Lindsay Wagner

Lindsay Wagner Bio

Lindsay Jean Wagner (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress whose career has spanned more than five decades across television, film, and motion capture. She is best known for her leading role as Jaime Sommers in the science fiction series The Bionic Woman, which ran from 1976 to 1978. Wagner first appeared as the character in crossover episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, and the role made her a pop culture icon of the 1970s. Her work has earned her an Emmy Award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a long list of credits in mainstream entertainment.

Wagner began acting professionally in 1971 and has continued to take on roles in both television and film in the decades since. She has also branched into writing, teaching, and advocacy work. In addition to her on-screen career, she has authored books on wellness and taught acting and directing courses at the college level.

Early Life and Background

Lindsay Jean Wagner was born on June 22, 1949, in Los Angeles, California. After her parents divorced, her mother remarried, and the family moved to Portland, Oregon. Wagner grew up in Portland and graduated from David Douglas High School. Her childhood in the Pacific Northwest shaped her early years before she set out to find her path in the entertainment industry.

Following high school, Wagner spent a couple of months in France before enrolling at the University of Oregon for one year. She then transferred to Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon, where she studied for six months. Wagner eventually left college and moved to Los Angeles to pursue work as a model and actress. She was later diagnosed with dyslexia, a challenge she has spoken about in interviews about her formative years.

Path to Celebrity

Wagner began her entertainment career in Los Angeles, where she worked as a model while gaining television experience. She appeared as a hostess on Playboy After Dark and was a contestant on the game show The Dating Game in 1969. In 1971, she signed a contract with Universal Studios, which launched her professional acting career and provided her with steady work in television productions during the early 1970s.

Her primetime network television debut came in the series Adam-12, in an episode titled “Million Dollar Buff.” She went on to appear in a dozen other Universal shows, including Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The F.B.I., Sarge, and Night Gallery. Between 1971 and 1975, Wagner appeared in five episodes of Marcus Welby, M.D. and in the 1974 pilot episode of The Rockford Files. Her growing experience on television set the stage for the role that would define her career.

Lindsay Wagner Career

Early Career (1969-1975)

During the early 1970s, Wagner established herself as a reliable presence on television through her work under contract with Universal Studios. Her first major film role came in 1973 when she was cast in Two People, a Universal feature that gave her her first lead on the big screen. That same year, she co-starred in the 20th Century Fox film The Paper Chase, playing the daughter of the stern law professor Kingsfield. These early roles helped her transition from television guest spots to more prominent film work.

Wagner also continued to appear in popular television programs of the era, building her reputation through consistent performances in dramas and procedural series. Her range during this period demonstrated her ability to handle both leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres.

Breakthrough (1975-1978)

Wagner’s breakthrough arrived in 1975 when she was cast as Jaime Sommers, a former tennis professional and childhood sweetheart of Colonel Steve Austin, on The Six Million Dollar Man. The character was critically injured in a skydiving accident and given bionic implants similar to Austin’s, but her body rejected them and she was written out of the series. Public response to the character was so strong that her death was reimagined as a cover story, and Wagner returned in a two-part episode that led to a spin-off series.

The Bionic Woman debuted in January 1976 and ran until 1978, with Wagner in the lead role. The show became a pop culture touchstone of the 1970s and earned Wagner an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Dramatic Role in 1977, making her the first actor or actress to win the award for a science fiction series. The role cemented her place in television history and remains the work for which she is most widely recognized.

Notable Works and Milestones

Beyond The Bionic Woman, Wagner appeared in several other well-known television and film projects, including the 1980 miniseries Scruples, the 1981 action film Nighthawks opposite Sylvester Stallone, and a series of made-for-TV Bionic reunion movies with Lee Majors between 1987 and 1994. In 2010, she began a recurring role as Dr. Vanessa Calder on the Syfy series Warehouse 13, later reprising the character on the sister show Alphas in 2011. In 2015, she appeared in NCIS as Barbara Bishop, and in 2018 and 2019, she played Helen Karev on Grey’s Anatomy. Wagner also lent her likeness and voice to the characters Bridget and Amelie Strand in the 2019 video game Death Stranding, her first role in interactive media.

Lindsay Wagner Award Nominations

Wagner has earned recognition from major entertainment organizations throughout her career, with nominations reflecting her sustained work across television and film. Her most prominent nomination was the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Dramatic Role, which she won in 1977 for The Bionic Woman. Additional nominations across her decades-long career have celebrated her range as a leading dramatic actress in science fiction, drama, and television film projects.

Lindsay Wagner Awards Won

Wagner’s career has been marked by several significant honors that highlight her contributions to television and her public image. In 1977, she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Dramatic Role for her performance in The Bionic Woman, becoming the first actor or actress to receive the award for a science fiction series. On December 13, 1984, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce presented her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Film, located on the north side of the 6700 block of Hollywood Boulevard. In 2012, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her. On October 18, 2019, the San Diego International Film Festival presented her with the Humanitarian Award.

Lindsay Wagner Family

Wagner has been married and divorced four times. From 1971 to 1973, she was married to music publisher Allan Rider. From 1976 to 1979, she was married to 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 (born 1982) and Alex (born 1986), and the couple divorced in 1984. Wagner married television producer Lawrence Mortorff in 1990, and they divorced three years later.

Personal Life

During the first year of The Bionic Woman, Wagner was the driver in a car accident with her then-boyfriend, actor Michael Brandon, in the passenger seat. Brandon suffered a serious eye injury, and Wagner received a severe cut on her upper lip that left a small but permanent scar. The accident halted production on the show for several weeks. Wagner was also scheduled to be a passenger on American Airlines Flight 191 from Chicago to Los Angeles on May 25, 1979, but skipped the flight after suddenly feeling ill; the plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 271 people on board. Wagner was a vegetarian for fifteen years and co-authored The High Road to Health: A Vegetarian Cookbook in 1990, though she returned to eating meat in 1999. She has also given seminars and workshops for her self-help therapy, “Quiet the Mind and Open the Heart,” which promotes spirituality and meditation.