Fans Say Stephanie Powers Looks Stunning At 78

Nov 14, 2020

American actress Stefanie Powers celebrated her 78th birthday on November 2, 2020. Read on to learn more about the Hart to Hart actress' life beyond acting, including updates on her work in animal conservation, beating cancer, and what the 78-year-old looks like today. A hint: she's still stunning.

Born in Hollywood on November 2, 1942, it seems Stefanie Powers' true calling was to be an actress, indeed. She is of Polish descent, and her legal name is Stefania Zofia Federkiewicz. According to The Daily Beast, her parents divorced when she was seven years old.

The actress started her career in the entertainment industry at 15 years of age. Powers has worked on numerous films and T.V. shows, but she is best known for her role as Jennifer Hart in the mystery T.V. Series Hart to Hart, which aired from 1979 to 1984.

When Powers was asked what she thinks made Hart to Hart so popular worldwide, she replied that it was because of the chemistry she had with her co-star, Robert Wagner.

"I think that we promoted some sort of a relationship that didn't have to be qualified. It wasn't kitchen-sink drama," she said in an interview during the 55th Monte-Carlo T.V. Festival in 2015. "It was escapism, which is what we all want to do." 

Powers has been married twice and divorced twice. Her first marriage was with actor Gary Lockwood in 1966, whom she married not long after meeting him at a party. The couple divorced six years later. Following the divorce, Powers began dating actor William Holden. Of their first meeting, Powers said:

"There was a party for the participants and, uncharacteristically, William Holden went. I'd met Bill before. The first time was at a New Year's Eve party and then, years later, at a bookshop in Hollywood. I was pulling out a book on Kenya and he came up behind me and said, 'Are you interested in East Africa?'"

Although they were in a long-term relationship together, Powers and Holden never got married to each other. Her second marriage happened in 1993 to Frenchman Patrick De La Chenais, before going through her second divorce in 1999.

Powers describes Holden as "the single most important human being in [her] life." "The impact of him not only as a man that I loved but a man that I respected is tremendous," she said. "And all the things that he was interested in, I was also interested in. So I have very much the same sort of life that we had together but he's not here. So I don't have my buddy." 

Having spent time living together in Kenya where Holden owned a ranch, the biggest interest shared between the two was animal conservation.

Together with two of Holden's close friends, Powers set up the William Holden Wildlife Foundation after his death in an effort to carry on with his dream. Powers has described the foundation as her "baby," and has said that if fans want to give her a gift, they should donate to the foundation.

Powers is also a cancer survivor. According to Wales Online, she was diagnosed with lung cancer after being a heavy smoker for more than two decades and had surgery to remove part of her right lung in 2009. This life-saving surgery came at a very dark time in Power's life. It took place on January 29th 2009, the very same month that her mother, aged 96, died of pneumonia. Her illness, coupled with her mother's death and other events in her private life, caused her to think about her life and accomplishments. Only a year later, she published "One from the Hart", her autobiography. The book gave a very emotional look into her private life and struggles and featured detailed descriptions about Power's travels around the world and her work in Africa, as well as insights into Hollywood and the lives of celebrities. She spoke candidly about how the book came to be in 2012:

"The book was more or less a cathartic experience for me after two life-changing events. One was the death of my mother with whom I was extremely close. We had shared a home for the past 27 years of her life. We had many adventures and travels together. We were great friends as well as being mother and daughter.

"That was followed by my own trial with and surgery for lung cancer," she adds. "While recovering both physically and mentally from both of those events, I was asked to put some of that experience into a memoir form. I started writing and eventually it became a book."

Then, in 2012, she decided to take part in the British TV series "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!". She later explained her motivation and reasoning behind this decision, as she was heavily criticized for her participation:

"I guess the last piece of the puzzle was when I had fully recovered physically from my surgery," she reveals. "I had lived all of my life out of doors, on expeditions and adventure travel. I've filmed documentaries in different places and in uncomfortable situations. I have spent a long time sleeping under the stars and continue to do so and enjoy it very much.

"So the idea of going into a jungle environment and doing some trials, well it was an opportunity to earn some money for the William Holden Wildlife Foundation (the late Hollywood actor's organisation of which Powers is a patron) and create some additional visibility for it.

"I also wanted to be a poster child for survivors or people who are in the process of surviving cancer, as I am," she says. "I wanted to show that it is possible to resume all of your activities after beating cancer."

Powers went on to be one of the first candidates to be voted off the show. She was far from distraught about it, though, stating later:

"I think I very quickly accomplished everything I wanted to. It was as demanding as some of my personal experiences have been, especially those physical challenges, so I was quite happy to have done it and gotten out of that environment as quickly as possible."

In the same interview with Wales Online, Powers also spoke about her view on the modern "cult celebrity" phenomena - and her clear opinion might surprise some of her fans:

"It is a different world," she exclaimed. "I think there are people who curry celebrity as it's become based on no particular talent whatsoever or no particular accomplishment whatsoever.

"When I see something like the Kardashians (U.S. reality T.V. stars) who are very attractive girls promoted by their mother into a multi-million business and I think about Kim Kardashian being paid $15m so that they could photograph her wedding, and then I contrast that with raising money for breast cancer or research for deadly diseases, if you tried to raise $15m for research into deadly diseases it would take you quite a lot of time to do that.

"So I think by comparison the amount of money that is generated by this cult of celebrity over nothing whatsoever is almost an obscenity. When compared to worthwhile and terribly important causes and tragedies the world is experiencing, I find it not only frivolous but tragic. It's so out of proportion with anything meaningful."

One of Powers' most recent projects includes her starring in the off-broadway play One November Yankee back in 2019, as the New York Post reports. Interestingly, the play is written by the son of Powers' junior high school English teacher, Joshua Ravetch. The production, staged at the non-profit 59E59 theater in New York City, centers around a tragic plane crash. 

In a review of the play in the New York Times, critic Alexis Soloski writes, "At 68 and 77, Hamlin and Powers remain eye-catching and charismatic, firm of jawline and purpose. Time's ravages have barely ravaged them at all."

While the review isn't exactly positive — the review is subtitled "Harry Hamlin and Stefanie Powers bring a measure of glamour to a patchy two-hander about three sibling pairs and one downed airplane" — it's clear that Powers hasn't been slowed down by cancer or being in her late 70s. 

Then just last year, in 2020, Powers' latest movie, "The Artist's Wife", was released in the U.S. with a slight delay due to the current pandemic crisis. The movie tells the tale of a painter and artist who suffers from onset dementia and his wife's struggles while supporting him and his career. Although only featuring in a smaller role, the film made clear that Power's acting skills haven't suffered a bit over the years. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a rating of 68%, with most critics and viewers commenting that the acting was spot on and arguably the best thing about the film. Or, as one commenter put it: "Superb acting, trite plot."

We can't wait to see what Powers will do at 78 and in which direction she will take her long career next.

What is your favorite Stefanie Powers movie? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this along to all the Hart to Hart fans in your life.