Lynda Carter

Lynda Carter was just over twenty years old when the title of Miss World USA 1972 began to weigh on her like a millstone. She was looking for work in Los Angeles, but casting directors only saw a pretty face with no dramatic track record. By 1975, her bank account had barely 25 dollars in it, and she was about to move back to Arizona with her parents.

Then the contract for the series Wonder Woman arrived.

Television wasn't ready for what was coming. The show originally aired on ABC but later moved to CBS after a first season set during World War II. Carter earned 500 dollars per episode during the early stages of filming.

She herself suggested the spin that transformed her into the heroine, because the producers couldn't find an affordable visual transition. That twirl became the signature of the series (although dizziness during filming was constant). But her success on the small screen quickly turned into a glass cage for her film career.

Refusing to be typecast

After the series ended in 1979, the scripts she received were watered-down copies of the DC Comics Amazon. So she decided to take refuge in advertising and television variety specials. During the 1980s she starred in made-for-TV movies such as Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess in 1983.

Critics were harsh about her portrayal of a film diva, but the audience stayed loyal to her image. In 1984, she tried to regain momentum with the detective series Partners in Crime alongside Loni Anderson. The show was canceled after only 13 episodes due to low ratings and high production costs.

Music was her ticket in.

In 1982, she married attorney Robert A. Altman and stepped away from the Hollywood noise to settle in Maryland. There she raised her two children and limited her appearances to very specific projects that wouldn't interfere with her family life. She took part in the film Sky High in 2005, playing the headmistress of a school for heroes.

In 2007, she returned to the London stage in the musical Chicago, playing Mama Morton. It was a period of vocal rediscovery that led her to record new studio material after decades away from the recording industry.

Music and her final goodbye

Carter's singing career was no passing whim. By 1978 she had already released her debut album, Portrait, and in 2009 she returned to touring small jazz clubs across the United States. She released the album At Last in 2011 and managed to chart on Billboard without a major marketing campaign behind it.

The stigma of being a superheroine was too heavy.

In 2018, she finally received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was a belated tribute to a career that survived the cancellation of her most famous series. In 2020, she briefly appeared in the film Wonder Woman 1984, playing the warrior Asteria.

It was a direct nod to fans who had been asking for her return to big-budget films. Her husband, Robert A. Altman, passed away in February 2021 from complications following a medical procedure. In 2023, she released the single Letters from Earth, inspired by the loss of her husband and her personal grieving process.