Lindsay Wagner

Lindsay Wagner Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: June 22, 1949

Age: 74 years old

Birth Place: Los Angeles, California

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).

Credits

When Jack Came Back

Actor
Nancy Davis
Movie
2023

Generation Gap

Guest
Game Show
2022

Christmas at the Ranch

Actor
Meemaw
Movie
2021

Christmas on the Range

Actor
Lillian McCree
Movie
2019

SamsonStream

Actor
Zealphonis
Movie
2018
25%

Mingle All the WayStream

Actor
Veronica Hoffman
Movie
2018

Eat, Play, Love

Actor
Rita Gilbert
Movie
2017

Forest Cove

Actor
Helen
Movie
2016

Love Finds You in Valentine

Actor
June Sterling
Movie
2016

A Child's Cry

Actor
Show
2013

The Thanksgiving House

Actor
Abigail Mather
Movie
2013

Comic Book MenStream

Guest
Reality
2012

AlphasStream

Guest Star
Dr. Vanessa Calder
Series
2011
81%

The Talk

Guest
Talk
2010

Billy: The Early Years

Actor
Morrow Graham
Movie
2008

Four Extraordinary Women

Actor
Anne
Movie
2006

The Surfer King

Actor
Connie Zirpollo
Movie
2006

The War at Home

Guest Star
Show
2005

Grey's AnatomyStream

Guest Star
Helen Karev
Series
2005
84%

Thicker Than Water

Actor
Jess Jarrett
Movie
2005

Buckaroo: The Movie

Actor
Ms. Ainsley
Movie
2005

NCISStream

Guest Star
Barbara Bishop
Series
2003

A Light in the Forest

Actor
Penelope Audrey
Movie
2002

Dude Ranch Days

Host
Show
1999

Voyage of Terror

Actor
Dr. Stephanie Tauber
Movie
1998

Frog and Wombat

Actor
Sydney Parker
Movie
1998

Their Second Chance

Actor
Barbara
Movie
1997

Contagious

Actor
Dr. Hannah Cole
Movie
1997

A Mother's Instinct

Actor
Raeanne Gilbaine
Movie
1996

Todo por Mi Hija

Actor
Kate Kerner
Movie
1995

Fighting for My Daughter

Actor
Kate Kerner
Movie
1995

Sins of Silence

Actor
Molly McKinley
Movie
1995

Dolor Eterno

Actor
Movie
1994

Once in a Lifetime

Actor
Daphne Fields
Movie
1994

Bionic Ever After?

Actor
Jaime Sommers
Movie
1994

Nurses on the Line

Actor
Movie
1993

Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7Stream

Actor
Elizabeth Hahn
Movie
1993

Lost in the Wild

Actor
Elizabeth Hahn
Movie
1993

To Be the Best

Actor
Paula O'Neill
Show
1992

She Woke Up

Actor
Claudia Parr
Movie
1992

Treacherous Crossing

Actor
Lindsey Thompson Gates
Movie
1992

A Message From Holly

Actor
Holly
Movie
1992

Fire in the Dark

Actor
Janet
Movie
1991

RicochetStream

Actor
DA Priscilla Brimleigh
Movie
1991
74%

Ricochet: Venganza Sin Límites

Actor
Movie
1991

Shattered Dreams

Actor
Charlotte Fedders
Movie
1990

Babies

Actor
Yvonne
Movie
1990

Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman

Actor
Jaime Sommers
Movie
1989

Voice of the Heart

Actor
Katharine Tempest
Movie
1989

Au delà de la nuit

Actor
Joanna
Movie
1989

Evil in Clear River

Actor
Kate McKinnon
Movie
1988

The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story

Actor
Uli Derickson
Movie
1988

Nightmare at Bitter Creek

Actor
Nita Daniels
Movie
1988

Terror en la Montaña

Actor
Movie
1988

Police Story: Burnout

Actor
Det. Sidney Shannon
Movie
1988

La randonnée tragique

Actor
Movie
1988

Historia Policiaca: Crisis

Actor
Movie
1988

Bitter Creek

Actor
Nita Daniels
Movie
1988

Young Again

Actor
Laura Gordon
Movie
1987

Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman

Actor
Jaime Sommers
Movie
1987

El Grito del Niño

Actor
Movie
1986

El Llanto de un Niño

Actor
Movie
1986

Child's Cry

Actor
Joanne Van Buren
Movie
1986

Convicted

Actor
Martha Forbes
Movie
1986

Stranger in My Bed

Actor
Beverly Slater
Movie
1986

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Actor
Show
1985

Un secret lourd

Actor
Movie
1985

The Other Lover

Actor
Claire Fielding
Movie
1985

This Child Is Mine

Actor
Bonnie Wilkerson
Movie
1985

Jessie

Actor
Dr. Jessie Hayden
Show
1984

Kate & Allie

Guest Star
Series
1984

Jessie

Actor
Dr. Jessie Hayden
Movie
1984

Passions

Actor
Nina Simon
Movie
1984

Martin's Day

Actor
Dr. Mennen
Movie
1984

Quiero Vivir

Actor
Movie
1983

Condamnation sans appel

Actor
Movie
1983

Princess Daisy

Actor
Francesca Valenski
Movie
1983

I Want to Live

Actor
Barbara Graham
Movie
1983

Two Kinds of Love

Actor
Susan Farley
Movie
1983

Memories Never Die

Actor
Joanne Tilford
Movie
1982

The Fall GuyStream

Guest Star
Series
1981

Callie e Hijo

Actor
Movie
1981

Nighthawks

Actor
Irene
Movie
1981

High Risk

Actor
Olivia
Movie
1981

Callie and Son

Actor
Callie Bordeaux
Movie
1981

À tout risque

Actor
Movie
1981

Scruples

Actor
Billy Ikehorn
Movie
1980

The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan

Actor
Jennie Logan
Movie
1979

The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel

Actor
Meg Laurel
Movie
1979

The Bionic WomanStream

Actor
Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman
Series
1976

The Bionic WomanStream

Guest Star
Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman
Series
1976

Second Wind

Actor
Linda
Movie
1976

The Rockford FilesStream

Guest Star
Sara Butler
Series
1974

The Rockford Files

Actor
Sara Butler
Movie
1974

The Six Million Dollar ManStream

Guest Star
Jaime Sommers
Series
1973

The Paper ChaseStream

Actor
Susan Fields
Movie
1973
81%

Two People

Actor
Deirdre McCluskey
Movie
1973

Night Gallery

Guest Star
Series
1970

Marcus Welby, M.D.Stream

Guest Star
Denise Malory
Series
1969

Today

Guest
News
1952

News aboutLindsay Wagner