Despite becoming famous as a seemingly invincible cyborg on television, actor Lee Majors has suffered a number of tragic occurrences over the course of his life that have made a dramatic impact on the star. Although he has persevered through the suffering. He certainly experienced a great deal more pain than his iconic television counterpart might have in the same situation. Join Facts Verse as we reveal the tragic real-life story of Lee Majors.
Lee Majors born Harvey Lee Yeary on April 23, 1939, in a suburb of Detroit that known as Wynadotte. The hardships that Lee was going to his face in his life began before he was even born. As his father died only a few weeks before his birth. While this might have proven tragic enough, his mother died when he’s three years old after being hit by a drunk driver. Because his mother died at such a young age, Lee has claimed that he barely even remembers her. While his parents likely had every intention of raising the young boy in their own loving home. He ended up having to raised by his aunt and uncle.
Besides the separate deaths of his parents at the beginning of Lee’s life. He still given a happy childhood with his loving aunt and uncle. However, his parents’ early deaths were going to leave a dark shadow over the rest of Lee’s life.
Lee grew up with his aunt and uncle in Kentucky, and eventually became a notable college football player. He so good during his initial college days that he began to have dreams of pursuing a professional career in the sport. However, these sadly put to an end after a tragic injury.
Lee attended Eastern State College in Richmond, Kentucky. And a major player on the football team up until sustaining a back injury that left him paralyzed for a number of weeks. After the injury, Lee was never able to return to his status as a star player. However, the college’s drama coach had taken a liking to Lee. And convinced him to take part in an upcoming theater production. This led to Lee becoming passionate about acting, and eventually to his acting career.
Lee had become married to his childhood sweetheart at the age of 21. And the two had a child that Lee had named after himself. Despite having a family that he’s responsible for, Lee took the risk of moving them to Hollywood in hopes that he could find success as an actor. In order to sustain his family while he was still struggling to find roles. Lee worked for the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation.
Luckily, Lee didn’t have to struggle for too long before achieving moderate success on television. However, his wife divorced him and took their son back to Kentucky a year before Lee caught his break. In 1965, he’s given a role on the television Western The Big Valley. The show proved to be a modest success, running for four seasons. Afterwards, Lee given a role on the program Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law. Eventually, he worked his way up to being cast as the titular lead in The Six Million Dollar Man.
The Six Million Dollar Man was originally going to be a made-for-television movie. But the executives had such high hopes for the concept that they eventually decided to turn it into a full series. The show was a massive success amongst children across the country. And featured Lee as a cyborg that fights crime with superhuman strength and invincibility. Children loved the show, but it sadly resulted in the tragic injury of a child that inspired to attempt a dangerous stunt after seeing Lee’s character do the same on screen.
Given Lee’s estranged relationship with his own child. The actor especially emotional upon learning that a child close to his son’s age had injured in a stunt inspired by the actor’s own performance on television. Lee so shaken that he forced to withdraw from a scheduled event where he’s going to give out autographs to fans.
Although Lee didn’t want to disappoint his fans, he likely felt that he’s going to disappoint them even more by appearing. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! As well, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Lee Majors had married Farrah Fawcett the same year that he’s given his star-making titular role on The Six Million Dollar Man. Farrah was there to provide comfort after the news of the tragedy involving the young fan. Thankfully, the child was able to recover from his serious injuries after two successful surgeries. However, that didn’t stop Lee from questioning whether he’s going to return for a second season of the popular series.
In the 1970s, it was no small feat for a show to be given a second season. Still, Lee not sure if returning to The Six Million Dollar Man worth the risk of having another young fan being involved in a tragic accident as a result of trying to imitate the show’s intense action.
Eventually, Lee decided to return to The Six Million Dollar Man. But only after being promised that the show going to be less violent. Despite the slight change in tone, the second season of the show proved to even more successful than the first. This led to a successful run of five seasons in total before the show cancelled in 1978.
After his time on The Six Million Dollar Man came to an end, Lee looked around for a few years before finding another starring role in the 1981 program The Fall Guy. While not quite as successful or iconic as The Six Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy likewise ran for five seasons before it cancelled in 1986. Since that time, Lee has consistently popped up in small roles on both film and television.
Lee’s marriage to Farrah Fawcett was his second marriage. But only one of four that’s he’s been involved in so far in his life. The two were married from 1973 until 1982, and were a power couple in Hollywood due to their television roles. Of course, Farrah was likely an even bigger name than Lee due to her role on Charlie’s Angels. This something that Lee grew to resent after The Six Million Dollar Man ended in 1978, as Farrah eventually became the breadwinner of the two. This was a big part of the two deciding to divorce.
The end of Lee and Farrah’s marriage didn’t go off without the hitch. Some time before the divorce, Farrah had a young actress blacklisted because she feared that she involved in an extramarital affair with Lee. This young woman turned around and sued Farrah for $165 million. The potential affair that occurred between this woman and Lee not the only affair that the television star reported to have involved in during his time married to Farrah. And another thing that played into the eventual divorce.
Farrah died in 2009, but not before having a long and meaningful conversation over the phone with Lee. The two hadn’t talked in over two decades, and it was an emotional goodbye for the both of them. Although the two couldn’t make their marriage work at the time, they still maintained a loving respect for each other over the years.
After divorcing Farrah in 1982, Lee married a former Playboy model by the name of Karen Velez in 1988. Lee and Farrah had no children over the course of their marriage. But he and Karen had three before divorcing in 1994. In addition to Lee’s first child with his first wife, Lee’s children with Karen added to a total of four children for the actor. Lee and Karen’s children were daughter Nikki and twin boys Dane and Trey. Although Lee has since remarried, he has had no more children, and it’s doubtful that he ever will.
Lee’s fourth and current wife is another model, this time by the name of Faith Cross. The two married in 2002, eight years after Lee divorced Karen. Despite the two having no children over the course of their nearly two-decade marriage, they seem incredibly happy together.
The fact that Faith is nearly four decades younger than Lee has led many to wonder whether or not the young actress is only after Lee for his money. However, their long and healthy marriage has likely put these theories to an end. Lee’s marriage to Faith has proven to his longest marriage so far. And the two seem to have no plans to separate.
If Faith married Lee simply for his money, she certainly chose the right man! Lee may have become famous for playing the titular role on The Six Million Dollar Man. But the actor is worth a great deal more than $6 million by today’s standards! According to recent calculations, the television actor appears to be worth a whopping $15 million.
Although $15 million may be pennies to some of the wealthiest men in the world. It’s certainly nothing to balk at. Today, Lee Majors is 80 years old, and he is still acting. One of his most notable recent roles a recurring gig playing the character of Brock Williams on the cable series Ash vs. Evil Dead, based off of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series.
Besides his major notable roles on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Fall Guy, Lee has also had plenty of other memorable roles over the course of his nearly six-decade career. Comment down below to share if there’s another role that you remember Lee from. Or if you were surprised to learn about the actor’s tragic back-story and gloomy life. As always, like this video to show your support. And also subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
