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 BEAUTIFUL
Lynda Carter has talked for the first time about the five years of
heartache and agony that led to the breakup of her marriage — and about
the new man who is putting love and hope back in her life. |
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Confiding about the day she ditched her
husband, Ron Samuels, she says: "I was on a downer. I was tired of
working. Tired of fighting all the time. And tired of being used. |
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"But the instant he walked out the door, I
thought, 'God, this is great!' |
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"I turned up the music turned on the TV ... got
myself a glass of wipe. And yelled and screamed! l never felt freer or
bet-ter in my life. |
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"And it was then that I decided to tell Ron not
to come back home," says the former Wonder Woman." Lynda, 31. who will
play Rita Hayworth in a TV movie this fall, says: "I met Ron [in the
Seventies] when my career first started to take off. |
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"I was finding my newfound fame hard to
handle. All of a sudden people knew me by name. I acquired an entourage.
And everybody started asking for my time. When this happens to an
ac-tress, you either get very big-headed or very insecure," she says."I
got insecure. Which is the reason I married Ron. He came into my life
and said 'I'll take care of you. I'll tell you what to do and where to
go.' And I said, 'Oh yes ... thank you.' " At first, Lynda danced
dutifully to her husband's tune. |
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"He fired most of my staff and started again
with his own people," she says. "But it was when he started to get rid
of my friends that I began to feel all control over my life was going
out of my hands. I didn't realize what was happening at first. If I had
a girlfriend, he didn't like her husband. Then he didn't want me to have
any male friends — even platonic ones. Bit by bit, he took everything
out of my life. I never went to see my family. We never went out to
dinner. We didn't go to the movies. All I seemed to do was work." |
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Lynda claims that her husband profited
financially from their marriage. "I was the main provider." she says.
"Ron managed Lindsay Wagner (TV's Bionic Woman) as well as me. But he
got only 15 percent of her earnings. As my husband, he got 50 percent of
mine. And he kept me working all the time." Then, quite by chance,
Samuels decided to take off on a trip to Palm Springs. |
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"It was an unusual thing for him to do because
he never left me alone for a minute," she recalls. When he did, Lynda
made her break for freedom. She told Samuels that their marriage was
over — and that her own life was about to begin. The moment I finished
the tour I was in, I started to play. I flew to Mexico, Paris, New York,
London. I saw friends. I went dancing. I had myself a blast!" she says. |
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What Lynda Carter didn't do too much of was
dating. "Most of the men I met bored me — particularly West Coast men.
They were very big on physical values "They went in for silk shirts open
to the waist and lots of gold chains. But although they weresmooth
talkers, there was nothing very much going on in their heads," says
Lynda. "All they were interested in was showbusiness, female flesh and
being seen by the right people. On the occasions when 1 did go out with
one of these characters, I'd usually plead tiredness and go home early,"
she says. |
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But there was one party that Lynda didn't want
to leave early — the one where she met rising young lawyer, Robert
Altman, 35. She says: "When I first set eyes on Robert, I thought he was
good looking in an interesting way. He told me later for him it was love
at first sight. |
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"Anyway, he set it up to sit next to me. And we
hit it off right away. After dinner, he offered to drive me home — we
were both staying in the same hotel in Memphis. When we got into the
car, he took off his tie and turned up the music. It was then that I
said to myself. 'This boy is all right!" |
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"That night, we sat up talking till the dawn
broke. And after that I knew that this was IT. I just went crazy and
never saw anyone but him." |
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Romance with the dark, handsome Altman, who is
slightly taller than the six-foot Lynda, has been going strong for more
than 10months now. "I love Robert because he's protective towards me,
but not over protective. He's very much the man in our relationship,
what makes me feel all woman — and I adore that. "You see, I'm very
strong willed; and it takes a lot of man to handle that," Lynda admits. |
Date and Issue: August 16, 1983.
