The Six Million Dollar Man burst onto our screens and was a huge show. Majors had looks, charm, physique, was good at action, whilst also possessing a nice comedic touch (as seen later in The Fall Guy, and much later in Ash vs Evil Dead). He was a household name for years, but why didn't he go on to Burt Reynolds kind of stardom? He seems to have been the perfect tough guy not afraid to make fun of himself.
shareMaybe because film was considered the better vehicle for A-listers in Hollywood, and he never made the jump to a big starring role on the silver screen. Maybe he preferred the work schedule of TV better. I heard that the hours are preferable for actors because they're more regular when working in TV.
shareIt seemed strange to me that he didn't move on to movies, but maybe as you say he just preferred the TV work schedule.
shareThe man WAS an A-lister outside of Hollywood. 😀
Killer Fish (1979)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql64xOgB8zA
He might still make it big. Ageing action stars is all the rage...
shareThe Six Million Dollar Man burst onto our screens and was a huge show.
It was harder to jump from TV star to A list movie star back in the 1970's, the line was deeper.
Also, Six Million Dollar Man was such a strongly rated TV show, every kid my age pretend to be him during recess , that he became "branded"... An actor that is hard to put into other roles because of the association with SMDM.
Maybe he was not motivated to be a big star.
Maybe he did not have a good agent.
In image I think he was not versatile, and maybe
he also did not mix well or network with other stars.
Or maybe he had skeletons in his closet.
He snagged Farah Fawcett, maybe he just want to stay
home and **** her all day. ;-)
I remember reading an interview with him that was part of the promotion to a William Baldwin feature he was starring in : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187750/?ref_=tt_mv_close that touched on his career. He wanted to break into features in the late 70s early 80s but he claimed that when the offers came he had schedule conflicts with TV shows he had signed with. When his schedule cleared up the offers had dried up and he was "forced" to migrate back to TV.
shareHe wanted to break into features in the late 70s early 80s but he claimed that when the offers came he had schedule conflicts with TV shows he had signed with. When his schedule cleared up the offers had dried up and he was "forced" to migrate back to TV.
It's almost impossible for a TV start to break into feature films. More so in the past.
shareHe was a MAJOR star. As someone else said, he probably just preferred TV work.
shareI remember how big of a star he was back in the 70s. He was huge. Had his action figure, too. Also, back then, so many of these TV stars would appear on those Battle of the Celebrities show and game shows (I loved it when William Shatner would appear on the old Beat the Clock).
I think an interesting examination would be why is that some big-time celebrities just didn't make the transition from TV to the big screen. For some odd reason, some celebrities just remained big TV stars and not movie stars. Take Tom Selleck. He has been like that.
Maybe the regular work schedule and the steady paycheck were more appealing than a hit-or-miss big movie.
Also, I think back then his failed marriage to Farrah Fawcett dimmed his shine a bit (I recall back then that rumors of marital issues and drug use leaked out).
But at one point, he was a major star for a period of time.
Poor Farah Fawcett's, who died from anal cancer, butt.
Risk factors include human papillomavirus (HPV), HIV/AIDS, receptive anal sex,[4] smoking, and many sexual partners.[1] Anal cancer is typically a squamous cell carcinoma.[3] Other types include adenocarcinoma, small cell carcinoma, and melanoma.[3] Diagnosis is suspected based on physical examination and confirmed by tissue biopsy.[1]
Possibly because he was not a very good actor. But that didn't stop Chuck Norris, who was even more of a stiff.
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Agree, plus, it seems like he must have a personality of a wet mop which translates to the screen.
Yes - I think he is a VERY bad actor, but great as Colonel Steve Austin!
shareHe wasn't a bad actor, just very limited, and unfortunately only had one expression. I grew up in the 70's and he was huge back then, a household name all over the world.
shareAt least Chuck Norris could fight.
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