"Once you go inside and weed through the muck, you will find the real beauty, the truth about yourself." -- Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Jean Wagner (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. She is probably most widely known for her portrayal of Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman (for which she won an Emmy award), though she has maintained a lengthy career in a variety of other film and television productions since.
"A lot of people say they want to get out of pain, and I'm sure that's true, but they aren't willing to make healing a high priority. They aren't willing to look inside to see the source of their pain in order to deal with it.""And I can't tell you how many women from a certain age group - they would be in their 30s now, 20s and 30s - tell me about how I was their role model when they were young girls.""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.""I started taking acting classes when I was twelve.""I think it's safe to say that each of us has at least one issue we are passionate about and struggle with, issues that robs us of our peace, our joy and our ability to experience love.""I've experienced several different healing methodologies over the years - counseling, self-help seminars, and I've read a lot - but none of them will work unless you really want to heal.""It's about sharing. You just give what you have to give wherever you go, and you let God handle the rest.""The fact that it's science fiction gives you the license to do anything you want to do.""Then no matter what goes on around you in the physical universe, hang on to what you know.""There is only one issue: man's lack of experience in feeling his Divine self and his innate connection with the Divine. All other issues stem from this."
Wagner was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Marilyn Louise (née Thrasher) and William Nowels Wagner. When she was seven years old, her parents divorced and her mother moved with her to the northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock, near Pasadena. Another move with her mother and stepfather (Ted Ball) brought her to Portland, Oregon, where she attended David Douglas High School and appeared in a number of school plays. She studied at the University of Oregon.
Wagner worked as a model in Los Angeles, and gained some television experience by appearing as a hostess in Playboy After Dark. Her debut in prime-time network television was in a 1971 episode of Adam-12. However, it was not until she contacted a friend at Universal Studios and was cast in a small part in Marcus Welby, M.D. that her acting career gained momentum. Her appearances helped her win roles in the films Two People and The Paper Chase. Wagner played a total of four different roles on the Marcus Welby, M.D. series between 1971-75, as well as a recurring guest role in The Rockford Files.
In 1975, Wagner played the role of Jaime Sommers, a former tennis pro who was the childhood sweetheart of Six Million Dollar Man, Steve Austin (played by Lee Majors). In a two-part episode entitled "The Bionic Woman", Jaime was critically injured in a skydiving accident and, at Steve's request, she was equipped with bionic limbs similar to his own (with the exception of his bionic eye, as Jaime was equipped with a bionic ear instead). Unfortunately, Jaime's body rejected her new bionics and she later died.
This was intended to be Wagner's last role under her Universal contract, but public response to the character was so overwhelming that Jaime was "brought back to life" first in a two-part episode entitled "The Return of the Bionic Woman" in The Six Million Dollar Man and soon later she got own spin-off series, The Bionic Woman (it was discovered that Jaime hadn't really died but had been put into cryogenic suspension until she could be cured). Like Steve, Jaime became an agent for the U.S. Government agency, the O.S.I., though, suffering from amnesia, she could not remember her love for Steve. However, the two would team up for several crossover episodes throughout the series' run. The role earned Wagner an Emmy Award for "Best Actress in a Dramatic Role" in 1977.
Following the cancellation of The Bionic Woman in 1978, Wagner continued to act, predominantly in television mini-series and made-for-TV movies. These included the highly rated 1980 mini-series Scruples, as well as three made-for-TV Bionic reunion movies with Lee Majors between 1987 and 1994. Also in the 1980s, Wagner co-starred alongside Sylvester Stallone as his ex-wife in his 1981 movie Nighthawks and starred in two more weekly television series; Jessie (1984) and A Peaceable Kingdom (1989), though both of these were short-lived.
Wagner continued to act in the 1990s and 2000s, though in less prominent roles, such as the action movie Ricochet (1991), Her most recent projects have included the 2005 telemovie, Thicker than Water, with Melissa Gilbert, Buckaroo: The Movie (2005), and, Four Extraordinary Women (2006). Wagner also appeared as a guest star in an episode of Warehouse 13 (2010) on the SYFY channel.
In 1987, Wagner wrote a series of books with Robert M. Klein about using acupressure to achieve results akin to a surgical facelift. Wagner was the spokesperson for Ford Motor Company. Wagner also appears in infomercials for Select Comfort's Sleep Number bed.
More recently, Wagner has given seminars and workshops for her self-help therapy, "Quiet the Mind & Open the Heart", which promotes spirituality and meditation.
Wagner lived with Capt. Daniel M. Yoder USAF, until he went to Vietnam. She has been married four times. From 1971—73, she was married to music publisher Allan Rider. From late 1976—79, she was married to the actor Michael Brandon. In 1981, she married stuntman Henry Kingi whom she met on the set of The Bionic Woman. Wagner had two sons with Kingi; Dorian (b. 1982) and Alex (b. 1986). She and Kingi eventually divorced. Wagner married TV producer Lawrence Mortorff in 1990, but they also divorced a couple of years later.
Wagner at one time was related to Dallas star Linda Gray, as Gray was once married to Wagner's uncle, Ed Thrasher. Wagner and Gray also played romantic rivals in the television movie The Two Worlds of Jenny Logan (1979).
Civic activities
Wagner is on the board of directors of the Teen Talking Circles Project (formerly The Daughters Sisters Project) and is an active supporter of Girls Talking Circles.
