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For more than a half century now, Lee Majors has been one of the most recognizable actors in all of television. He’s had a long-running TV series in just about every decade in which he’s been an actor, including several older roles that still run in syndication to this day. Now in his 80s, Majors is still working as hard as ever, and has more than 100 acting credits under his belt as a TV legend.

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Majors was born just outside of Detroit on April 23, 1939, but spent his childhood in Kentucky after both of his parents tragically passed away. Majors was a standout athlete growing up (which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise), earning himself sports scholarships. At first, Majors attended Indiana University and then Eastern Kentucky, but had to get away from sports after injuries had derailed his career.

Majors then found his way to Los Angeles where he was still known by his birth name Harvey Yeary at the time. After meeting up with some actors, though, Majors changed his name and decided to spend some time in acting schools. After that, it didn’t take long for Majors to start finding work.

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“(I) ended up doing some stunt work while working at the recreation and parks department,” Majors said. “Doing small roles while I was studying, but then I got (my first role) and never looked back. Once you get your foot in the door, don’t let it slam on you.”

The first role for Majors came in the 1964 film “Strait-Jacket”, though it was a small uncredited role. The following year, he had guest appearances on “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour” and “Gunsmoke”, but was most known for landing the role of Heath Barkley on “The Big Valley”. The series aired for the rest of the 1960s, and Majors added a movie with “Will Penny” during this time and a TV movie where he played the title character.

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The early 1970s saw Majors land a couple more regular television roles with “The Virginian” and “Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law”. It was also the first time that he played Steve Austin, with a TV movie being released called “The Six Million Dollar Man”. The movie was then adapted into a TV series in 1974, running for nearly 100 episodes and he had played the character in “The Bionic Woman”, as well.

“At first I was really hesitant,” Majors said of accepting the role. “Because when they sent me the script it was called ‘Cyborg’, and it was about a guy who jumped tall buildings and all this. Not so many years earlier one of the hottest shows on television was ‘Batman’, and it was so campy, which made it fun, but I didn’t want this to be a campy show. They promised me that it wouldn’t.”

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“We did the first pilot and it was very good,” Majors continued. “I really enjoyed that. And then we did a second movie, and (writer) Glen Larson was involved. Then it turned a little bit toward James Bond, and I wasn’t quite comfortable with that persona for Steve Austin.” He also added that the hours he put were grueling, but it was hard to turn away.

“The Six Million Dollar Man” wrapped up in 1978, with Major spending the next couple of years in films such as “Agency” and “The Last Chase”. To begin the 1980s, Majors played Colt Seavers in the long-running “The Fall Guy” that aired until 1986, with more than 110 episodes in total. To round out the 1980s, Majors mainly had guest spots, getting away from full-time work for a bit.

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Majors stepped away from acting for a little while so that he could focus on the more quiet life. “I got kind of burned out,” he said of continuously doing TV shows. “So I moved to Florida. I was down there for 10 or 12 years, raising children.”

The 1990s saw more TV shows for Majors with “Tour of Duty” and “Raven” at the beginning of the decade. He then made the transition to being more involved with television movies, and added feature films that included “The Protector” and “Chapter Zero”. Then, in the early part of the new millennium, Majors was typically a recurring actor and was in the movies “Big Fat Liar” and “Out Cold”. He wrapped up the 2000s with a role in the TV series “The Game”.

So far in this decade, Majors has remained busy. There have been films including “Victory by Submission” and “Jean”, as well as more TV work such as a recurring role in “Ash vs. Evil Dead” and “Fuller House”. Coming up, Majors has a project with the film “Spring Break ‘83”.

For Majors, he was able to capture lightning in a bottle over the course of multiple decades. “I have done a (major) series in the 60s, 70s and 80s,” he said. “It’s being in the right place at the right time and taking advantage of your opportunities.” Majors also notes that he’s protective of the roles he takes on. “‘The Six Million Dollar Man’w as one thing, but I wanted to keep my own parts.”

“I’ve had disappointments and heartbreaks and setbacks and roles I didn’t get,” Majors continued. “But something always came along that either made me better or was an even better role...Acting is a tough business, and the percentage of people who make it is very low - it’s about one percent.” There’s always that chance for a big role, too. “I think I’ve got one more series in me, and I don’t care what it is.”