Born in Hollywood during World War II (in 1942) of Polish parents, Stefania Zofja Federkiewicz had visited almost every country in the world, "But don't misunderstand. It's not just aimless wandering I do. I go everywhere for a reason; to see animals, people, art." Known around the world as Stefanie Powers (her father being Morrison Bloomfield Paul with Paul said to mean power in Polish), Stefanie told 'The Los Angeles Times' in 1980, "Well, you know, I think curiosity is the greatest gift anyone can be given. And I was given it.
"I've suffered from wanderlust ever since I can remember. In fact the first book I ever really enjoyed was about digs and archaeology. Just thinking about traveling starts my juices flowing. Last year (in 1979), in the middle of shooting 'Hart To Hart', when I hadn't been out of the country for some time, we had a scene to do at Los Angeles Airport. And just standing there, inhaling those jet fumes, I thought: 'Oh, God, how I need to get on one of those planes.'"
By 1985, 'Hart To Hart' the series created by Sidney Sheldon could be seen in some 62 countries. Stefanie continued, "I could never be happy with someone who was content just to sit here in Beverly Hills. Particularly as my horizons are expanding all the time." Stefanie insisted, "The elixir of life is the search, not the discovery." Speaking to Fred Robbins in 1985, Stefanie stressed, "Some people have a great misconception of me, that I'm somehow unique. But I am not in any way exceptional.
"I am not an extraordinary person. What I do have is an extraordinary curiosity. I was born with it. From the first, I have wanted to know the world. I want to live in it, be of it, see and experience it, and grow. I once spent an evening with this great man and was startled to have him assure me that he was just an ordinary person. I protested, citing his accomplishments, and asked, 'How could you possibly say you're ordinary?' And he said, 'But I am. I just had extraordinary curiosity.'
"That serves to remind me that we must never, at any time, harbor an exalted opinion of ourselves. In the totality of the universe, after all, we are only a little speck on the face of history. But, while we're here on this planet, life can be a great adventure if we do not become too self-involved and if we make the effort to expand our horizons." Stefanie made the point to Roderick Mann, "Somewhere in the house I've got an article from the 'South China Morning Post' stashed away.
"It's about some loony Englishwoman of 92 who was interviewed stepping off a burro in Nepal after a 24-day trek in the Himalayas. When I read it I thought, 'If I can die from a heart attack at 92 after riding through Tibet on a burro, I'll be a happy woman."
Besides Arabic, German and Japanese, Stefanie said, "What I do is convince myself that the moment I land at a foreign airport something will happen and I'll be able to communicate. The odd thing is I always can. I have a facility for languages.
"I can get by in Spanish, Italian and French, and I'm studying Chinese. And, of course, my first language is Polish." Stefanie had visited Europe, Africa (in particular Nairobi, Kenya), Asia (Bangkok, Hong Kong, Borneo, remote areas of China, India), Mexico, the Middle East, and reportedly had lived among the most primitive natives of Papua New Guinea. Stefanie told Isobel Silden in 1980, "When the 20th century arrives in these remote villages, the residents won't suffer culture shock.
"I'm involved in ecology, safeguarding our cultural heritages. I want to help preserve wild life in East Africa and I'm vitally concerned with safeguarding the world's ocean life."
Stefanie also stated in 1980, "I'm buying a condominium in Hong Kong – on Lantao Island where they're opening up a development. It will make a wonderful base for operations in that part of the world. That's the area that inrigues me now (in 1980)."
Stefanie would like to film a documentary in China but at the time, "It's going to be really difficult filming there. For a start it's hardly been done. And you can't rely on a single piece of equipment there. Everything they have is from the dark ages. So you have to take in everything and that's a problem. In the '60s and early '70s I spent most of my time in Europe. It was wonderful then, and England was fabulous – I even had a place there. But things are changing and now when I go back to Europe it's usually to Italy to see my foster son, Silvano."
In 1960, Stefanie was in Italy making a film. It was there she met Silvano Rampucci who was half her age and as reported was living in a home for abandoned children on the outskirts of Rome. "It was really strange, Silvano and I looked at each other and something happened between us. Years before I'd been told by a clairvoyant that I'd meet such a child. And long after we'd met Silvano told me that in his earliest dreams he'd seen someone like me, who wasn't his mother but was important to him. So we just stood staring at each other and then he took hold of my hand."
Stefanie made known, "Years ago, I suppose, I did try to conform a little. I mean, when it was fashionable to have straight hair in the '60s, I actually put my head on the ironing board and pressed my hair flat. Can you imagine? I wanted so much to look like all those other teenager surfer girls. But I soon got over that. These days (in 1980) I try not to be influenced by propaganda about what we should or shouldn’t be."
Speaking to Bill Hayden of 'Gannett News Service' in 1985, Stefanie made the point, "You have to talk about television, the impact of television on the public and of a public that heretofore used to go to the movies and follow somebody's career based on a certain image or a certain portrayal they clearly identified with … Television has now (in 1985) obviously taken the place of the sort of loyalties by virtue of the identification that people have from something that comes into their house.
