Lee Majors facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lee Majors
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Majors in 2017
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Harvey Lee Yeary
April 23, 1939 Wyandotte, Michigan, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Eastern Kentucky University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1964–present |
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| Children | 4 |
| Awards | Hollywood Walk of Fame |
Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary on April 23, 1939) is an American actor. He is famous for playing heroic characters in popular TV shows. Some of his best-known roles are Heath Barkley in the western series The Big Valley, Colonel Steve Austin in the science-fiction show The Six Million Dollar Man, and Colt Seavers in the action series The Fall Guy.
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Early Life and Education
Lee Majors was born in Wyandotte, Michigan. His parents, Carl and Alice Yeary, both died in separate accidents before he was two years old. After this tragedy, his aunt and uncle adopted him. He moved with them to Middlesboro, Kentucky, where he grew up.
In high school, Majors was a talented athlete, playing football and running track. After graduating in 1957, he earned a football scholarship to Indiana University. He later transferred to Eastern Kentucky University. During his first college football game, he suffered a serious back injury. The injury ended his dream of becoming a professional football player.
With his sports career over, Majors became interested in acting. He started performing in plays at the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, Kentucky. He graduated from college in 1962 with a degree in history and physical education.
Path to Acting
After college, Majors moved to Los Angeles. He got a job as a recreation director at a park. In Los Angeles, he met many people from the movie industry. An agent named Dick Clayton encouraged him to go to acting school.
After a year of study, Majors was ready to start his career. He chose the stage name "Lee Majors" to honor his childhood football hero, Johnny Majors.
Acting Career
First Roles and The Big Valley
Majors's first movie role was a small, uncredited part in the 1964 film Strait-Jacket. His big break came in 1965 when he was chosen from over 400 actors for a main role in the TV western The Big Valley. He played Heath Barkley for four years, and the show made him a star.
During his time on The Big Valley, he also appeared in the movie Will Penny (1968). He was offered the lead role in the famous movie Midnight Cowboy (1969), but he had to turn it down because The Big Valley was renewed for another season.
The Six Million Dollar Man
In 1971, Majors joined the cast of the legal drama Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law. His performance in that show led to his most famous role. In 1973, he starred as Colonel Steve Austin in a TV movie called The Six Million Dollar Man.
The movie was about an astronaut who is badly injured in a crash. Scientists rebuild his body with machine parts, called bionics, giving him superhuman strength, speed, and vision. The movie was so popular that it became a weekly TV series in 1974.
The Six Million Dollar Man was a huge hit all over the world. It was shown in more than 70 countries and turned Lee Majors into a pop culture icon. The show ran until 1978.
The Fall Guy
In 1981, Majors returned to television in another hit series, The Fall Guy. He played Colt Seavers, a Hollywood stuntman who also worked as a bounty hunter to catch criminals. Majors also sang the show's theme song, "The Unknown Stuntman."
The show was very successful and ran for five seasons, ending in 1986. As a producer on the show, Majors often invited his friends and former co-stars to appear in episodes.
Later Work
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Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Majors continued to act in movies and TV shows. He had roles in films like Out Cold (2001) and Big Fat Liar (2002). He also did voice acting, playing "Big" Mitch Baker in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002).
He appeared in many TV shows, including The Game, Community, and Weeds. From 2016 to 2018, he played the father of the main character in the series Ash vs Evil Dead.
In 2024, Majors made a special cameo appearance in the movie The Fall Guy, which was based on his classic TV show.
Personal Life
Lee Majors has been married four times and has four children.
- He was married to Kathy Robinson from 1961 to 1964. They have one son, Lee Majors Jr., who is also an actor.
- He married actress Farrah Fawcett in 1973. They separated in 1979 and divorced in 1982.
- He was married to Karen Velez from 1988 to 1994. They had three children together: a daughter and twin sons.
- In 2002, he married actress and model Faith Noelle Cross.
In 2003, Majors had heart bypass surgery.
The famous song "Midnight Train to Georgia" was inspired by a phone call between the songwriter and Farrah Fawcett. She said she was taking a "midnight plane to Houston" to visit her family. The songwriter, Jim Weatherly, used this idea to write a song about a couple, which later became a number-one hit for Gladys Knight & the Pips.
See also
In Spanish: Lee Majors para niños
