Early roles Majors landed his first, although uncredited, role in
Strait-Jacket (1964), in a flashback sequence as
Joan Crawford's cheating husband. After appearing in a 1965 episode of
Gunsmoke, he starred later that year as Howard White in an episode of
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, "The Monkey's Paw – A Retelling", based on
the short story by
W. W. Jacobs. Majors got his big break when he was chosen out of over 400 young actors, including
Burt Reynolds, for the co-starring role of Heath Barkley in a new
ABC/
Four Star Western series,
The Big Valley, which starred
Barbara Stanwyck. Also starring on the show was another newcomer,
Linda Evans, who played Heath's younger sister, Audra.
Richard Long and
Peter Breck, (who himself had previously starred in
Black Saddle for Four Star) played his brothers Jarrod and Nick, respectively. One of Heath's frequently used expressions during the series was "Boy howdy!" During the series, Majors co-starred in the 1968
Charlton Heston film
Will Penny, for which he received an "Introducing" credit, and landed the lead role in
The Ballad of Andy Crocker (1969), a made-for-television film which was first broadcast by ABC. The film was one of the first films to deal with the subject matter of Vietnam veterans "coming home". That same year, he was offered the chance to star in
Midnight Cowboy (1969), but when
The Big Valley was renewed, he declined the role (which later went to
Jon Voight). When
The Big Valley was cancelled in 1969, he signed a long-term contract with
Universal Studios. In 1970, Majors appeared in
William Wyler's final film
The Liberation of L.B. Jones, and joined the cast of
The Virginian for its final season when the show was restructured as
The Men from Shiloh featuring four alternating leads. Majors played new ranch hand Roy Tate. Majors was called a "blond
Elvis Presley" because of his resemblance to Elvis during this period of his career.
1970s: The Six Million Dollar Man , Arthur Hill, Majors. Front:
Joan Darling and Christine Matchett. in
The Six Million Dollar Man (1973) In 1971, he landed the role of Arthur Hill's partner, Jess Brandon, on
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, which garnered critical acclaim during its three seasons on
ABC. Majors's co-starring role on
Owen Marshall led him to a starring role as
United States Air Force Colonel
Steve Austin, an ex-
astronaut with
bionic implants in
The Six Million Dollar Man, a 1973 television film broadcast on ABC. In 1974, the network decided to turn it into a weekly series. The series became an international success, being screened in over 71 countries, turning Majors into a pop icon. Majors also made his directorial debut in 1975, on an episode called "One of Our Running Backs Is Missing" which co-starred professional football players such as
Larry Csonka and
Dick Butkus. In 1977, with
The Six Million Dollar Man still a hit series, Majors tried to renegotiate his contract with
Universal Television. The studio in turn filed a lawsuit to force him to report to work due to stipulations within his existing contract that had not yet expired. It was rumored that Majors was holding out for more money, but his manager denied this: according to him, Majors was fighting to have his own production company, Fawcett Majors Productions, brought on as an independent producer in association with Universal in order to make the company viable. After Majors did not report to work that June, studio executives ultimately relented. However, ratings began to decline and
The Six Million Dollar Man was cancelled on ABC in 1978. The companion show,
The Bionic Woman, was also cancelled at around the same time on NBC.
The Six Million Dollar Man was revived for three TV movies in the 1980s. In November 2010,
Time-Life released a 40-DVD set featuring every episode and bonus features from the show. During the 1970s, while working on
The Six Million Dollar Man, Majors also appeared in various movies: the television film
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident (1976, as
Francis Gary Powers), the Viking film
The Norseman (1978) co-starring
Cornel Wilde, the horror thriller
Killer Fish (1979), and the drama
Steel (1979), which he produced, co-starring
Jennifer O'Neill and
Art Carney.
1980s: The Fall Guy In 1981, Majors returned in another long-running television series. Producer
Glen A. Larson (who had first worked with Majors on
Alias Smith and Jones, in which Majors guest starred, and later on
The Six Million Dollar Man) asked him to star in
The Fall Guy. Majors played Colt Seavers, a Hollywood
stuntman who moonlights as a
bounty hunter. Majors also sang its theme song, the self-effacing
The Unknown Stuntman. The show was a hit, and as one of the producers, Majors invited many of his former co-stars, including
Linda Evans,
Peter Breck,
Lindsay Wagner,
Richard Anderson,
Stewart Granger,
Doug McClure,
James Drury, and
Buddy Hackett to appear in various episodes. The series ran for five seasons and ended in 1986. His 1980s films include the political thriller
Agency (1980), starring
Robert Mitchum, the made-for-TV sequel
High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane (1980), playing
Gary Cooper's original role, the science fiction film
The Last Chase (1981), and the disaster film ''
Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983). Majors also made cameo appearances in Circle of Two (1980), and as himself in the 1988 holiday comedy Scrooged''. Between 1987 and 1994, Majors, with co-stars Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, made three
The Six Million Dollar Man/
The Bionic Woman television films.
1990s–present In 1990, he starred in the film ''
Keaton's Cop, and had recurring roles in Tour of Duty and the short-lived 1992 series, Raven. He also had supporting roles in the films Trojan War (1997), Out Cold (2001), Big Fat Liar (2002), and The Brothers Solomon (2007). He voiced the character of "Big" Mitch Baker in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City''. He played
Jaret Reddick's disconnected father in
Bowling For Soup's 2007 video, "
When We Die". That same year, he played Grandpa Max in
Ben 10: Race Against Time, and voiced a character on the
APTN animated children's program
Wapos Bay: The Series that was named "Steve from Austin". Majors played Coach Ross on
the CW Network television series
The Game, which ran from October 1, 2006, to May 20, 2009. Majors appeared in the role of God in "Jim Almighty", a 2008 episode of
According to Jim. He later returned to the role in that show's 2009 series finale, "Heaven Opposed to Hell". Also in 2008, Majors played a member of the
Minutemen (dedicated to preventing illegal border crossings) in season four of the Showtime series
Weeds, where he recruits
Kevin Nealon's character. Majors reprised his role (voice only) as Col. Steve Austin in the "Bionic Woman" segment of the
Robot Chicken season four episode "Love, Maurice" (2009). In March 2010, Majors played the crusty sailing instructor in the
Community episode "
Beginner Pottery". In April 2010, he appeared as the mentor of the series lead in "Christopher Chance", the 12th episode of
Human Target. Later that year, he provided the voice of General Abernathy in
G.I. Joe: Renegades. He later reprised the role in a 2011 episode. In 2011, he appeared as "Rockwell" in
Jerusalem Countdown. From 2011 to 2014 he appeared in three episodes of the
Fox comedy
Raising Hope, as Burt's father, Ralph. On February 1, 2013, it was announced that Majors would appear in a two-episode guest spot in season two of TNT's
Dallas as Ken Richards, an old flame of
Sue Ellen's. In 2015, he appeared as J.D. in the faith-based drama
Do You Believe? and the
hip-hop dance-themed series
Avengers of eXtreme Illusions. Majors appeared in the second and third seasons of
Ash vs Evil Dead as Brock Williams, the father of Ash Williams (
Bruce Campbell). In late 2018, Majors voiced an animated
Six Million Dollar Man action figure in an advertisement for
Honda's "Happy Honda Days" sale event. In 2019, Majors voiced
Jeff Tracy in
Thunderbirds Are Go. In 2024, Majors reunited with
Heather Thomas, his co-star from
The Fall Guy TV series, for cameo appearances in the movie version of
The Fall Guy, in which
Ryan Gosling played Majors' TV series character Colt Seavers. ==Personal life==