From the first moment on the phone, you recognize that silky- smooth voice. Your
first impulse is to make that little beeping sound "de-de-de-de-de." After all, you
are talking to the Bionic Man himself, Lee Majors. After a few years off tending to 
his sick mother, he is in the midst of a career comeback. It's as if Hollywood itself
said, "We can rebuild him." That effort begins with "Out Cold," which is in its
opening weekend at local theaters, and "Big Fat Liar," due out next year.

Q. Lee, we know you're not really bionic, but it just seems like you should be running 
in slow mo and making that little beeping sound every time you look at someone. 
Are we nuts or does everyone say this to you? 

A. You're fine. In fact, everyone expects the sounds--and the slow mo. I even get it
from waiters who deliver my food by swinging their arms in slow motion. I was in
South America traveling, and the minute I checked into the hotel, I heard the clerk 
going, "de-de-de-de-de," which is the bionic eye sound, of course. In Malaysia once,
I was told that the entire tribe in this one town gathered weekly to watch "Six Million 
Dollar Man." There is no escape. 

Q. Well, don't think you're escaping now. If you could have one bionic part, what would
it be--keeping it clean, of course, since this is a family newspaper. 

A. [Laughing.] Well, I just did "Out Cold," which has skiing and snowboarding, but I 
couldn't do much of it because all those years as "The Fall Guy" and the Bionic Man
ruined my knees. I'm kind of beat up that way. 

But I don't want bionic replacement parts because I don't like the idea of going under 
the knife. I want my bionic parts to start with just taking a pill. 

Q. Please, please, please tell us that they're not going to make "Bionic Man: The Movie." 
And if they are, who do you want to play a young Steve Austin? 

A. There was talk of a major movie, but Universal sort of let the franchise slip away. 
Miramax controls it now, and I think they're cooking up something. At one point, the
Farrelly brothers wanted to do it. If they do the movie, I'd like to be Oscar, you know,
the guy in charge. Maybe Ben Affleck could be Steve Austin. He's a good actor. 

Q. GLARE noticed something strange when we said we were talking to you. Some people said,
"Is he still around? What happened to him?" So what happened? 

A. I guess people in Hollywood thought I was retired, dead or didn't need the money. That
wasn't the case. For the last six years, I have been taking care of my mom in Florida.
She was very sick. Then my ex remarried and took my children to Michigan. My lady and I
packed up and bought a place in Vegas. So, I was busy. Meanwhile, Hollywood sort of forgot
that I existed. It's very interesting because there is a new breed of youngsters running
Hollywood and they don't remember you. I went in to do a pilot for a sitcom last year, 
and this girl in charge was shocked. She said, "Wow, your resume is impressive." It's very
discouraging. I mean, there's got to be somebody to play the father in these projects,
and I'm available. 

Q. OK, don't hit us with a bionic punch, but we've gotta ask about your ex-wife,
Farrah Fawcett. Do you keep in touch? How much did you influence her career? Why is she
so weird now? 

A. I haven't talked to her in years. But I can tell you that we were together for 12
years. What broke us up is that the last two years of our marriage, I think we saw each
other about two weeks because of work priorities. As for her career, I picked out the
photo that became that famous poster. Men should thank me. All I can say about Farrah
is that she's a nice lady. As for her past problems, I don't see it or understand it.
She was the healthiest thing. She played tennis and ran. I don't believe rumors. I don't
see her doing any drugs. I think she's just very naive and a wonderful little girl.