Sometimes film and TV reunions are easy to come by. The various celebrity shows I attend always seem to highlight a few reunions at each and every show. But in the case of trying to meet up with the performers who portrayed Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers in The Six Million Dollar Man, and its eventual spin-off The Bionic Woman, it wasn’t exaclty handed to me on a silver platter. Although I infrequently tuned into either show as a kid, both characters were iconic forces for life in the seventies. At some point I know I at least picked up a Steve Austin doll at a garage sale. That eye thing was pretty weird.
I had never had the chance to meet either of the two actors who portrayed the characters, so it was somewhat of a coincidence that both of them were appearing the same weekend at separate events…in separate cities…both of which I was attending.
My encounter with Lindsay Wagner, who had played Jaime Sommers in three seasons of The Bionic Woman from 1976-78, after her character had been introduced on The Six Million Dollar Man, came first. Lindsay never appeared as a TV regular outside of The Bionic Woman, but she has starred in numerous TV movies and had appearances in many shows such as Night Gallery, The Rockford Files, and even a 1983 episode of The Fall Guy in which she reunited with her former counterpart. Her film appearances were scarce but she did star in The Paper Chase and Nighthawks among others.
She was appearing at the Fanboy Expo in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Friday, October 26, 2012. It scared me at first that she didn’t have any photos with Lee Majors on her table, as my plan was to get one from her for both to sign. Fortunately, her handler pulled one out from behind the table when I inquired. For $40 I kickstared my own personal reunion and got her to sign the photo and pose for a picture with me. I told her I’d be seeing Lee Majors the next day. She seemed excited and told me to tell him hi.
On Saturday, October 27, it was Lee Majors turn to have a run-in with me. He was making a rather rare appearance the Chiller Theatre Show in Parsippany, New Jersey. He had a long but manageable line that we got through in about ten minutes. In addition to having him sign my photo, I had also brought along a comic book from The Big Valley that had already been signed by Linda Evans, to get signed by Steve Cox. My autograph cost $40, while memorabila such as the comic book cost $50. The photo op was an additional $40, but I was so pleased to have this opportunity that I really didn’t care.
I was afraid that he might not be that pleasant, but he was nice and responsive when I told him that Lindsay had just signed the photo the day before and that she had sent along her greetings. He asked me what on earth I was doing in Knoxville, and then went on to say how great she was and that she had done a lot of work centered around women’s wellness.
I stopped back at the Fanboy in Knoxville the following day, and I should have thought to stop by Lindsay’s table and return the well-wishes from Lee, but I wasn’t thinking about much of anything at that point other than getting home. In any case, it was a mega-super cool pair of encounters.
Celebrities of the 2012 Knoxville Fanboy Expo will continue…
Celebrities of the Fall 2012 Chiller Theatre will continue…
What a great experience that must have been!
Dave Chasteen
November 4th, 2012
I was thrilled to have been a small part of this one.
And yes, no doubt Lindsay Wagner is best known as the Bionic Women, but her appearances on “The Rockford Files” — including the Pilot no less — will always be my favorite roles of hers. Thank you for mentioning that. I believe that the reason she didn’t show up on Rockford more often was because she landed the role of Jaime Sommers and that kept her quite busy.
Peter
November 4th, 2012