Those who grew up in the 1970s will know Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers aka The Bionic Woman. After first playing the role in The Six Million Dollar Man in 1975, Wagner became the star of the spin-off series in 1976, which ran for three seasons, won her the 1977 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series, and cemented her place in the pop culture landscape of that magical decade. Wagner has acted in film and television ever since with recurring roles including playing Helen Karev in Grey’s Anatomy. She has also helped to write numerous books on health issues and was one of the first “celebrity vegetarian cookbook” authors with 1987’s High Road to Health. For nearly 40 years, she has had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Wagner was just four years into her professional acting career when she landed the life-changing role of the Bionic Woman in The Six Million Dollar Man, then one of the most popular shows on American television. The spin-off show, with Wagner as the star, was first aired in January 1976, and it quickly became another of the decade’s iconic shows, spawning a legion of lifetime fans who still queue up at sci-fi cons to meet Wagner. Its universal appeal meant that it became the first-ever sci-fi programme to top the ratings in the United Kingdom — and the only sci-fi show of the 20th century to do so.

Today, Wagner focuses on a range of ventures, from acting to humanitarian work.