WONDERLAND • The Ultimate Wonder Woman Site

When Lindsay Wagner first learned that lissome brunette Lynda Carter would be bringing the legendary comic-strip heroine Wonder Woman to TV on a regular ba$is, she thought it was terrific. It wasn't long before Lindsay, the Bionic Woman, found herself becoming friends with Lynda. But when Lindsay introduced Lynda to her manager Ron Samuels, the man responsible for her fantastic deal with The Bionic Woman producers, she had no idea it would lead to anything. Ron and Lindsay have always been extremely close. In fact, prior to her marriage to Michael Brandon, and shortly after Samuels separated from his wife, there was talk that Samuels had more than a business interest in Lindsay. However, the luscious Bionic Woman's marriage to Brandon in December finally squelched the rumors. Lindsay still depends heavily on Ron, however, to keep her business affairs in order and they have remained close friends.

Now she has learned that Lynda Carter will be fighting for Ron's time. Because of his astute business sense, Ron's day is crammed full of activity and it doesn't leave him a great (teal of free time, especially when a star of Lindsay's caliber relies on him so heavily. As a result, Lindsay and Lynda find themselves in the awkward position of fighting for the same man. So far Ron has managed to keep things under control, however.

"I look after Lindsay Wagner's interests 24 hours a day, and I love Lynda Carter 24 hours a (lay," he says with a smile. That's a pretty tall order even for a Superman!

"He's a gorgeous man," Lynda told a reporter recently. "I've never been in love with anyone before. I love Ron so much!" Samuels is equally smitten: "I'm very much in love with Lynda. I love her more than anything. We're going to get married," he added. "I respect her, I'm committed to her and I love her."

Lindsay doesn't mind sharing Ron with Lynda as long as he continues to devote his talents to her career full time, but the Bionic Woman has also had occasion to battle Wonder Woman for another reason. ABC has frequently preempted Bionic Woman to show movie-length Wonder Woman episodes and Lindsay doesn't like having her show dropped from the schedule even 'for one week. When it started becoming a regular occurence, both Lindsay and Lynda began battling with the network to get Wonder Woman its own time slot. Fortunately, that problem has been resolved to the satisfaction of both actresses but now that-they're forced to share the same man and compete for his time, it can be difficult and Samuels sometimes finds himself caught in the middle trying to please his client and his girl friend.

When Wonder Woman became a weekly series, Lynda learned why Lindsay had come to depend on Ron so much to take care of her business matters. Lynda has explained, "There's absolutely- no time to be yourself when you're carrying a series. Reading scripts, rehearsals, story conferences, publicity, fan mail, appearances, and shooting the episodes keep me busy from dawn to dusk. I didn't mind it at all when I was responsible to myself and no one else, but now there is someone special in my life and I don't feel that it's fair to him. I can't let myself be pulled in 8,000 directions any more because I have to conserve whatever bits of free time I have for someone I care a lot about.

"This relationship has taught me something that I never really believed before," she continued. "The more you do, the more you have time to do. I realize-now that I share my life with someone-that I have to make more efficient use of my time. It's amazing how much time I can devote to my personal life by organizing my time during the day better!" Lynda has even managed to find time for a few sets of her favorite sport, tennis, as long as it's with that special someone.

At five-feet-eight, Lynda can only be described as statuesque, though there was a time when she cringed at the mere thought of her height. "It's funny how your attitude about something can change with experience," she noted with a trace of a smile. "When I was in my early teens, I was very conscious of my height. I felt really awkward towering over my classmates. I just wish I knew then what I know now: my height has been advantageous to me now that I'm older, and men find women my height very attractive; they're not little boys any more, either!

"That should be encouraging to girls who are tall," she added. "It's not something to get upset about because ultimately it will work to your advantage; just watch what a few years will do to change the minds of those'little boys'!"

At Arcadia Titans High School in her home town of Phoenix, Lynda soon found that she could utilize the statuesque figure in tandem with a good singing voice in high school musicals put on by the drama department. After starring in Bye Bye Birdie and many others, she was chosen "Most Talented Student" by her classmates. By that time, boys had caught up with her and unofficially she became "Most Datable Girl."

