Monte Markham, choice for the title role
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Dark_Sithlord — 10 years ago(April 13, 2015 09:41 AM)
I'm not debating the wisdom of casting either actor in the role of Steve Austin. The 2 actors had very contrasting methods of performing bionic scenes. Majors has a very understated way of performing his bionic scenes, even when he's fighting. Markham is extremely animated. Look at the way he does his running scenesit's
wild! -
shawn_381 — 10 years ago(December 21, 2015 04:08 PM)
Just chiming in with my opinion, becausewhy not?
I have always found Lee Majors to be incredibly wooden, and he was smart to stay with TV. He never would have lasted as a movie actor.
Monte Markham was a much better actor, IMO. Would have been very interesting to see him as the bionic man.
I read the book Cyborg as a young teenager, and remember the pilot movie for the series as being closer to the source material, in that Steve was more of a secret agent James Bond type of guy. I recall reading after the telefilm, the studio purposefully retooled the character to be closer to Major's limited range and appeal. By that I mean he did not have the chops to play an agent/spy type, so they had to make him a good ol' boy.
SO glad he did not do Midnight Cowboy, holy crap he would have been embarrassingly bad next to Dustin Hoffman.
Sorry if this hurts the Lee Major's fan club's feelings. I'm sure he's a great guy and he did fine within his scope. -
athompson-4 — 10 years ago(January 11, 2016 05:37 PM)
As a 10 year old at the time it was airing I can assure you the show could easily have been called the Lee Majors Hour to us, we wanted Lee Majors action figures that just happened to look like Steve Austin.
Markhams a great actor, but just would not have had that effect on the kids.
Its hardly a secret, watch the season 2 episode The Seven Million Dollar man with Markham and you can see his version of the character along with Majors. Markham is clearly a better actor, and it clearly doesn't matter given the nature of the part. Do you really want a deep acting talent for the Bigfoot episodes? -
lwboho — 10 years ago(January 13, 2016 07:57 AM)
I'm certainly not trying to say Markham was a master thespian!!
Remember he did play a role on Baywatch at some point in the series.
Nice to see that some are agreeing that Majors was very much an "everyman" and had wide appeal, thus gaining the role.
I recently saw they are playing Starflight One on cable, I shall sit through it!
I have heard they are trying to bring this "Bionic Man" character to the big screen and that would be an epic flop, unless it was made without the use of grandiose special effects and the like.
On another note, I watched The Astronaut with Markham on youtube well worth a watch and shows how good tele-films used to be! -
elvisforever-633-689384 — 9 years ago(June 27, 2016 07:02 PM)
Lee Majors was picked for this show of course because of his athletic ability and when they sat down to talk about it he made it plain that he would of not of curse play a comic book character like Batman. He of course did most of his own stunts including some he was not suppose too. Lee said he never worked soo hard in his entire life and it was not his favorite show as he said he was more like a Colt Seavers character and really loved that show. He got into a bad fight with studio at towards the end of the show and was happy of course when it was over. He was almost impossible for him to escape the image of the bionic man though he tried and today has excepted his fate.
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BradyBraveJoel — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 02:19 PM)
Great Post! It is 2 years later, and your son is now - and well, I hope! I, too, grew up with smdm and recently got the 5 seasons on dvd - watching season 1 - the plane in the himalayas episodeI actually showed my government class the bionic christmas carol today - last day of classes
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lwboho — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 03:45 PM)
Thanks for posting, and mentioning my Son. Yes, he is well, and ironically he has gotten interested in watching the dvd collection, calling Austin "the running man" LOL. Call me old fashioned, whatever, I can still watch the episodes and enjoy them. It's nice to see them in there original length, especially the tele-films. I think SMDM, as it was titled is a great tv movie and will probably hold up for many generations to come. Unfortunately all our childhood heroes age and I hope that Lee Majors is well and happy in his life. You should watch Will Penny with Charlton Heston in the starring role. It was Majors first significant feature film role and, albeit, a small role it is a good watch.
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elvisforever-633-689384 — 9 years ago(January 03, 2017 11:54 AM)
Lee is doing very well and very happy with his life right now. He is still working and has a wonderful wife by his side. When not working he goes to fan conventions and attends many charity events. And yes I loved him in Will Penny