Lindsay Wagner


Actor

About

Also Known As
Lindsay Jean Wagner
Birth Place
Los Angeles, California, USA
Born
June 22, 1949

Biography

A tall, blonde actress who went from playing "The Bionic Woman" to becoming one of the most prolific TV-movie queens in the history of the genre, Lindsay Wagner managed to convey a quiet intelligence in her roles, whether through tears or athletics, or even pitching for Ford automobiles, as she has done in numerous TV commercial spots since the late 1980s.Wagner once described her birthp...

Family & Companions

Allan Rider
Husband
Music publisher. Divorced.
Michael Brandon
Husband
Actor. Married in 1976; divorced.
Henry Kingi
Husband
Stuntman. Divorced.
Larry Mortoff
Husband
Film producer. Married 1990; fourth husband; filed for divorce June 1993.

Biography

A tall, blonde actress who went from playing "The Bionic Woman" to becoming one of the most prolific TV-movie queens in the history of the genre, Lindsay Wagner managed to convey a quiet intelligence in her roles, whether through tears or athletics, or even pitching for Ford automobiles, as she has done in numerous TV commercial spots since the late 1980s.

Wagner once described her birthplace as an "Hispanic slum in L.A." (although her ancestry was not specified as Latino). When she was 13, she became a Nina Blanchard model, but at age 14, began suffering from ulcers, a condition which lasted until she was 21 years old. Wagner quit modeling when she was 16, drifting into acting after dropping out of the University of Oregon after only two semesters. A meeting with a Universal casting director led to a role on "Marcus Welby, M.D." and a contract with the studio.

Wagner made her feature film debut in 1973 in Universal's "Two People," in which she was a West Virginian-born model who becomes involved with Peter Fonda, an army deserter. That same year, she starred in "The Paper Chase," playing the daughter of John Houseman and the object of Timothy Bottoms' affections. Although she would later play Sylvester Stallone's lady love in "Nighthawks" (1981), and also co-star in "Ricochet" (1991), TV beckoned early on in Wagner's career. In 1975, she made appearances on "The Six Million Dollar Man," as the female cyborg counterpart to Lee Majors' Colonel Steve Austin. In 1976, ABC gave her own series, "The Bionic Woman," which ran for a season on that network, a season on NBC, and made Wagner not just one of the first female action stars, but also won her an Emmy for her performance. She became a TV star, even headlining her own ABC variety special in 1977 called "Lindsay Wagner: Another Side of Me."

Although Wagner would later return to her Bionic character in TV-movies alongside Majors in the late 80s and early 90s, after the demise of the initial series run, she quickly moved into what would become her staple: playing thoughtful, intelligent women who find their strength and win the day in TV movies. While TV-movies were a staple of the small screen before Wagner began doing them, along with Jaclyn Smith, she all but defined the prototypical leading lady character in them. In 1979, Wagner starred in "The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan" and "The Incredible Journey of Dr. Meg Laurel" (both CBS). In the latter, she was a big city physician returning to her back-country roots. In 1980, she was the rags-to-riches boutique owner Billy Ikehorn in the CBS miniseries "Scruples," based on the Judith Krantz novel, and was in the Krantz-inspired "Princess Daisy" (NBC) in 1983. She was a mother returning to her family after years in a mental institution in "Memories Never Die" (CBS, 1982), recreated the role of Barbara Graham in the TV version of "I Want to Live" (ABC, 1983) and was a farm wife who creates havoc in a small town when she takes on the mayor, who is teaching anti-Semitic concepts in her son's high school history class in "Evil in Clear River" (ABC, 1988). Wagner was the flight attendant coping with a hijacking in "The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story" (NBC, 1989), the battered wife of a government official in "Shattered Dreams" (CBS, 1990), and a woman posing as a hooker to save her daughter in "Fighting for My Daughter" (ABC, 1995). Through this river of tears and trauma, Wagner did do a turn at comedy as a school principal in "Student Exchange" (ABC, 1987).

With her iconic show a hard act to follow, Wagner was less successful in attempts at series since her "Bionic" days. "Jessie" (ABC, 1984), in which she played a police department psychiatrist, failed, as did "Peaceable Kingdom" (CBS, 1989), in which she was the managing director of a zoo raising her three children on-site. Wagner's mellifluous voice has also been used for narration and she has hosted reality specials and series, such as "Scandals" (ABC, 1988) and "Against All Odds" (NBC, 1992).

