Lee Majors

Biography

Majors, real name Harvey Lee Yeary, was not yet born when his father died in an industrial accident March 1939. Tragically, his mother died only 18 months later, in a car crash.

Majors was taken in by his aunt and uncle, and, upon finding he was adopted, he strove to prove himself to them through sport.

A football star at Eastern Kentucky State College, Lee Majors graduated with a physical education degree in 1962. However, whilst there, a severe back injury put an end to his promising athletic career.

He married his first wife Kathy in 1961, and their son, Lee II, was born in 1962. Upon receiving a park recreation director position for the City of Los Angeles, he moved his family there in 1963.

After making connections through the users of the park, Majors entered show-business in 1963, by enrolling at the MGM drama school.

Marketed as another 'new James Dean', he landed a small role in the Joan Crawford movie, 'Strait-Jacket', in 1964, and also appeared in 'Gunsmoke' and the 'Alfred Hitchcock Hour' episode, 'Monkey’s Paw'.

His big break came in 1965 when, beating off Burt Reynolds, he won the part of Heath Barkley, in a new Western series called 'The Big Valley', which he starred in from 1965 to 1969.

Majors also landed a role in the Charlton Heston film, 'Will Penny', in 1968, the same year he started dating the starlet Farah Fawcett.

Perhaps his most famous role of all arrived in 1973, with 'The Six Million Dollar Man' in which Majors played the bionic Steve Austin.

Fawcett, becoming his wife the same year, became instantly famous through starring in 'Charlie’s Angels', and the couple were cover stars everywhere.

Struggling to make it in film, Majors returned to television in 'The Fall Guy', in 1981. He separated from Fawcett in 1982.

Since leaving 'The Fall Guy' in 1986, Majors has pursued a number of television films, and continues to make appearances regularly.