WONDERLAND • The Ultimate Wonder Woman Site

	"Lynda Carter and Ron Samuels were friends for a long time before they got married," reveals a friend of the couple who was married last May. "They were friends -just friends. In fact, there was nothing at all romantic going on until a few months before the wedding. "For one thing, Lynda was busy worrying about her career, which she'd been working on for years. She wanted desperately for "Wonder Woman" to be a hit. Also, Samuels is an agent and a very successful one. That means he has to spend a lot of time with gorgeous female clients and would-be clients. "He has to wine and dine beautiful women, have occasional private meetings with actresses, even go to restaurants alone with them. And he always has to make them feel good. At the time, Lynda didn't mind any of that, but of course, they weren't married yet."

	Then came the lovely wedding, one of Hollywood's most beautiful in a long time. The two seemed made for each other and were visibly affectionate. For months everything was super.
They were a very popular couple, and because of Ron's business, a couple that participated in lots of Tinseltown nightlife.

Not so anymore...

"There was a little episode in Nate 'n Als, the famous delicatessen, just about a month ago," reveals an associate of the agent. "They were having lunch when a well-known actress came in, and Ron was very gracious to her. Too gracious, I guess. He bent over and kissed her hand, which he doesn't usually do.

"And he spent ten minutes talking with her at her table, leaving Lynda all alone with her food."

As loving and understanding as Lynda is, you can't blame a bride for wanting all of the attention of her new husband-especially when his clients include Lindsay Wagner, Jennifer O'Neill and Jaclyn Smith. Nonetheless, Lynda has nothing to worry about. He's married the woman he wants-his ideal woman, his very own, "Wonder" woman. Her stunning beauty won her the Miss World-U.S.A. title in 1973. But she's not only gorgeous, she's smart and talented, too. And Ron knows it. He boasts that his wife has the I.Q. of a genius and has the prettiest singing voice in the world. That's love.

Samuels has to attend many obligatory Hollywood functions and escorts clients and performs other duties necessary to his profession. Now Lynda often chooses to stay home, curled up on the sofa with a good book.

"It's fortunate for her that she loves to read," confides a close friend. "She doesn't care to go out and get herself upset over Ron being friendly with other women. But don't get it wrong-she's jealous because she loves him. And she's possessive because now she's married to him. Before, it didn't matter.

"As for Ron, he's not a flirt or anything like that. What he does is simply in the line of business. Lynda has lots of trust in Ron, but she knows what kind of women flock around a super-successful agent. These are women who are ruthless and ambitious and will stoop to anything to advance their careers. Lynda's been around enough of them to know what they're like."

But what about Samuels? Isn't he jealous of his lovely wife, whose new poster has been selling like hotcakes?

"Samuels is a normally jealous man," asserts his friend and associate. "After he first got involved romantically with Lynda, he was a bit concerned about her coming into such close contact with Lyle Waggoner day after day. But there was no attraction between the two stars whatsoever, so he relaxed.

"Anyway, there aren't nearly as many good-looking men around his wife as there are good-looking chicks around him. See, Lynda's usually stuck on the set doing her own series while Ron has a whole bunch of people he has to work with-men and women involved in television and motion pictures. It would be hard for any woman to have a husband whose work involved beauties every single day."

The cancellation of Ms. Carter's "Wonder Woman" by ABC supposedly put her way down in the dumps for a while. Co-star Waggoner confirms that had the series not been picked up by another network, she might have even quit show business.

"Ron was responsible for helping her get an even better deal the second time around," notes the former "Carol Burnett Show" regular. "Lynda's indebted to him for life. No matter what happens, she'll always love him and have him to thank for launching her career. I don't believe that if Ron hadn't given his all-out effort, that 'Wonder Woman' would have been purchased by someone else after it was first dropped."

Should the series continue to obtain top ratings, it will evolve into a weekly series by mid-season. Lynda Carter is back at work now, which means that the couple has little time together.

"They just don't see each other now," offers Lynda's good friend. "She's on the set from dawn to dusk, and he's busy at the office and around town. After they married, they took things easy and spent every minute they could together. Most of the 'Wonder Woman ' shooting had ended, and Lynda purposely refused to take on a big movie project. They got to see a lot of each other."

Now that Lynda's working on more "Wonder Woman" episodes, Ron must attend obligatory Tinseltown gatherings on his own. It's not an ideal situation, but it's necessary. Lynda and Ron agree to it because they love and trust each other. And they respect each other's careers.

"What's wrong with Ron doing his business by himself?" The friend asked. "She trusts him, but it'll mean seeing a bit less of him some weeknights..."

Now the couple faces a new problem. For the first time, Lynda has been telling friends that she would like to have a baby in the near future. Unfortunately, this is next to impossible until her series is over-totally over, like in several years. The character she plays isn't "Rhoda. "She can't get pregnant, since no man is supposed to be a match for "Wonder Woman."

"The producers have made it clear from the start," notes Samuel's associate, "that the actress cannot get pregnant during her shooting season or during her hiatus. It sounds cruel and heartless, but it makes sense. Lynda knew about that when she got into it. The ' Wonder Woman ' character simply cannot appear pregnant. There's no way on earth it could be written into the script.

"She can't even be a little pregnant or showing just a little. That outfit she wears is as tight and revealing as anything can be, so it's out of the question. There aren't many cases like this, but here it's a choice of career or motherhood. Not the two."

"You know, success isn't always what one thinks it will turn out to be," says Lyle Waggoner. "You dream that everything will be perfect and all your problems will be solved, but sometimes it only compounds your problems. Even Lynda, who's something of an eternal optimist, has been a bit disappointed at the realities of success."

Another friend has a different opinion. "Lynda's one of your most liberated types," she states. "Before Ron and she married, for instance, she used to be really good about giving interviews. But she hasn't given one that I know of since the wedding. Maybe she's changed her mind about them or maybe Ron's restricting her. All I know is, she used to like being interviewed.

"Also, she was never used to domesticity. Cooking and cleaning and keeping house were never her thing, but now she has to do quite a bit of it. They don't have a regular maid. She won't come right out and say she hates it, but I can tell she's far from enjoying it. She might even resent it. Marriage and success are two things that aren't always what they're cracked up to be."