"I can't but feel a certain responsibility to the sort of framework character that has allowed me to function in my work by virtue of a certain acceptance that the perception of that character has to the audience. It is a very complicated issue, and I think that for an actor there is really only one place where an actor really lives. That is in the theater, and that is for the actor personally.
"When we deal with the medium of television and films, we are dealing with another sort of market, something that is more commercial, something that costs a lot of money to do and needs a lot of money to make it successful. I would like to keep intact a certain sense, maybe broaden the spectrum of what I'm marketing in that medium, but still keep it sort of within the realm of where it is perceived."
Like 'The Fall Guy', 'Hart To Hart' was a dependable ratings performer for the network. In explaining the TV ratings, David Bianculli explained in 1981, "Ratings and shares can be explained in terms of a 100-home city block. Suppose 30 of the TV sets in those 100 homes are turned on at a particular time – that's a 30 'rating', showing that 30% of the total TV sets are in use. Of those 30 TVs, half of them, 15, are tuned to 'Dallas'. That gives 'Dallas' a 50% share of the audience watching TV at that time.
"A show’s success is not determined by its weekly ranking. A hit is a program that attracts people to it – not necessarily one that attracts the most people. Prime time TV is like a relay race: the guy in the lead (for example 'The Fall Guy') transfers a tremendous advantage to the guy awaiting the handoff (for example 'Dynasty'). In television's case, it is a block of viewers, not a baton, that is being handed over. When a show holds that (lead-in) audience or increases it, the show is doing its job. If not, it deserves either a new time slot or cancellation." However it was understood some viewers tuned to a particular network at a particular time solely to watch that particular program.
"A show’s success is not determined by its weekly ranking. A hit is a program that attracts people to it – not necessarily one that attracts the most people. Prime time TV is like a relay race: the guy in the lead (for example 'The Fall Guy') transfers a tremendous advantage to the guy awaiting the handoff (for example 'Dynasty'). In television's case, it is a block of viewers, not a baton, that is being handed over. When a show holds that (lead-in) audience or increases it, the show is doing its job. If not, it deserves either a new time slot or cancellation." However it was understood some viewers tuned to a particular network at a particular time solely to watch that particular program.
In the 1984-85 season, 'Happy Days' (premiered in 1974), 'Hart To Hart' and Fantasy Island' (started in 1979) were some of the programs which did not make that season fall schedule. Stefanie told Barry Koltnow of the 'Orange County Register' in 1988, "I was in Paris filming the mini-series 'Mistral's Daughter' when a new man at the network decided to flex his muscles and cancel us. I cried when I got the news because it was the happiest working experience of my life."
Between 1993 and 1996, eight 'Hart To Hart' TV movies were made. "Coming back to do this has been for all of us a feeling of completion. 'Hart To Hart' is showing everywhere, all the time. It's on in France again. It's on periodically in England. It's all over South America … The show was very well received in Hong Kong and in the Philippines. Certainly (the most enjoyable aspect of the project 'Harts In High Season') was going to Australia. It was fabulous. Sydney is a wonderful place to go to."
Also in the 1984-85 season, Donna Reed replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie on 'Dallas'. Ian Harmer of 'Wordsmiths Ltd' informed viewers when Barbara left, "The 'Dallas' producers opted to search for a substitute with acting credentials at least equal to Barbara Bel Geddes's but with a TV 'Q' – a quirkly measure of small screen star status – low enough to protect the character of Miss Ellie from being overpowered. Donna Reed was the perfect candidate. A popular mother figure who would rekindle happy TV memories for older viewers but who was virtually unknown to the younger generation."
Donna Reed did not take over the role of Miss Ellie until 7 episodes into the 1984-85 season (around the second month) told Ian Harmer when she was on location in Dallas filming her 'Dallas' debut scenes, "It was a classy decision to have me simply walk into the role where Barbara left off, with no explanation for Miss Ellie's new face. And I was told to play the part the way I wanted to play it."
Between 1993 and 1996, eight 'Hart To Hart' TV movies were made. "Coming back to do this has been for all of us a feeling of completion. 'Hart To Hart' is showing everywhere, all the time. It's on in France again. It's on periodically in England. It's all over South America … The show was very well received in Hong Kong and in the Philippines. Certainly (the most enjoyable aspect of the project 'Harts In High Season') was going to Australia. It was fabulous. Sydney is a wonderful place to go to."
Also in the 1984-85 season, Donna Reed replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie on 'Dallas'. Ian Harmer of 'Wordsmiths Ltd' informed viewers when Barbara left, "The 'Dallas' producers opted to search for a substitute with acting credentials at least equal to Barbara Bel Geddes's but with a TV 'Q' – a quirkly measure of small screen star status – low enough to protect the character of Miss Ellie from being overpowered. Donna Reed was the perfect candidate. A popular mother figure who would rekindle happy TV memories for older viewers but who was virtually unknown to the younger generation."
Donna Reed did not take over the role of Miss Ellie until 7 episodes into the 1984-85 season (around the second month) told Ian Harmer when she was on location in Dallas filming her 'Dallas' debut scenes, "It was a classy decision to have me simply walk into the role where Barbara left off, with no explanation for Miss Ellie's new face. And I was told to play the part the way I wanted to play it."
