Even though he's played many other roles, Lee Majors will always be known as the Six Million Dollar Man. He starred on the series of the same name from 1974 to 1978 after first appearing in TV movies about his character, Steve Austin, an astronaut who is made into a powerful, bionic man following an accident. The series proved popular and eventually launched a spinoff show and movie sequels.
Over the years, Majors has reflected on his time on The Six Million Dollar Man, as well as his work as an actor in general. He's also opened up about his four marriages, including his high-profile relationship with late ex-wife Farrah Fawcett. Read on to learn more about his life after the hit TV series.
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He's still working, after taking a hiatus from acting.
Markus Wissmann / ShutterstockMajors might be 82 years old, but he's not retired yet. He was already a successful actor before The Six Million Dollar Man thanks to his starring role on the western series The Big Valley. After The Six Million Dollar Man, he starred in the 1980s series The Fall Guy, as reprised his role as Steve Austin in Six Million Dollar Man sequel movies. Some of his more recent TV roles include Fuller House, Ash vs Evil Dead, the Dallas revival, and the Magnum P.I. reboot.
"After The Fall Guy, I took 10 years off and went to Florida," Lee told Closer Weekly in 2020. "I just had to take a break and while I was there, I only did some small independent films. When I came back, I started doing a lot of independents and a lot of comedies, actually, like Weeds and Community. It was good and in a way it kind of felt like I was starting over again."
The roles he's being offered have changed.
Paul Archuleta/Getty ImagesIn an interview with the Daily Mail in 2019, Majors talked about how the roles he takes on now are much different from his action hero days. "The hours are less, the shows are less. But it’s still fun," he said. "What else would I do? I used to be the hero. Now I play the hero’s father, next I’ll be playing his grandfather. But hey, I’m happy with that."
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He's married to his fourth wife.
Kathy Hutchins / ShutterstockMajors has been married four times. First, he was married to Kathy Robinson, with whom he shares a son, Lee Majors Jr. Then, he marred Fawcett. Next, he was married to Karen Velez, and they welcomed three children: Nikki, Dane, and Luke Majors. And, since 2002, Majors has been married to Faith Majors. "It is a record in Hollywood," he told People in 2019 of their lengthy marriage.
Majors has also opened up about his marriage to Fawcett, which took place when they were both at the height of their fame. "People tell me we were the Brad [Pitt] and Angelina [Jolie] of our time. And sadly that didn’t work out too good either," he told the Daily Mail. "One year I saw her no more than two weeks. I remember she was doing a movie in London over Christmas and I was shooting in Los Angeles, so I flew to England, spent Christmas Day with her, then flew back to start shooting again. It’s no way to keep a relationship together."
He now understands just how popular The Six Million Dollar Man was.
Tasia Wells/Getty ImagesMajors has said in interviews that he hadn't processed just how big of a show The Six Million Dollar Man was until years after the show went off the air.
"[F]or many years I never paid attention to anything other than my work," he told Uproxx in 2016. "Then I started traveling the country, around the world and stuff and then you go to some unique little village somewhere and they’d say, 'Oh, on Saturday night all the people would come from all over the village, the town and they had one TV to watch this bionic man.'"
He now attends fan conventions, where people have told him that they joined the armed forces or became an astronaut or engineer because of the show. And he's amazed by the medical and technological advancements that have taken place in real life. "You have some come up with new parts," he continued. "Bionic parts, you know what I’m saying? The legs and the arms and even some eye transplants now. They call it 'the bionic eye.' It’s just been amazing that that technology, that I was happy to have a part to push that along a little bit."
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