Nostalgia
‘Remington Steele’ Leading Lady Turns 70 — She Traded TV for the Stage, and Her Grandmother Sang at the Met
‘Remington Steele’ star Stephanie Zimbalist turns 70 on October 8, as the show hits 44 years since it premiered.
Forty-four years ago today, a new television show starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan premiered on NBC titled Remington Steele. Not only is the anniversary of the show’s premiere hitting right now, but in addition, Zimbalist celebrates her 70th birthday on October 8.
In Remington Steele, Zimbalist played Laura Holt, a private investigator. Brosnan played Remington Steele, a man of mystery. Laura launched a private detective agency by herself but found it difficult to get business because she was a woman. She created a fictional boss, Steele, and business boomed.
However, soon people started asking why they never saw the boss himself. Brosnan played a former con man and thief who managed to take on the Steele persona.
The show aired for five seasons and was Brosnan’s breakout role. After the series ended, Brosnan went on to become a massive movie star, but Zimbalist’s career didn’t follow the same path.
After Reminington Steele ended, Zimbalist continued to act, and she appeared in over 60 projects. However, none of those projects ever became as successful for her as Remington Steele was.
Zimbalist didn’t quit the entertainment business, though. Instead, she shifted her focus and found success in theater. In September 2025, Zimbalist performed alongside Alec Baldwin in a one-night show at the Westport Country Playhouse.
In The Fitzgeralds: A Reading with Music, Zimbalizst played Zelda Fitzgerald, and Baldwin was F. Scott Fitzgerald. The performance was a fundraiser honoring Joanne Woodward.
Zimbalist’s success in theater comes as no surprise to those who know about her parents and paternal grandparents. As Broadway World detailed, her grandfather was Efrem Zimbalist, a highly regarded conductor, composer, and violinist.
His wife, the Remington Steele star’s grandmother, was Alma Gluck, who was a soprano with the Metropolitan Opera Company.
In addition, Gluck was one of the earliest artists to record phonograph records. According to the Recorded Sound Archives, she was the first artist with a phonograph record to sell a million copies.
Zimbalist’s father, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., was an actor who accrued nearly 100 credits. He had roles in Concerning Miss Marlowe, 77 Sunset Strip, and The F.B.I., and voiced many animated characters as well.
What is next for Zimbalist? In an interview with Broadway World in September 2025, she was asked what roles she would still like to play. She responded, “Probably one that I would write. Who knows?”
The last movie released in theaters that Zimbalist did was the 2023 film Lucky Louie. Her IMDb page doesn’t currently list any movie or television projects in the works. However, in addition to theater projects, she has voiced several audiobooks, and she seems content to keep her options open these days.
