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 In
1942 a cartoonist named Charles Moulton began drawing a comic
strip which had as its central character a superhuman heroine he
called "Wonder Woman." Moulton wanted to give the
young girls of America an important and heroic character to look
up to, just as boys could look up to Superman.
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When
television producer Douglas Cramer was looking for an actress to
play the part of Wonder Woman on a pilot for a television series
he was planning, he said to himself, "I'll get a
dark-haired girl who looks like the girl in the strip. She will
be built like a javelin-thrower, but with a sweet face of a Mary
Tyler Moore."
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After
interviewing hundreds of actresses for the part, Cramer had just
about given up hope of ever finding an ideal Wonder Woman, when
a, strikingly tall, athletic girl with the face of an angel
walked into his office. The girl's name was Lynda Carter and
Cramer knew that he had found his Wonder Woman. Lynda did not
have any previous TV acting experience, but Cramer saw something
in her that told him she would be able to handle the role
successfully. The pilot of the series was well received and ABC
television presented 11 episodes of Wonder Woman during its
1976-77 season. CBS-TV took over the |
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the next year and it became one of television's biggest hits.
This was mainly due to the magnetic, exciting presence of the
series' superstar supreme, Lynda Carter.
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Lynda
was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 24. She was the youngest
of three children. Lynda had a happy, uncomplicated childhood in
Phoenix and did all of the things normal kids do when they are
growing up. She played with her dolls and enjoyed occasional
games of baseball with the neighborhood boys. When she finished
grade school, she went to Arcadia Titans High School, where she
was voted "the most talented student" in her senior
year. The only real disappointment she had in high school, she
later admitted, was that she was considered too tall to be a
pom-pom girl. Lynda was tall for a girl, taller than most of the
boys on the football team when she was in high school.
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Lynda
had always enjoyed singing and, when she graduated from high
school, she enrolled at Arizona State University as a music
major. Because of her stunning good looks, she was soon winning
college beauty contests. In 1973, Lynda's friends encouraged her
to enter the Miss World Contest. She won the title of Miss
U.S.A. in the contest and was awarded a scholarship to study
music and drama with Charles Conrad and Stella Adler.
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Not
content to rest on her laurels as Wonder Woman, Lynda recently
decided to make use of her music training and has recorded an
album of songs. The album features several songs written by
Lynda herself. She is also working on a night club act with the
help of her husband and manager, Ron Samuels. Ron, who became
Lynda's husband on May 28, 1977; says, "Lynda has a lot
more dimension than people see on Wonder Woman. She has an IQ of
almost genius and she is one of the best singers in the
world."
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Lynda
claims she is really "just a good old-fashioned girl. I
believe in love, romance, honesty, sincerity, and truth,"
she says. "In many ways I am Wonder Woman and her
alter-ego, Diana Prince. Maybe that's why I got this choice role
when so many seasoned actresses were turned down for the
part." To prove just how successful his wife has been as
Wonder Woman, Ron recently negotiated a million-dollar contract
with CBS-TV for Lynda to continue in the role.
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Reflecting
on her good fortune and the criticism that has accompanied it,
Lynda says, "Some people just have to find a way to justify
a woman's success. That's why they say 'The reason she's
accomplished this is because she's being manipulated by someone
else.' That's easier for them than facing the realization that a
woman can make it in this male-dominated business. The simplest
thing for them to believe is that whatever she does is a direct
cause of the man in her life."
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Wonder Woman
is, of course, one of America's symbols of the women's
liberation movement. Lynda feels, however, that she wouldn't
want to be as liberated as women's lib activists seem to want to
be. "I enjoy being a female," Lynda says, "and I
enjoy being an independent female. Being married doesn't lessen
my freedom. It gives me more. Now I have the protection of Ron,
and I like that."
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TV's Wonder
Woman, Lynda Carter, seems to have everything she needs to live
a happy, full life. She has a successful career, a happy
marriage, and good health. You're a wonder, Wonder Woman!
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 VITAL
STATISTICS
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| BIRTHPLACE:
Phoenix, Arizona
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| HEIGHT: 5'
8"
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| HAIR: Dark
Brown
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| BIRTHDATE: July
24
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WEIGHT:
122 lbs.
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| EYES: Blue
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