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Steve Austin (character)
Steve Austin is a science fiction character created by Martin Caidin for his 1972 novel, Cyborg. The lead character, Colonel Steve Austin, became an iconic 1970s television science fiction action hero, portrayed by American actor Lee Majors, in the American television series The Six Million Dollar Man, which aired on the ABC network for multiple television pilots in 1973, and then as a regular series for five seasons from 1974 to 1978. In the television series, Steve Austin takes on special high-risk government missions using his superhuman bionic powers. The television character Steve Austin became a pop culture icon of the 1970s.
The Six Million Dollar Man TV series used the name Cyborg as its working title, during pre-production.
Caidin's version of Steve Austin appeared in only four original novels unrelated to the television series continuity: Cyborg, Operation Nuke, High Crystal, and Cyborg IV.
Following The Six Million Dollar Man television series, Lee Majors reprised the role of Colonel Steve Austin in several bionic-themed reunion television films in the late 1980s and 1990s.
As originally conceived by Caidin, Austin is a former US Army helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam before transferring to the Air Force and then into NASA. As backup Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 17,[1] he became one of twelve astronauts to walk on the Moon when the primary lunar module pilot broke an arm before launch.[2]
In the pilot episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, Austin's background is adjusted: he is a civilian test pilot who was the only civilian to walk on the moon. In the regular series, however, Austin once again became a military man, holding the rank of colonel in the Air Force. In the episode "Pilot Error", Austin is shown to be wearing both the Vietnam Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal on his dress uniform, implying that he is a Vietnam veteran. His other medals include the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States), the Air Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal. He is also seen in uniform wearing Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Further, he is seen wearing either the USAF Command Pilot "Wings" or the USAF Command Pilot Astronaut "Wings", more specifically named the U.S. Air Force aeronautical rating.
In both versions of his origin, Austin is testing an experimental lifting body aircraft[3] when a malfunction causes a crash. Austin's injuries are severe: both legs and one arm are lost, and he is also blinded in one eye and his skull is fractured (the TV version does not suffer the skull injury). One of Austin's best friends is Dr. Rudy Wells, a doctor and scientist who is a specialist in the newly emerging field of bionics; unknown to Wells, a secret American government intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Operations (OSO; later changed to Office of Scientific Intelligence or OSI for TV) has been looking at a way of reducing agent casualties. Their solution is to take a severely injured man, rebuild him with bionics, and create a cyborg—part man, part machine. Wells is ordered to perform the procedure on Austin, who expresses a desire to commit suicide after learning about the loss of his limbs.
The operation to rebuild him costs $6 million ($41.6 million in 2024 dollars). Bionics are used to replace Austin's arm (his left in Caidin's original story; his right in the TV version) and both legs. Austin's eye is also replaced. Caidin and the TV series treat this differently; Caidin's Austin receives a sophisticated miniature camera (activated by pressing a hidden shutter implanted under Austin's skin, after which the eye has to be removed before development of the film) but otherwise remains blinded in that eye, while the television version not only restores sight but also has extreme telescopic magnification and infrared capabilities. His legs and arm provide Austin with superhuman speed, strength, and endurance (the latter because, Caidin writes, Austin's heart and lungs only need to power his torso, head and remaining arm). Caidin's character also had some additional bionic parts his TV counterpart lacked, such as a steel-reinforced skull, a poison dart gun built into one of his bionic fingers, and a radio transmitter built into a rib.
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Steve Austin (character)
Steve Austin is a science fiction character created by Martin Caidin for his 1972 novel, Cyborg. The lead character, Colonel Steve Austin, became an iconic 1970s television science fiction action hero, portrayed by American actor Lee Majors, in the American television series The Six Million Dollar Man, which aired on the ABC network for multiple television pilots in 1973, and then as a regular series for five seasons from 1974 to 1978. In the television series, Steve Austin takes on special high-risk government missions using his superhuman bionic powers. The television character Steve Austin became a pop culture icon of the 1970s.
The Six Million Dollar Man TV series used the name Cyborg as its working title, during pre-production.
Caidin's version of Steve Austin appeared in only four original novels unrelated to the television series continuity: Cyborg, Operation Nuke, High Crystal, and Cyborg IV.
Following The Six Million Dollar Man television series, Lee Majors reprised the role of Colonel Steve Austin in several bionic-themed reunion television films in the late 1980s and 1990s.
As originally conceived by Caidin, Austin is a former US Army helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam before transferring to the Air Force and then into NASA. As backup Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 17,[1] he became one of twelve astronauts to walk on the Moon when the primary lunar module pilot broke an arm before launch.[2]
In the pilot episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, Austin's background is adjusted: he is a civilian test pilot who was the only civilian to walk on the moon. In the regular series, however, Austin once again became a military man, holding the rank of colonel in the Air Force. In the episode "Pilot Error", Austin is shown to be wearing both the Vietnam Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal on his dress uniform, implying that he is a Vietnam veteran. His other medals include the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States), the Air Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal. He is also seen in uniform wearing Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Further, he is seen wearing either the USAF Command Pilot "Wings" or the USAF Command Pilot Astronaut "Wings", more specifically named the U.S. Air Force aeronautical rating.
In both versions of his origin, Austin is testing an experimental lifting body aircraft[3] when a malfunction causes a crash. Austin's injuries are severe: both legs and one arm are lost, and he is also blinded in one eye and his skull is fractured (the TV version does not suffer the skull injury). One of Austin's best friends is Dr. Rudy Wells, a doctor and scientist who is a specialist in the newly emerging field of bionics; unknown to Wells, a secret American government intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Operations (OSO; later changed to Office of Scientific Intelligence or OSI for TV) has been looking at a way of reducing agent casualties. Their solution is to take a severely injured man, rebuild him with bionics, and create a cyborg—part man, part machine. Wells is ordered to perform the procedure on Austin, who expresses a desire to commit suicide after learning about the loss of his limbs.
The operation to rebuild him costs $6 million ($41.6 million in 2024 dollars). Bionics are used to replace Austin's arm (his left in Caidin's original story; his right in the TV version) and both legs. Austin's eye is also replaced. Caidin and the TV series treat this differently; Caidin's Austin receives a sophisticated miniature camera (activated by pressing a hidden shutter implanted under Austin's skin, after which the eye has to be removed before development of the film) but otherwise remains blinded in that eye, while the television version not only restores sight but also has extreme telescopic magnification and infrared capabilities. His legs and arm provide Austin with superhuman speed, strength, and endurance (the latter because, Caidin writes, Austin's heart and lungs only need to power his torso, head and remaining arm). Caidin's character also had some additional bionic parts his TV counterpart lacked, such as a steel-reinforced skull, a poison dart gun built into one of his bionic fingers, and a radio transmitter built into a rib.