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Lindsay Wagner portrayed Jaime Sommers in several series from 1975 to 1994
Wagner was first introduced to the world as Sommers in The Six Million Dollar Man, which paved the way for the spinoff, The Bionic Woman
The actress spoke to PEOPLE ahead of the show's 50th anniversary
Lindsay Wagner is reflecting on the legacy ofThe Bionic Woman,50 years after it premiered.
The actress, now 76, was first introduced to the world as Steve Austin's girlfriend Jaime Sommers inThe Six Million Dollar Manin 1975
After making two guest appearances on the show, the character was killed off — but public reaction was so strong that the studio quickly offered Wagner her own spinoff series:TheBionic Woman.The Bionic Womanaired from 1976 to 1978, earning Wagner a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Speaking to PEOPLE in a recent interview ahead of the series' 50th anniversary, the actress says the spinoff show's popularity was such that maintaining anonymity while doing grocery shopping quickly became near-impossible.
"I couldn't go anywhere after a few couple months of this show ... So I would do the grocery store shopping at very late at night, shortly before they closed," Wagner says. "I was in the store one evening and I started to reach for something on a shelf, and I heard somebody say, 'Lindsay, stop that,' and I pulled my hand back and I looked around and here's this woman with a very tiny little girl reaching for something."
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Wagner continues: "And she looked up and saw me. And she went, 'Oh my gosh,' and proceeded with telling me how much she liked the show."
"And I said, 'Oh, your daughter's name is Lindsay, too.' And she said, 'I love your show so much I named my daughter after you,'" Wagner recalls. "That's when it hit me that how big the show was."
Wagner says it was her younger sister' Randi's affection for Lee Majors (the star ofThe Six Million Dollar Man)that first led her to the role.
"She's 14 years younger than me, so back then I was young, she was very young, and that was her favorite show," Wagner laughs.
When the opportunity came for Wagner to guest star in the show, she initially thought of turning it down.
"I wanted to do dramatic stuff," she says.
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But Wagner's mom said, "You cannotnotdo that show. That is your sister's favorite show, period."
So Wagner took another look at the script, and eventually accepted.
That role gave way to her own series, which premiered January 14, 1976.
Wagner was deeply involved in the storylines of her character, working closely with the show's creator, Kenneth Johnson, to ensure her character had depth and interesting storylines.
"I wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to be playing a guy in a skirt on an adventure show," she tells PEOPLE.
Wagner adds: "I didn't want her to be fighting all the time, and that's how we came up with a lot of the fun stuff we did, with the bionics and the funny stuff ... and it worked with the audience."
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Following the end ofThe Bionic Womanseries, fans were treated to the TV movieThe Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man and the Bionic Womanin 1987, which was followed by 1989'sBionic Showdown. Wagner also starred in 1994'sBionic Ever After?
Now, 50 years after the show initially premiered, Wagner will celebrate the fans and the character withBionic 50, a virtual event offering never-before-released signed photos and signed printed copies of the final episode script, "On The Run."
Wagner calls the virtual event "a celebration," noting that it will also include one-on-one video chats between she and fans.
"[The fans] always want to ask me questions about, 'How did you do this [in the show?] but for me, I like to hear their stories. So I'm offering these video chats to have them call in and also talk to me about what it was like forthemwatching the show and [asl] 'Who did you watch it with and what did you do and what did you think?'"
Wagner continues: "Some of them are funny, some of them are very sweet, some of them are very kind of sad but but feel good in a way — that the show could bring somebody who was growing up in a very difficult family and they could escape intoBionicand think about Jamie and feel like somebody had their back."
Read the original article onPeople
