![lee majors the fall guy lee majors the fall guy](https://imgc.allpostersimages.com/img/posters/lee-majors-the-fall-guy-1981_u-L-PJT2USKDBLV.jpg)
Majors got his big break when he was chosen out of over 400 young actors, including Burt Reynolds, for the co-starring role of Heath Barkley in a new ABC western series, The Big Valley, which starred Barbara Stanwyck.
![lee majors the fall guy lee majors the fall guy](https://d3d8y6yhucfd29.cloudfront.net/sports-product-image/lee-majors-signed-8x10-photo-collage-jsa-witnessed-hologram-colonel-steve-austinsix-millon-dollar-manthe-fall-guy-1-t8992894-575.jpg)
After appearing in a 1965 episode of Gunsmoke, he starred later that year as Howard White in an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, "The Monkey's Paw – A Retelling", based on the short story by W. Career Early roles Īt age 25, Majors landed his first, although uncredited, role in Strait-Jacket (1964), as Joan Crawford's cheating husband. Majors also studied at Estelle Harman's acting school at MGM. At this time, he picked up the stage name Lee Majors as a tribute to childhood hero Johnny Majors who was a player and future coach for the University of Tennessee.
![lee majors the fall guy lee majors the fall guy](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/b3/0a/43/b30a43aa92b64d207b0d5576afde51bd--the-fall-guy-television.jpg)
After one year of acting school, Clayton felt that Majors was ready to start his career. In Los Angeles, Majors met many actors and industry professionals, including Dick Clayton, who had been James Dean's agent, and Clayton suggested he attend his acting school. 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. Īfter college, he received an offer to try out for the St. Majors graduated from Eastern Kentucky in 1962 with a degree in History and Physical Education. Following his injury, he turned his attention to acting and performed in plays at the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, Kentucky. He played in his first football game the following year but suffered a severe back injury which left him paralyzed for two weeks and ended his college athletic career. Majors transferred to Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky, in 1959. He graduated in 1957, and earned a scholarship to Indiana University, where he again competed in sports. He participated in track and football at Middlesboro High School. At age two, Majors was adopted by his uncle and aunt, Harvey and Mildred Yeary and moved with them to Middlesboro, Kentucky. His parents, Carl and Alice Yeary, were both killed in separate accidents (his father in a work accident 6 months prior to his birth and his mother in a car accident when he was almost 18 months old). Majors was born in Wyandotte, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.