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Mingle All the Way (2018)
Billy: The Early Years (2008)
The Surfer King (2007)
Four Extraordinary Women (2006)
Frog and Wombat (1998)
Sydney Parker--Frog'S Mom
Contagious (1997)
Hannah
Their Second Chance (1997)
Barbara Colvin
Sins of Silence (1996)
Molly Mckinley
A Mother's Instinct (1996)
Raeanne
Fighting For My Daughter (1995)
Bionic Ever After? (1994)
Once in a Lifetime (1994)
Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7 (1993)
Elizabeth Hahn
A Message from Holly (1992)
Holly
Treacherous Crossing (1992)
She Woke Up (1992)
Fire in the Dark (1991)
Ricochet (1991)
Shattered Dreams (1990)
Charlotte Fedders
Babies (1990)
Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1989)
Nightmare At Bittercreek (1988)
Nita
The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story (1988)
Burnout (1988)
Evil in Clear River (1988)
Kate Mckinnon
Stranger in My Bed (1987)
Beverly Slater
Student Exchange (1987)
The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1987)
Convicted (1986)
Martha Forbes
Child's Cry (1986)
Young Again (1986)
Laura Gordon
This Child Is Mine (1985)
The Other Lover (1985)
Passions (1984)
Nina Simon
Martin's Day (1984)
Dr Mennen
Two Kinds of Love (1983)
Susan Farley
I Want to Live (1983)
Barbara Graham
Memories Never Die (1982)
Joanne Tilford
High Risk (1981)
Nighthawks (1981)
Callie & Son (1981)
Callie Lord
The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel (1979)
Dr Meg Laurel
The Two Worlds Of Jenny Logan (1979)
Jennie Logan
Second Wind (1976)
Linda
The Rockford Files (1974)
The Paper Chase (1973)
Two People (1973)
Deirdre Mccluskey

Producer (Feature Film)

Shattered Dreams (1990)
Co-Executive Producer

Cast (Special)

Ennis' Gift: A Film About Learning Differences (2002)
Dude Ranch Days (1999)
Host
Intimate Portrait: Barbara Taylor Bradford (1999)
Intimate Portrait: Lindsay Wagner (1999)
Interviewee
Disney's Most Unlikely Heroes (1996)
The Secret Of... (1995)
Host
Bob Hope's Christmas Show: Hopes For the Holidays (1994)
51st Annual Golden Globe Awards (1994)
Presenter
Best Sellers: Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them: The Relationship (1994)
TV Guide: 40th Anniversary Special (1993)
The Walt Disney Company Presents the American Teacher Awards (1993)
Presenter
The Essence Awards (1993)
Presenter
Untold Stories: The Search For Amelia Earhart (1992)
Host
Voices That Care (1991)
Welcome Home, America! - A USO Salute to America's Sons and Daughters (1991)
The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz: 50 Years Of Magic (1990)
Queen of the Beasts (1989)
Narration
CBS Premiere Preview Spectacular (1989)
Scandals (1988)
Host
Once Upon Her Time (1988)
Host
Ahimsa: Non-Violence (1987)
Narrator
Disney's Golden Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1987)
Star Search (1983)
Windows, Doors and Keyholes (1978)
Lindsay Wagner: Another Side of Me (1977)
Host

Music (Special)

Disney's Golden Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1987)
Song Performer

Cast (TV Mini-Series)

Voyage of Terror (1998)
To Be the Best (1992)
Paula O'Neill
Voice Of The Heart (1990)
From the Dead of Night (1989)
Princess Daisy (1983)
Francesca Valenski
Scruples (1980)

Life Events

1962

Was Nina Blanchard model

1971

Signed contract with Universal Studios

1973

Made first screen appearances in "Two People" and "The Paper Chase"

1975

Appeared on "The Six Million Dollar Man" as Jaime Sommers

1977

Starred in own network variety special, "Lindsay Wagner: Another Side of Me"

1979

Began reign as TV-movie queen with "The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan" and "The Incredible Journey of Dr. Meg Laurel"

1980

Starred in first miniseries, "Scruples"

1981

Co-starred as Sylvester Stallone's love interest in "Nighthawks"

1984

Starred in ABC series "Jessie"

1988

Hosted "Scandals"; became Southern California spokesperson for Ford automobiles

1989

Starred in short-lived CBS series, "Peaceable Kingdom"

1995

Starred in TV-movie "Fighting for My Daughter"

2005

Played a California rancher in the Hallmark TV movie "Thicker Than Water" opposite Melissa Gilbert

2010

Joined the cast of "Warehouse 13"

2013

Appeared in the TV movie "The Thanksgiving House"

Family

Bill Nowels Wagner
Father
Marilyn Louise Wagner
Mother
Dorian Kingi
Son
Born c. 1982.
Alex Nathan Kingi
Son
Born in September 1986.

Companions

Allan Rider
Husband
Music publisher. Divorced.
Michael Brandon
Husband
Actor. Married in 1976; divorced.
Henry Kingi
Husband
Stuntman. Divorced.
Larry Mortoff
Husband
Film producer. Married 1990; fourth husband; filed for divorce June 1993.

Bibliography