Lee Majors as the bionic secret operative Steve Austin. Initially, Wagner was hesitant to accept the role, but ultimately chose to participate as a birthday gift for her half-sister Randi, a fan of the show.

In the two-part episode titled “The Bionic Woman,” Wagner portrayed Jamie Sommers, a former tennis player and Steve Austin’s childhood sweetheart, who suffers severe injuries in a skydiving accident. Austin attempts to save Sommers by outfitting her with bionic limbs similar to his own. However, her body rejects the bionic components, leading to her death by the episode’s end. The episode resonated strongly with viewers, prompting Universal to receive an overwhelming amount of fan mail requesting her return. As a result, Wagner was offered a new contract at ten times her original salary, and her character was revived for additional episodes. The storyline was creatively adjusted to reveal that Sommers had not actually died but had been cryogenically frozen pending a cure for her injuries.

In 1976, Wagner’s character was given her own spin-off series, “The Bionic Woman,” which ran for three successful seasons and earned Wagner an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

The role of The Bionic Woman catapulted Wagner to iconic status and launched a distinguished acting career. Her notable achievements include roles in “Nighthawks” (1980) alongside Sylvester Stallone, “Callie and Son” (1981) with Michelle Pfeiffer, and several reunion films with Lee Majors. To date, Wagner has appeared in over 40 television movies, five miniseries, and 12 feature films.

Off Camera

A dedicated vegan and advocate of holistic medicine, Lindsay Wagner transitioned into writing in the late 1980s, co-authoring several influential books on health and beauty. Her notable works include Lindsay Wagner’s New Beauty: The Acupressure Facelift (1987), 30-Day Natural Facelift Program (1988), and The High Road to Health: A Vegetarian Cookbook (1990). In 1993, Wagner joined the board of directors for Teen Talking Circles (formerly the Daughters and Sisters Project), a nonprofit organization focused on aiding youth in their transition to adulthood. Additionally, in 2004, she co-founded the Peacemakers Community, an initiative aimed at preventing domestic violence.

Wagner has been married four times and has two sons, Dorian (born 1982) and Alex (born 1986), from her marriage to stuntman Henry Kingi, whom she met on the set of The Bionic Woman. While she continues to pursue acting, primarily in low-profile TV movies, Wagner also travels extensively throughout the United States and Europe, leading workshops and retreats. Her program, “Lindsay Wagner’s Quiet the Mind & Open the Heart Experiential Workshops and Retreats,” is designed to “awaken the joy, compassion, creativity, and loving nature that resides within us.”

Despite the diversity of her career pursuits—acting, writing, counseling, and leading retreats—Wagner emphasizes a unifying purpose in her life: “It’s about sharing,” she states. “You just give what you have to give wherever you go, and you let God handle the rest.”