In Season 5, Episode 7 of NBC’s classic Western series “Bonanza,” youngest Cartwright family son Little Joe (Michael Landon) helps a woman named Calamity Jane — based on a real-life historical figure — collect her father’s inheritance. Playing Calamity Jane in this single-episode storyline is actor Stefanie Powers. Although the list of major “Bonanza” actors still alive to this day is relatively short, Powers’ career continued steadily through the ensuing years and has even resulted in a series of performances over the course of the past decade.
When Powers joined the cast of “Bonanza” in 1963, she was only around 21 years old but already acting with some regularity. Following numerous TV appearances, the defining role of her career came when she began portraying Jennifer Hart on ABC detective series “Hart to Hart.” In total, she appeared in all of the show’s 111 episodes across a run that spanned just under five years following its premiere in 1979.
She then reprised the role of Jennifer in a series of eight “Hart to Hart” TV movies between 1993 and 1996. For those familiar with the detective show, then, the actor who plays Calamity Jane on “Bonanza” is inseparable from her work on “Hart to Hart.” That said, it’s entirely possible some might recognize Powers for her more recent projects consisting largely of Hallmark movies that aired throughout the 2010s.
Stefanie Powers continues to work in the film industry to this day
In 2010, Stefanie Powers debuted as the mother of a woman who falls for a soldier she meets through his written correspondence with her son when “A Soldier’s Love Story” premiered on the Hallmark Channel. This kicked off a run of TV movie roles that has defined Powers’ present-day career.
Fortunately for all of Powers’ fans who love Hallmark movies, her next three acting gigs were all in originals for the network starting with “Reading, Writing and Romance” in 2013. She the appeared in both the 2014 Hallmark film “A Ring by Spring” and “Love by the Book” the following year.
Since then, Powers has contributed to two additional projects. First, she played a part in “Call Me By Your Name” producer Tom Dolby’s sophomore feature “The Artist’s Wife” in 2019. Then, she joined the cast of French Netflix original series “On the Verge” for two episodes in 2021. Despite her relatively old age, then, Powers is still active in Hollywood just about sixty years after her stint as Calamity Jane on “Bonanza.”