One of Hollywood’s most glamorous leading ladies of the ’70s and ’80s turned heads in Los Angeles this week during a rare outing that left fans buzzing.
The actress, now 82, is best remembered for starring opposite Robert Wagner in the hit TV classic Hart to Hart — and she looked radiant as ever while running errands in a sporty ensemble.
Rocking a simple black T-shirt and vibrant patterned leggings, the star cut a casual yet youthful figure, a far cry from her glittering red carpet days when she lit up the screen in the 1979 caper Escape to Athena alongside Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Sonny Bono and Elliott Gould.
Her signature fiery red hair remains unmistakable, instantly calling back her many beloved guest roles on The Rockford Files, The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.
Beyond the screen, her personal life also made headlines — most notably her age-gap romance with Oscar winner William Holden, whom she once described as her ‘soulmate’ despite their 25-year difference.
So, who’s the ageless beauty with the unforgettable mane?
One of Hollywood’s most glamorous leading ladies of the ’70s and ’80s turned heads in Los Angeles this week during a rare outing that left fans buzzing
The actress, now 82, is best remembered for starring opposite Robert Wagner in the hit TV classic Hart to Hart — and she looked radiant as ever while running errands in a sporty ensemble
If you guessed Stefanie Powers — you’re spot on!
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Powers was surrounded by the Hollywood scene from an early age and slipped into the studio system as a teenager.
By the early ’60s, she was popping up in supporting roles in films like Experiment in Terror (1962), If a Man Answers (1962), and John Wayne’s McLintock! (1963).
Her first big break came in 1966 when she landed the lead role of April Dancer in The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., a spin-off of the hit spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Though the show only lasted a season, it cemented her status as a rising star.
The ’70s brought a string of movie credits including Disney’s The Boatniks (1970), Herbie Rides Again (1974), and the western sequel The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972).
But it was 1979 that changed everything when Powers teamed up with Robert Wagner for Hart to Hart.
The ABC mystery series, created by Sidney Sheldon, followed glamorous couple Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, who lived a jet-set lifestyle but always wound up moonlighting as amateur detectives.
Rocking a simple black T-shirt and vibrant patterned leggings, the star cut a casual yet youthful figure, a far cry from her glittering red carpet days when she lit up the screen in the 1979 caper Escape to Athena alongside Roger Moore , Telly Savalas, David Niven, Sonny Bono and Elliott Gould
Her signature fiery red hair remains unmistakable, instantly calling back her many beloved guest roles on The Rockford Files, The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman
It ran for five seasons until 1984 and later spawned eight TV movies throughout the ’90s, keeping Powers and Wagner a beloved TV duo for decades.
She later dabbled in reality television, appearing on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2011.
Powers laughed off being the first one voted out, admitting she was glad to go: she didn’t find many of her campmates ‘terribly interesting’ and mocked the show as hardly authentic.
Her real motivation, she revealed, was to spotlight her conservation work.
‘I was raising money for our William Holden Wildlife Foundation. Which, I thank you very much, was considerable and very helpful to our work in Kenya,’ she explained at the time.
Her longtime romance with actor William Holden remains one of the most defining chapters of her life.
Powers dated the Sunset Boulevard star from 1972 until his sudden death in 1981.
‘Despite the differences in our ages, we shared many of the same curiosities about life,’ Stefanie told Closer in 2021.
If you guessed Stefanie Powers — you’re spot on! (pictured with Robert Wagner on Hart to Hart set in 1979)
Hart to Hart ran for five seasons until 1984 and later spawned eight V movies throughout the ’90s, keeping Powers and Wagner a beloved TV duo for decades.
The ABC mystery series, created by Sidney Sheldon, followed glamorous couple Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, who lived a jet-set lifestyle but always wound up moonlighting as amateur detectives
Her whirlwind romance with Oscar-winning actor William Holden became one of the most defining chapters of her life; Powers, 25 years his junior, was with the Sunset Boulevard star from 1972 until his sudden death in 1981; (circa 1970s)
‘We were soulmates. In six of the nine years that we were together, he was sober. It was a very meaningful time for both of us.’
Holden’s struggles with alcohol, however, cast a shadow.
‘He had an apartment where he would go and drink. I was filming Hart to Hart in Hawaii. We had come back from location that Friday and he wasn’t returning my phone calls,’ Stefanie recalled.
Tragically, on November 12, 1981, Holden fell while drinking and died after bleeding out from a head injury.
Determined to honor him, she established the William Holden Wildlife Foundation the following year.
‘The organization is known as The William Holden,’ she said. ‘That makes me laugh, and it certainly would have made him laugh, too, because he had a great sense of humor.’
Powers was also married to actor Gary Lockwood from 1966 to 1972.
She later wed French aristocrat Patrick Houitte de La Chesnais in 1993, a marriage that lasted until 1999.
