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Lynda was gangly as a youngster, she said. "I was tall and I had
big feet and freckles," she recalled. "At one point I was 5
feet 5 inches tall and weighed 100 pounds. I was ghastly, but I
finally outgrew that. In high school I wanted so badly to be a pom pom
girl, but I didn't make it. I was just going into high school when my
father lost all his money and my parents got divorced. We moved from a
huge house to a tiny house. It was awful. There are so many snobby
people. I worked all through high school. I never studied much, but I
was good in school." |
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Lynda became a professional singer while she was still in school.
"I sang in pizza parlors, supper clubs, and other places in
Phoenix," she said. "I always loved singing and
dancing." |
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She didn't date much in high school. "The boys all seemed kind of
short and skinny," she remembered with a smile. "I always
wanted to fit in with all the kids, but I never really did." |
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By the time she garduated, however, she had become strikingly good
looking. She decided to enter a beauty contest -and it was no contest
at all! Lynda was named Miss U.S.A. in 1973 and was a finalist that
same year in the Miss World contest. Today, she has mixed feelings
about beauty contests. |
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"I didn't get paid anything for winning except $ 1,000 for a
wardrobe," she explained. "Then I got paid $70 a day
whenever I was traveling and promoting the contest. It's really a
glorified public relations job." |
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"It was stilla terrific experience, though," she added.
"It was like playing out a big fantasy. You feel really the
princes of your dreams when you're chosen to be a beauty queen! A
little girl from nowhere becomes someone. There's no doubt the
promoters use the girks to make money for themselves. But beauty
contests do give girls a chance to get out of their hometowns and meet
new people. You see new places and have experiences. It adds to you
life. It certainly helped me. Winning that beauty contest made it
possible for me to move to California and study acting. It helped me
get my singing and acting together." |
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Lynda believes very strongly in the feminist movement, although many
members of the movement are opposed to beauty contest. "I don't
like to see women held back in any way," TV's Wonder Woman
declared. "I try to impress upon young people .boys and grils
alike. that they can be anything they want to be. It isn't how you
look that's important. It's how you sue whatever you have that's
important -how you use your talents, your interest... |
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"It's much easier to complain about life and how lousy it is than
to be happy. It's harder to be a success than a failure -that's why a
lot of people take the easy way out. They let themselves be
failures." |
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Lynda was determined not to let that happen to her. After her year's
reign as Miss U.S.A., she headed for Hollywood. She knew it wouldn't
be easy. Thousands of young people head for Hollywood every year. Once
there, they take acting lessons and wait to be discovered. Few ever
are. |
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But producer Doug Cramer was casting Wonder Woman. He had interviewed
hundreds of would-be Wonder Women. Finally he found the one he wanted:
Lynda Carter. |
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Lynda was tunned. "My first thought was: I hope I can do it. But
I think anybody can do anything they want it badly enough." Lynda
wanted this very badly. She wanted to be an actress -and this was her
chance. |
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"Wonder Woman was changed this season," Lynda noted.
"It was moved from the 1940's to the present day. Everyone felt
we had done enough shows about the Nazis and World War II. I think it
was a good idea to update the show. It's still the same show. It's
just been moved to amodern setting." |
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Lynda works hard to keep herself in shape for the show. "I do
many kinds of exercises," she said. "I swim a lot. I play
tennis. I jump on the trampoline, and do leg lifts and push-ups. I run
-and for the opening shows this season I had to take fencing lessons.
I hate working out in a gym but I do it. Any exercise where you use
your whole body is good. You body becomes balanced. You become aware
of your head, your hands, every part of your body." |
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Last May 28, Lynda married her manager, Ron Samuels. |
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"We had a garden wedding with a mariachi band and we served
Mexican food," said Lynda. "It was a wonderful day"! I
wore the most beautiful wedding dress I have ever seen, and flowers in
my hair. There were about 100 people there -and I have never been so
nervous in my entire life! I'm so happy we had a very traditional
wedding. It's a memory we will always have. |
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"From this point on," Lynda said earnestly, "a new
chapter is beginning in my personal life -and in my career. There were
times in the past when I didn't know if I'd be able to pay the rent,
but I kept busy going to acting classes and working on my music. I
would say these past few years have been happy, frustrating,
exhausting, depressing -you name it! But that's what life is all
baout. I've gotten more and more involved in the character better than
anyone else at this point!" |
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Lynda has many plans for the future. "I want to sing, act, write
music, and direct," she exclaimed. "Maybe I won't do it all,
but I can try! I hope my success in Wonder WOman leads everywhere!
Somebody has to be everywhere -why not me?" |
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Why not, indeed?
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Serial and Year: TX 4219 / 1978.
ZAP! She's done it again! Wonder Woman was dropped by ABC last spring. But before she could jump in her plastic plane and zoom home to Paradise Island, she was saved by CBS! How do you like that?
