Heres our conversation, which happened at the weekend when Majors was visiting Birmingham for the Memorabilia Expo.
We talked about… well, not quite Six Million things, but lots.
What brings you over here to the UK?
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We may do things a little differently to the Americans.
I do have such a big fan base over here.
People have been writing to me from the UK forever.
Theres a group called The Valley Dwellers who loveThe Big Valley.
Theyre all now in their sixties and seventies, but theyve been big fans for many years.
They even come to the states sometimes when Im appearing somewhere.
It surprised me how loyal they are.
I cant quite imagine what its like to be a guest at a convention like this.
Can you put me inside your point of view, inside your head?
Well, the thing is, you cant get out much.
But we dont mind.
Quite a taxing day.
Hard on the wrist.
Its really some work but you do meet a lot of people and they seem to like it.
My wife is from Pineville in Kentucky…
Oh, sure!
Well, I grew up twelve miles from Pineville, in Middlesboro.
I played football there and got a scholarship to Indiana University.
Your wife could tell you that, back then, there was only coal miners and moonshiners.
I hardly know anybody there, but my name is still on the football stadium.
I did advance them some money so they could put a wall around it.
Where it was just a clapboard fence before, now theres a nice stone wall around the football field.
And Im still fond of the area.
Its amazing to me that some people are still there and have never gotten out of Middlesboro or Pineville.
I guess thats true everywhere.
You called itSix Mill affectionately, I think?
Are you fond of it?
They ran my butt off!
The Fall Guyadded to that, andThe Big Valleyhad horsework and fights.
Was it just luck that you hit these three or four really strong, memorable roles?
Or do you think there was something in particular that made them resonate, maybe attracted you to them?
I dont know.The Big Valleywas certainly the first of these.
I had done some smaller roles and guest parts in other series before that.
But it was very competitive.
After this I figured I had the part.
That girl was Linda Evans who went on to doDynasty.
She was quite good.
I was playing college football, got a back injury and was put out for a while.
I was playing John Proctor inThe Crucible, it was a very emotional role.
We never got to see the comedy version,Lee & Me.
Was it any good?
They had a better show, I guess, but it was quite good.
you could probably find it on YouTube.
It was out there at one time.
This thing about a lawyer coming in and negotiating never existed then…
I dont know how true it all is.
Powers story seems, today, to be very timely.
Did it seem politically charged in the 70s too?
I got to meet Powers, and he was on the set, which was great.
I dont know if you know how he died?
He ran out of gas and crashed.
Its amazing that he went through everything he had then went in such a simple way.
Or did this project appeal to you for another reason?
Most of my shows and the series I did were family oriented.
Everybody would come and gather roundSix Mill, anybody could watch the show.
The same was true ofFall Guy, and of Big Valley.
Had to go to church on Sunday.
Are you worried that they might tarnish or travesty any legacy of the original?
No, because I have nothing to do with it.
Worrying wouldnt help anyway.
But its the Weinstein brothers, and Wahlberg is a good actor.
I cant think of what hes done.
But Mark is good, and I think theyll give him a lot of action.
Thats what they do.
I hope you have a good time meeting your fans at Memorabilia and that they look after you.
So far its been pretty good.
Im stuck in the room and getting over jet lag, but Im looking forward to tomorrow and Sunday.
At least the sun has popped out.
I brought it over for you guys.
Thank you, Mr. Majors.
Lee Majors was appearing at Birmingham MCM Comic-Con.
For a full list of upcoming MCM Comic-Con events,check out its website here.
