When Wagner was seven, her parents divorced and her mother moved with her to the northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock, near Pasadena. Wagner might have been able to begin her acting career as a teenager. She was offered a lead role in a TV series at age 13, but was advised by family friend James Best to wait until she was older.
Another move with her mother and stepfather brought her to Portland, Oregon where she attended David Douglas High School and appeared in a number of school plays. She studied at the University of Oregon, overcoming dyslexia to become a successful student. She worked as a model in Los Angeles and gained some television experience by appearing in ''Playboy After Dark''.
However, it wasn't until she contacted a friend at Universal Studios and was cast for a small part in Marcus Welby, M.D. that her acting career took off. Her appearances helped her win roles in the films ''Two People'' and as the girl friend of a Harvard law student in ''The Paper Chase''.
Wagner then played Jaime Sommers, a former tennis pro who was the childhood sweetheart of ''The Six Million Dollar Man''. Jaime was critically injured in a skydiving accident, and at the urging of Steve Austin, was equipped with bionic limbs. But Jaime's body rejected the bionics, and she died.
This was intended to be Wagner's last role under her Universal contract, but public response was so overwhelming that Jaime was brought back to life with her own spin-off series, ''The Bionic Woman''. This role earned her an Emmy award in 1976. Like Steve Austin, Jaime became an agent for the fictitious U.S. Government agency, the O.S.I., though, suffering from amnesia, she could not remember her crush on Austin.
Wagner has been married four times. From 1971-73 she was married to music publisher Allan Rider. From late 1976 through 1979, she was married to the actor and writer, Michael Brandon. Then in 1981, she married to Henry Kingi, a stuntman whom she met on the set of '' The Bionic Woman''. Wagner bore two sons with Kingi; Dorian (b. 1982), and Alex (b. 1986). Lindsay married TV producer Lawrence Mortorff in 1990, but then divorced a couple of years later. She is related to Linda Gray by marriage, since Gray's husband is one of Lindsay's uncles.
Wagner continues to act. Her largest roles have been in several made-for-TV movies about Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers. In the final installment, the pair finally hook-up in holy matrimony.
Wagner is on the board of directors of the ''Teen Talking Circle Project'' (http://www.teentalkingcircles.org) and is an active supporter of ''Girls Talking Circles'' (http://www.daughters-sisters.org). Recently, she appeared in infomercials for Select Comfort's Sleep Number Bed.
Trivia
Wagner was scheduled to be a passenger on American Airlines Flight 191 from Chicago to Los Angeles on May 25, 1979, but she felt uneasy about flying that day. Wagner skipped the flight, which crashed only moments after takeoff, killing everyone on board.Played convicted killer Barbara Graham in a 1983 version of ''I Want to Live!''
External links
*Lindsay Wagner's Official Fan Club*Fanland of Lindsay Wagner
*http://www.lindsaywagner.co.uk/
*http://www.peacemakerscommunity.com/
Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!
