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Date and Issue: February 20, 1979.
Lynda Carter, who is being almost universally acclaimed as the world's most beautiful woman nowadays honestly believed she was an ugly duckling until her husband, Ron Samuels, persuaded her otherwise.
Lynda, who with fellow TV beauties Cheryl Tiegs and Cheryl Ladd grabbed record sales of pinup posters last year, said: "I always thought of myself as unattractive, like an ugly duckling. Ron taught me the confidence to look at myself and not feel so insecure."
Now the 28-year-old brunette, who was voted the world's most beautiful woman by the London International Academy of Beauty last year, has statistical proof of her stunning . looks. For with the two Cheryls, it has just been revealed that her posters were million-sellers last year - making the beautiful trio worthy rivals of all-time bestseller Farrah Fawcett.
Statistics apart, Lynda, whose Wonder Woman series has become CBS TV's strongest Friday night program in 10 years, believes selfconfidence is the key to beauty.
"People must start by thinking beautiful," she said. "It really starts inside a woman's head. When a woman likes herself and respects herself, that is the beginning of looking the very best she knows how."
But beauty alone, she says, has its drawbacks. Lynda, who won the Miss World-USA contest in 1973, explained: "I think my background in beauty pageants hampered my acting career and stopped me getting ahead faster. Agents and studios automatically think contest winners have no talent.
"And pageant promoters foster that belief by failing to stress the intelligence of contestants."
When it comes to poster sales, however, much of their success depends on the photographer's enthusiasm for the subject - and Tony Esparza, who shot Lynda's million-seller poster, said: "Lynda Carter is the most beautiful lady I have ever photographed in my 20 years in the business.
"She is total beauty from the top of her head to the tips of her toes - a flawless woman.
"If you were going to create a woman, this is what she would look like.
"She is totally different from Cheryls and F arrah. This a woman, not a piece of fluff. She has talents that are still untapped - and she cares about people. This comes through in the rapport she has with me and ultimately in her photographs."
Poster king Ted Trikilis defined the qualitites that placed Lynda and the two Cheryls with Farrah at the top of the beauty championship league. "Lynda has a natural sensuality and it radiates through her eyes and that Mona Lisa smile," said the 33-year-old multimillionaire.
"Cheryl Tiegs represents the hot pink bikini jetsetter. She's a natural model type who shows that she enjoys life to the full. There's nothing artificial. Even her movements are beautifully natural.
"The other Cheryl - Miss Ladd - is youthful and vibrant. It's not so much sexiness as happiness in her smile. She's got a gift of life that goes through her body and makes the day brighten up for anybody who sees her.
"Beauty is a lot of different things and these three beautiful girls all define it differently."
But despite their differences, America's top beauties have a lot in common. They're all well out of their teens, for example. And most., in fact, are past 30.
Harry Langdon, a top Hollywood photographer who has shot poster pictures of Susan Anton, AnnMargret, Cheryl Ladd and Suzanne Somers, said: "All these girls have beautiful figures, but they also have tremendous charisma - that sexual energy that makes a guy's knees buckle. They are all capable of turning on the extra energy, but Cheryl Ladd and Susan Anton are specially good at it."
The top models know many tricks that the average -woman could use to make herself, if not beautiful, at least better looking, said Langdon.
"All of these girls strive for an effervescent personality, and any woman can do this," he said.
"They know that if a woman is animated, no one looks at the defects in her face.
"It is only when the face comes to a dead stop, when there is no personality coming through, that people begin to see the lines and the blemishes."
Langdon went on to say that any signs of stress were beauty-killers too.
"A lot of these girls meditate to keep that peaceful look," he explained.
"They all lead healthy lives. All of them refrain from using any drugs or stimulants or liquor. They are up at four or five o'clock in the morning to start filming at seven. They can't afford to be hung over."
Each of the poster girls is aware of her best features and tries to play them up, said Langdon.
"With Cheryl Ladd, it's her captivating eyes and hair," he said. Suzanne Somers also likes to emphasize her eyes. Ann-Margret has a magnificent neck she likes to show off."
The models keep in shape by constant exercise and dancing, said Langdon. And although their look is outdoorsy, they are all careful not to damage their skin with too much sun.
Barbara Stone, who was a top modeling agent in New York when she discovered Cheryl Tiegs, recalls that Cheryl had an appeal from the beginning.
"She was 18 and in college in California al the time that I discovered her," she said. "There was never any doubt in my mind she was going to be a success."
Ms. Stone said that Cheryl Tiegs and Farrah Fawcett have a feeling of beauty in common.
"That feeling is dynamic health," she explained. "They have a look of total freshness. They both look as though they exercise and are generally athletic. Both are the epitome of the All American Girl. Only in America do you get that look of gorgeous health."
Nina Blanchard, a former model agency head and author of How To Break Into Motion Pictures, Television, Commercials And Modeling, said each of the top poster girls "is sexy and beautiful in a different way."
"Barbara Carreras, who was with my agency before she went into films, is the absolutely perfect example of the woman of mystery with an exotic look about her," said Ms. Blanchard.
"And Jackie Smith has a porcelain-like, almost perfect face and figure. She has a perfection of features that you don't often find."
Makeup artist Mark Traynor noted that while all the top poster models seem wholesome, outdoor types, "their beauty is not totally natural.
"They do use makeup wisely and they have their hair done," he said. "Although none <if them is a teenager, they all have a youthful look. Both older and younger women can identify with them because they are non-threatening.
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