Lee Majors
Lee Majors is an American actor, primarily known for several high profile roles on television in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Lee was born Harvey Lee Yeary on April 23, 1939, in the Detroit suburb of Wyandotte, Michigan. He was the child of Carl Yeary, who was killed in a work-related accident before Lee was born, and Alice Yeary, who was killed in a car accident when he was a year old. At age two, Lee was adopted by an uncle and aunt, Harvey and Mildred Yeary, and moved with them, and their biological son, Bill, to Middlesboro, Kentucky.
Since his adoptive older brother had been a football star in school, Majors tirelessly committed himself to the sport. While a student at Middlesboro High School, Lee participated in many sports from track to football. He graduated in 1957, and earned a scholarship to Indiana University, where he again competed in sports. He transferred to Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky, in 1959. He played in his first game the following year, but suffered a severe back injury which left him paralyzed for two weeks, and ended his college football career. Following his injury, he turned his attention to acting and performed in plays at the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, Kentucky. Majors graduated from Eastern in 1962 with a degree in History and Physical Education.
After college, he received an offer to try out for the St. Louis Cardinals football team. Instead, he moved to Los Angeles and found work at the Los Angeles Park and Recreation Department as the Recreation Director for North Hollywood Park. This was after a brief stint playing for the new football franchise Boston Patriots as a safety. In LA, Lee met many actors and industry professionals, including Dick Clayton, who had been James Dean's agent, and Clayton suggested he attend his acting school. After one year of acting school, Clayton felt that Lee was ready to start his career. At this time, he picked up the stage name Lee Majors as a tribute to childhood Johnny Majors who was a player and future coach for the University of Tennessee. Lee also studied at Estelle Harmon's acting school at MGM.
At age 25, Lee landed his first, although uncredited, role in Strait-Jacket, which starred Joan Crawford. After appearing in a 1965 episode of Gunsmoke, he starred 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 later the same year.