While everyone was enjoying weekend dates, however, Lynda was out of circulation. In addition to her roles in school productions, she also moonlighted as a singer at a local college night spot in town. Even then, Lynda's first priority was the entertainment business and she devoted all of her spare time to it.

"When I was 17," she related, "a local rock group lost their lead singer and I auditioned for them. They decided on . me and we spent the summer of my junior year doing local gigs; occasionally, we went to Tucson or some place like that. Working with the group," she remarked with a genuine note of excitement in her voice, "was really terrific. I actually earned money doing what I loved to do. It was only 25 dollars for a weekend performance, but that was a lot to me.

"After graduation, I had planned to attend Arizona State University but the experience with the rock grout caused me to change my mind. I was never particularly crazy about schoo even though I was a good student, so I stuck it out with them. That decisior didn't surprise my parents," she con tinued, "because I have been dancing and singing since I was four years old. l appeared on local shows a number ol times, but not doing commercials. What really bothered my parents, actually was the thought of their daughter out trekking around the country with e rock group, but they never interferes with my leaving on tour. They watches closely and occasionally offered advice which I seldom took, but now wish I has more often."

By that time, Lynda was earning 91 dollars per week and the group has started nipping at the bigtime. One engagement took them to the Sahara Hotel at Lake Tahoe. "We were real professionals by that time," she recalled, "so I had a wardrobe designed and clothes custom-made. It all seemed like a dream."

The dream became a full-fledged fan- tasy world when the group was invited to the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas for an extended engagement. "I knew that this might be my big break but I didn't get stage fright. Singing was so much a part of my life that I just went out and did what I always did. I didn't feel as if I were even performing!"

Lynda was crowned Miss WorldU.S.A. without ever having been in a beauty contenst before. "I enjoyed the experience and I did use the media exposure to prod my career along but I certainly wouldn't advise young women to think of them as stepping-stones to success. I didn't like the politics going on behind the scenes. They weren't dishonest, but not exactly honest either. It's all business and promotion and a girl can be exploited if she's not careful," Lynda warned.

If nothingelse, the Miss World-U.S.A. title gave the singer a little momentum when she arrived in Los Angeles and began a grueling course of study under Lieux Dressler. Lynda even traveled to New York for a time to study under another professional whom she admired. It was obvious that Lynda's victory had not gone to her head and she has always maintained that beauty is best combined with skills. Back in Los Angeles, she put her education to the test in a series of guest appearances on television. Shortly afterwards, she debuted in her first motion picture opposite Marjoe Gortner, Billie Jo and the Outlaw.

Lynda freely admits to being an incurable romantic. Wonder Woman's idealism is in keeping with her own values and outlook on life, and the series gives her the chance to convey a constructive and optimistic message to her audience. "I am convinced that people are starved for happy endings, and I would like to think that this show is giving them some positive input, something to believe in. We've become so disillusioned as a nation that we're demoralized. From the research I've done, I've discovered how together we were during the Second World War. Maybe, just maybe, we'll find those values again if we look at that period through Wonder Woman's eyes. Who knows? She might succeed where others have failed! I hope so."

Though success has come easily for her, she hasn't started taking her "Midas touch" for granted. She lives modestly, dresses casually in jeans and T-shirt whenever possible, and never stops striving for improvement and refinement in her acting techniques, Time off from the series never spells h-o-l-i-d-a-y because there are record ing contracts, movie offers, TV work, and a special someone all demanding attention. Now, of course she has to find time for the man in her life and hope that he can fit his demanding schedule around hers. Lynda hopes that she and Lindsay can find a way to share Ron that will work out satisfactorily for all of them, and Lynda is also watching Lindsay very closely to see just how a popular actress manages to keep her series at the top of the ratings and, at the same time, keep her man happy, Lindsay herself admits that the pressures of stardom and trying to keep a relationship flowing smoothly do require her to be superwoman. If anyone can learn the secret to pulling it all off, it's got to be Lynda (Wonder Woman) Carter!