Stefanie Powers is an iconic American film and television star who has appeared in over 25 mini-series, made over 200 guest appearances, and made history by being the lead female character of the ever first American one-hour-long series called The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. which was a spin-off of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1966-1967).
The Auburn star started off her career with appearances in secondary roles both on television and film such as Bat Masterson, If a Man Answers, The Interns, and Bonanza. Read to the end as we unveil some other personal, family, and career facts you would love to know about the thespian who has graced our screens for over five decades.
Stefanie Powers’ Bio (Age)
The American actress was born to a Jewish father, Morrison Bloomfield Paul, and a Polish mother, Juliana Dimitria Golan on November 2, 1942, in Hollywood, California. Born Stefanie Zofya Paul, her parents separated when she was still very young, however, she has an older brother, Jeffrey Julian Paul, and a half-sister, Charlene Groman.
Stefanie who also goes by her Polish name Federkiewicz attended Hollywood High School and was a cheerleader. At age fifteen, the young actress was billed to be part of the stage play West Side Story but was replaced when it was found that she was underage.
After portraying secondary roles in a few TV and film projects, she got a huge role in 1966 as of April Dancer in the spin-off The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. and she went on to appear in 29 episodes. Stefanie Powers then played Liz Thayer in the 1997 film Warning Shot alongside David Janssen. She worked in many film projects in the 70s such The Boatniks (1970), The Magnificent Seven Ride (1972), Herbie Rides Again (1974), Gone with the West (1975), It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975), Escape to Athena (1977) and The Astral Factor (1978).
Nine years before co-starring with Robert Wagner in Hart to Hart, Stefanie appeared with him in the drama It Takes a Thief (1970) and guest-appeared in about nine TV shows after being signed to Universal Studios in 1970. The shows include Lancer, McCloud, The Mod Squad, Kung Fu, The Rockford Files, Three for the Road, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, and McMillan & Wife.
Stefanie Powers starred in two famous 1977 TV shows which include The Feather and Father Gang appearing as a successful lawyer Feather Danton and starring alongside Harold Gould who played her ex-con father Harry Danton and also Washington: Behind Closed Doors as Sally Whalen. In 1978, she portrayed Joan Barthel in the television film A Death in Cannan.
From 1979 to 1984 Stefanie Powers and Robert Wagner met again to star as the main actors in the mystery American series Hart to Hart. Robert portrayed Jonathon Hart, husband of Jennifer Hart (portrayed by Stefanie) and after the show ended in 1984, a rerun TV movie was made in 1993. She continued starring in more notable shows like Mistral’s Daughter and Family Secrets (1984), Deception and Hollywood Wives (1985), Beryl Markham (1988), Someone is Watching (1996), Doctors (2000), Meet My Mom (2010), Reading, Writing, Romance (2013), Ring by Spring and Mr. Fiction (both in 2014).
The television actress also featured in the film Jump! in 2008 as Katherine Wilkins and was recently involved in The Artist’s Wife (2018) where she portrayed Ada Risi. Adding to her records in film and television, Stefanie Powers was part of some stage plays and musicals tours such as Matador (1991), Love Letters (1993), Applause (1996), The King, and I (2002), and Looped (2013).
Family Life – Children, Husband
The actress who has been nominated for two Emmy awards and five Golden Globe awards speaks six languages including French, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Spanish, and Swahili. She has been married twice but has no child from any of her marriages or love affairs.
Her first husband was actor Gary Lockwood who she married in 1966. After spending six tears together, they divorced in 1972. Then she began a love affair with 25 years older William Holden in 1972 with whom she shared a common interest – the survival of wildlife in Africa and the world.
Unfortunately, William died in November 1981, falling in his home and suffering injuries. He would, however, leave a huge sum – $250,000 – in his will for Stefanie Powers which she used to found The William Holden Wildlife Foundation and became director of Mount Kenya Game Ranch and Wildlife Conservancy in Nanyuki, Kenya.
The aging thespian would later tread the path of marriage for only the second time when she got married in 1993 to Patrick De La Chenais but it was not also meant to be as their marriage ended in 1999.
Is Stefanie Powers Dead or Alive?
Powers was a smoker and was stuck on the habit for the better part of two decades. This led to her being diagnosed with a lung cancer called alveolar carcinoma in November 2008. She underwent surgery in which she removed the ailing part of her lungs and since then, there have been speculations about her health if she is alive or dead, but the actress is still strong, alive, and healthy and has been so since she went under the knife.
