Updated: June 28, 2023

In a two-part episode titled "The Bionic Woman," Wagner played ex-tennis player Jamie Sommers, Steve Austin's childhood sweetheart, who is injured in a skydiving accident. Austin attempts to rescue Sommers by outfitting her with bionic parts similar to his own, but her body rejects the parts and she dies at the end of the episode.

"The Bionic Woman" struck a cord with viewers, and Universal received mountains of fan mail begging for her return. Resigning Wagner for a salary ten times her original contract, Universal revived her character for another series of episodes. ( In a slightly awkward plot twist, the writers contrived to explain that Sommers did not actually die but was cryogenically frozen until a cure for her ailments could be discovered ).

In 1976, Wagner's character received her own spin-off show, The Bionic Woman, which ran for three seasons and garnered Wagner an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Propelled to iconic status by her role as The Bionic Woman, Wagner went on to a long and successful acting career. Some of her highlights include Nighthawks ( 1980 ), co-starring Sylvester Stallone; Callie and Son ( 1981 ) with Michelle Pfeiffer; and a host of Bionic reunion movies with Lee Majors. In total, Wagner has appeared in over 40 TV movies, five miniseries and 12 feature films.