Actress Lindsay Wagner Joins SBVC Faculty

Lindsay Wagner said of the opportunity to teach the course, “It is going to be fun and interesting to connect with younger generations that might reveal to me that I have perspectives that might need updating.” On the first day of San Bernardino Valley College’s RTVF-134 Acting and Directing for Television and Film class, the classroom was full of students asking about the syllabus, pleading for an ‘add code’ so they can enroll in the class, and listening to the professor talk about what to expect in the upcoming semester. Little did most students know that before they were even born, the professor now standing in front of them by the name of Professor Wagner was saving the world as a secret agent on television each week as the star of the 1970s television series, “The Bionic Woman.” For the fall 2013 semester, students in RTVF-134 and RTVF-240 (Acting & Directing for Television and Film and Motion Picture Production, respectively) will be learning from Emmy Award-winning actress and new SBVC adjunct faculty member, Lindsay Wagner. Wagner’s pathway to San Bernardino Valley College came through a mutual friend of SBVC Professor and Radio/TV/Film Faculty, Dr. Diane Dusick. When Dusick learned that the Emmy Award-winning actress was living within the service area of San Bernardino Valley College but driving all the way to L.A. to teach acting, she approached Wagner about the opportunity. Dusick and Wagner first met years earlier when Dusick was in the news business and produced an interview with her. “Diane was delightful and tenacious in her efforts and the drive to L.A. was too hard and was taking the fun out of teaching,” said Wagner. For Professor Wagner, teaching acting and directing classes for the first time in a higher education setting will require some learning on her part as well. “It is such a different experience from teaching at a proprietary acting school,” Wagner admitted. “I’m very right-brained, so the paperwork and technology is going to take some getting used to.” Even on the first day of the fall semester, Wagner had her students thinking about how acting can’t strictly be instinctual and requires an organized and thoughtful approach. “I want students to ask themselves why they want to pursue a career in this industry. Acting is more than just about drawing attention to themselves—it is about getting to know yourself and finding out what you have to say to the world. Human potential is amazing and I want students to really dig into themselves.” Throughout the semester, Wagner will be injecting personal and professional anecdotes gained from her career that spans many decades and 40 television movies, 5 mini-series productions, 12 feature films, 2 Golden Globe nominations, and one Best TV Actress Emmy. She also has plans to invite industry colleagues and even her own sons to the classroom to share information about how they are making their own names for themselves in Hollywood. “Acting came to me early at age 12 when a mentor showed me how acting could help me express myself and my own emotions. I enjoy the intensity and indulgence of acting, and I hope that students can take some of that with them through this class,” Wagner said. “It is going to be fun and interesting to connect with younger generations that might reveal to me that I have perspectives that might need updating.” Calling it a ‘part of her life’, Wagner does still connect from time to time with actors and crew from “The Bionic Woman” at conventions, tributes, and even at the DVD release of the complete series in 2011. The Emmy Award she received in 1977 for her role as Jaime Sommers (“Best Actress in a Dramatic Role”, The Bionic Woman) still sits in a prominent place in her living room. At home, she still enjoys watching television—albeit with a critical eye that comes from her decades of experience. Some of the shows she finds time to enjoy include “Rizzoli & Isles” (TNT), “NCIS” (CBS), “The Good Wife” (CBS), “Blue Bloods” (CBS), and “The Newsroom” (HBO). “I really enjoy watching individual actors from episode to episode—even if the show isn’t great or the writing isn’t the best,” Wagner said. “Just in the last few years, I’ve noticed that the acting and filmmaking has gotten much better—even the integration of relationships into the writing of ‘cop’ shows.” Over the last few years, Wagner has expanded her résumé to include the publishing of “The High Road to Health”—a best-selling vegetarian-lifestyle cookbook, and has traveled the world presenting “Quiet the Mind & Open the Heart” experiential workshops and retreats. As the adjustment to an 18-week semester of teaching continues, Wagner continues seeking opportunities to help people recognize their potential—something that community college students are doing on a daily basis across the SBVC campus. “I believe it is very important for our future filmmakers, actors, and producers not to underestimate the impact their work has on impressionable young minds,” Wagner shared. “I believe we have a responsibility to be a part of being a positive influence with our work and that is something I look forward to sharing with my students.”