Character Name: Bionic Woman
Real Name: Jaime Sommers
Team Affiliation: none
First Appearances:
Six Million Dollar Man (TV Show- appears on it starting in 1975 to 1978)
The Bionic Woman (TV Show-1976 to 1978)
The "All New" Bionic Woman (Comic Book-1977 to 1978)
Superhuman Powers: The replacement of her body parts with bionics gave the Bionic Woman special powers. Both of her legs were replaced, allowing her to run more than 60 miles per hour or jump off a building. Her arm was replaced, giving her the ability to bend steel with her bare hands. Her inner ear was replaced, giving her the ability to hear noises a mile away.
Biography: Jaime Sommers was born in 1949, in Ojai, California. Her parents were political science college professors, and though she was unaware, undercover agents for the United States government. After they were killed (presumably murdered) in a car accident, 16 year-old Jaime went to live longtime family friends who were also Steve Austin's parents. She and Steve Austin were high school sweethearts for a brief time, but he left for college and a military career. After receiving her teaching degree, Jaime became a profession tennis player. On a visit home to Ojai, Jaime was reunited with Steve Austin (now a colonel and former astronaut) and they were to be married. While skydiving together, Jaime's parachute became tangled, resulting in life-threatening injuries. Both legs and her right arm were crushed beyond repair and severe head trauma has also caused damage to her right ear. At Steve Austin's insistence, the same experimental operations performed on him are used to save her life. Jaime's badly damaged arm, legs, and inner ear were replaced with state of the art electronic prosthesis. Jaime appeared to recover fully and even accompanied Steve Austin on a mission. Then in the midst of planning their wedding Jaime's body rejected her bionics. With Steve by her side, Jaime died on the operating table. Jaime's life did not end there however. An experimental cryogenic procedure was used to cool her body and prevent cellular damage. This gave the doctors time to repair the cerebral clot that had ended her life. However, the radical operation was not a complete success. Jaime had suffered brain damage, and the memories of her past life and her relationship with Steve Austin were gone. In fact, his very presence caused her physical pain and confusion. Jaime's extraordinary new strength ruled out a return to the tennis circuit, so she returned to Ojai and taught at the Ventura Air Force Base. She insisted that she be contacted if the government should need an agent with her special abilities. From 1976 through 1978 she was sent on numerous covert missions by the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI). Later, she agreed to take occasional missions on the condition that she would be free to pursue her life. In the post-series story line that unfolds in the made-for-tv movies, Jaime is reunited with Steve Austin and then eventually marry. With the tragedy of Chris' death in the back of her mind, Jaime continued her life.
Life After Death:
The character
of Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman, is interesting in that she was originally
written into the Six Million Dollar Man as a guest appearance. She was there in
part to provide a variation on the continuing story of a man with special
abilities defending his country from spies and other threats and to humanize
his character. Her death was supposed to be her exit, but the overwhelming
positive response that her character received motivated the show's producers to
offer Lindsay Wagner her own television show. The made-for-television movies
featuring the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman attest to their
long-term popularity. Their eventual marriage attests to the fans' desire for a
happy ending.