Stefanie Powers
She investigated all manners of wrongdoing – including the theft of her own four-poster bed! But now it’s up to Stefanie Powers to suss out the reason she’s been charged with celebrating a birthday.
And it is, of course, because she was born on November 2, 1942, in Hollywood, California, which means that this talented performer is turning 78 years old today! Christened Stefanie Zofya Paul, Powers adopted her stage name after signing a contract with movie studio Columbia Pictures.
In 1961, the legendary star made her film and TV debut in Tammy Tell Me True and Bat Masterson respectively. Powers went on to appear in a plethora of features including If a Man Answers, Experiment in Terror, and The Interns (all released in 1962), The Young Sinner (released in 1965 though filmed in 1961), Die! Die! My Darling (1965), and Stagecoach (1966).
Between 1966 and 1967, Powers played the title role in the espionage series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. She subsequently guest-starred in episodes of McCloud (1971), The Mod Squad (1972), Kung Fu (1974), The Rockford Files (1975), The Six Million Dollar Man (1976), and McMillan & Wife (1977).
In 1976, she guest-starred in an infamous arc of The Six Million Dollar Man (that even crossed over to The Bionic Woman) involving Bigfoot, in which she played Shalon over four episodes.
In 1977, Powers was cast in the all-star adaption of John Ehrlichman’s book The Company which aired on ABC under the title Washington: Behind Close Doors. Cliff Robertson, Robert Vaughn, Harold Gould, Andy Griffith, David Selby, Meg Foster, and Lara Parker were just a few of her co-stars.
The Feather and Father Gang (1976-1977), a light-hearted crime series that paired Powers opposite Harold Gould, proved yet another disappointment for the actress, but success was fast approaching.
In 1979, Powers was hired to star in a pilot film of Hart to Hart, which reunited her with Robert Wagner, a one-time co-star whom she had worked opposite in an episode of his much-heralded series It Takes a Thief (1970).
The plot of the proposed series was deceptively simple: married couple Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a millionaire and an investigative journalist would find themselves embroiled in some sort of criminal activity – murder, thievery, blackmail, etc. – which they would then have to solve, usually singlehandedly, much to the consternation of the local constabulary.
The introductory episode proved to be such a hit that a series was indeed ordered and it would enjoy a five year, 110 episode run. Powers and Wagner would later reunite and don the guise of their mystery-solving alter egos for another eight feature-length adventures.
Her other acting credits include the films It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975), Escape to Athena (1979), Jump! (2008) and The Artist’s Wife (released in September of 2020) as well as made-for-TV movies such as A Death in Cannan (1978), Family Secrets (1984), and Reading, Writing & Romance (2013).
Powers also appeared in a number of prestigious miniseries – Mistral’s Daughters (1984), Deceptions (1985), Hollywood Wives (1985), and Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun (1988), chief among them.
Outside of her Hollywood career, Powers is well known for her commitment to wildlife conservation, having continued the work of her longtime love, the late Bill Holden, by running and growing his William Holden Wildlife Foundation.
Entertainment Hub would like to wish Stefanie Powers a very happy birthday and you can too by clicking on the Twitter link below.
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