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Jack and Leslie Wadsworth starred as He-Man and She-Ra in a 1987 live arena tour during the franchise’s peak popularity
The couple’s performances included sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall and emotional visits with Make-A-Wish children
Decades later, the Wadsworths reflect on the lasting impact of their roles and the fan base that still remembers them
Long before superhero movies dominated the box office, Jack and Leslie Wadsworth brought two of pop culture’s most recognizable heroes to life on stage.
The real-life couple starred as He-Man and She-Ra in the Masters of the Universe live arena tour in 1987, traveling to 26 cities across North America just as the franchise reached the height of its popularity.
Nearly four decades later, with a new Masters of the Universe movie now in theaters, the pair tells PEOPLE they’re still amazed by the lasting impact the characters have had.
“It’s been so long — 39 years — and here we are [with] Masters of the Universe coming out in the news,” Jack says. “It’s really surreal, kind of strange that now it’s back.”
Jack and Leslie touring as the iconic heroes
Credit: courtesy Jack Wadsworth
The Wadsworths actually met several years before Masters of the Universe while portraying Conan and Red Sonja in Universal Studios’ live Conan the Barbarian stunt show.
Their romance moved quickly.
“Our first date was May 6th of 1983,” Jack recalls. Just one month later, he proposed, and by Oct. 6, they were married on the Universal lot in a wedding publicized by the studio.
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The same creative team later cast the married couple as He-Man and She-Ra, and the nine-month arena tour they then embarked on became bigger than either of them expected.
“Radio City Music Hall was unbelievable,” Leslie says. “We felt like we were the new Mickey Mouse.”
Jack adds that seeing their images displayed on the venue’s marquee was surreal, noting that the production went on to sell out 19 consecutive performances at Radio City Music Hall — a record the couple says still stands.
Jack and Leslie meeting President Bush
Credit: courtesy Jack Wadsworth
Fans regularly recognized them offstage as well.
Jack laughs while recalling a hotel bellman who repeatedly exclaimed, “You’re —— He-Man,” before asking for an autograph for his daughter.
Other encounters proved far more emotional.
One young fan backstage simply looked up at Jack and said, “I knew you were real.”
Although the tour ended decades ago, both say the characters have remained part of their lives.
“There’s this fan base that is alive and well, which is crazy,” Leslie says, recalling a recent message from a fan in Germany who told the couple he had grown up in foster care and believed He-Man and She-Ra were real. “I didn’t even know that people knew that we still existed.”
Jack meeting a Make-a-Wish recipient
Credit: courtesy Jack Wadsworth
While the sold-out crowds were exciting, Leslie says the experience took on a deeper meaning when the tour partnered with Make-A-Wish and children’s hospitals.
“We didn’t realize the influence that these characters had on these kids,” she says. “We ended up flying ahead to the different cities to visit all of these kids in the hospitals, and we got involved with Make-A-Wish. And that’s kind of when things really shifted. We’re like, ‘Wow, okay, this is a new level.’ ”
Jack still remembers telling his wife during one flight: “If this plane crashes, we’ve made a difference.”
“You go to these Make-A-Wish children that are really sick, taking all kinds of chemotherapy, radiation treatments in quarantine rooms, and they want to meet He-Man and She-Ra,” he tells PEOPLE.
Jack and Leslie today
Credit: courtesy Jack Wadsworth
Years later, life came full circle when the couple’s youngest daughter became seriously ill and was granted a wish through the same organization.
“Make-A-Wish approached us,” Leslie says. “How full circle is that?”
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Looking back, Jack believes the live show created a connection that couldn’t be replicated on screen.
“What we were able to do is reach out and touch children,” he says. “We had arenas and theaters full of children that we could make an impression upon live.”
For Leslie, hearing from fans all these years later has only reinforced that feeling: “It kind of reignites that, ‘Oh gosh, maybe we did make a little bit of a difference in some of these lives.’ ”
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