What Happened to Stefanie Powers Who Chose Private Life in Another Country after Her Partner Died?

• The “Hart to Hart” star Stefanie Powers had two unsuccessful marriages before she found love with actor William Holden who died in 1981.
• The couple traveled the world, and Powers took a break from the public eye.
• After a long hiatus, she appeared at an award show in Germany.

Stefanie Powers is a long-standing actress who has appeared in several TV shows and movies. Power’s career began when she was 16, and since then, she’s landed many roles.

The actress has made over 200 guest appearances in TV shows, which include 18 mini-series and two weekly shows. Some of those are “The Feather and Father Gang” and the long-standing mystery series, “Hart to Hart,” where she played the role of Jennifer Heart.

In 1966 Powers married her first husband, Gary Lockwood, but their union ended in 1972. She went on to tie the knot again in 1993 with Patrick De La Chenais, but their relationship fizzled in 1974.

After two failed marriages, Powers started a relationship with William Holden, one of the most prominent actors in the 1950s and 24 years her senior.

Powers reflected on her romance with Holden in her 2010 memoir titled “One From the Hart.” An excerpt from the book revealed the pair first met at a New Year’s Eve party hosted by Dominick and Lennie Dunne.

Powers had attended the occasion with a plus-one then, her friend, Moss Mabry, a costume designer. While Mabry was out of sight in search of drinks, she stood alone while waiting for him to return.

“As I turned, the man behind me also turned, and I was face-to-face with William Holden. I blushed. He smiled. He said, ‘Hi, Bill Holden.’ I somehow made a sound that resembled speaking and said my name,” she recounted in the book.

At that moment, Mabry returned and Holden lifted his glass and wished the two pals a happy New Year and moved on. Powers was left enamored by his smile as he walked away, but that was not the last she had seen of him.

Several years later, their paths crossed again when she was looking through photographic books on Africa at a bookshop in Beverly Hills. While browsing through the shelves, Powers heard a familiar voice behind her, and it was Holden, who told her to try a specific book.

She recalled, “I turned to see that face and smile. ‘Hello, again,’ I said. ‘We met at the Dunnes’ a few years ago.'” Somehow she felt embarrassed for uttering those words because, in her mind, there was no way Holden could remember such a brief meeting.

Regardless, he did and was happy to see her again. He asked whether she was interested in Africa and Powers told him she had been to Egypt but never farther down south. In response, Holden said that if she ever went to Kenya, she should look him up and in that instant, he was gone again.

After a while, the two met again at La Costa, a resort co-owned by Merv Adelson. At the time, Holden happened to be a guest at the same location. Adelson had hosted a cocktail party for those who partook in a tennis tournament while there and invited Holden to the event.

According to Powers, she could not understand why Holden agreed to attend the party seeing he was a loner. Nonetheless, she was happy that he made it there.

“We met again, and by now, while he might very well not have remembered our previous meetings, he had seen some of my work, so he did not regard me as a stranger,” she explained. As the cocktail hour came to an end, they still had a lot to talk about and Holden suggested they continue their conversation over dinner.

Powers accepted the invitation and though she was going through a divorce at the time, she was practically single and saw no reason not to go out with another man. But there was no reason to worry about prying eyes as Holden chose a quiet local restaurant.

Powers revealed, “Our attraction was undeniable, but Bill was from the old school and maintained a certain formality, even when he invited me to his house in Palm Springs the following weekend.”

Despite their age gap, the actress said they had the same curiosities about life. They bonded over their shared love for the wilderness and travel. “We were soulmates,” Powers admitted. She said out of their nine years together, Holden spent six sober, giving them the best moments together, like traveling to Africa.

Their travel days in Africa were some of the couple’s favorite. “Being outdoors, sleeping under the sky, tracking animals. It was a real-life adventure,” Powers remembered.

Unfortunately, Holden died in 1981, at the peak of his career. The actor received an Oscar nomination for the film “Network” in 1977. However, what held him back was his alcohol abuse.

Powers confessed that Holden had an apartment where he secretly drank. On the day of his passing, the actress was filming “Hart to Hart” in Hawaii and recalled struggling to get a hold of him.

But after several attempts to contact him, she never heard back. Holden was later discovered dead in his home after he fell and hit his head.

Reports stated that Holden was heavily drunk, but his death was caused by the amount of blood he lost from his head injury.

Powers had some of her own woes in life. She was a smoker for a long time until she faced the scary diagnosis of lung cancer. The star confessed that the diagnosis shocked her but said her frequent doctor visits were why she survived.

Powers felt fortunate that her cancer was detected early, and since surviving the disease, she has advocated for people to get regular doctor’s checkups.

However, the actress said she was unsure if her years of smoking brought her cancer because her step-sister, who had never smoked, also survived the same diagnosis.

Surviving lung cancer was Power’s new lease on life. She had to undergo a procedure with a portion of her lungs removed two days after her mother’s death.

Nonetheless, Powers’ mission is to spend the rest of her days advocating for wildlife animals and growing her foundation. The Hollywood native had gained immense success through her organization and received several awards for her contribution to the field.

She is also an Oxford Literary Festival member and has spoken to many renowned authors about environmental issues. Powers is also a board member of four zoos in North America and presented a three-part series called “Funding your Dreams” for women who are thinking of building investment portfolios.

Powers continued Holden’s legacy and started a foundation in his name. As a tribute to him and his love for wildlife, the actress founded The William Holden Wildlife Foundation in Kenya.

The foundation promotes the conservation and humane treatment of animals. Powers is the foundation’s president, with headquarters in California and on Holden’s Game Ranch in Kenya.

The actress loves to educate herself about agriculture. She shared a picture of herself at a local farm in Kenya, standing next to bamboo trees with an informative caption about the benefits of the plant.

Powers shared another picture of herself standing next to an elephant. This time the actress was raising awareness about the amount of ivory that is being smuggled and urged people to fight for animal conversation.

While she traveled through the African continent and educated herself about nature, Powers had been absent from the screen. She made a public appearance when she was in Germany for an award show in 2023.

The TV star arrived looking fashionable. She wore a black ruffled dress with a blazer over it and paired it with stalkings and black pumps. She wore her ginger short hair and bangs out and accessorized with a grey tassel necklace and a big black ring.

Fans were excited about Power’s comeback. The comments were filled with a lot of love. One fan was shocked at how young the now 81-year-old looked. “How is it that you manage to look younger and younger… and those heels! Fabulous! Just fabulous!” gushed the fan.

Another user expressed how much they loved Powers’ show “Hart to Hart” and that after years it is still the best show to help them destress. “Stefanie, you are gorgeous! Love ‘Hart to Hart’ in Brazil, our ‘Casal 20’!! Yes! Love from Brazil!!” another fan excitedly exclaimed.

It has been over four decades since Powers starred in the beloved TV series, “Hart to Hart,” alongside her on-screen spouse, Robert Wagner. Irrespective of how much time has passed since then, the co-stars still have close relations.

In February, Powers, a two-time Emmy Award nominee, paid a birthday tribute to Wagner on Instagram. She shared a picture of the duo posing together and they were all smiles.

Powers captioned the post, “Happy Birthday (2/10) to our dear @robertwagnerofficial94 and still going strong! Our latest Hart to Hart moment.” Wagner, a Michigan native commented on the said post and thanked her for being a “darling” and joining in on the celebration dinner.