Biography for
Lynda Carter More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

24 July 1951, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Birth Name

Linda Jean Cordova Carter

Height

5' 9½" (1.77 m)

Spouse

Robert Altman	(29 January 1984 - present) 2 children
Ron Samuels	(28 May 1977 - 1 February 1983) (divorced)

Trade Mark

Dark hair and blue eyes

Voluptuous figure

Deep sultry voice

Trivia

Singer

Does motivational/professional speaking engagements.

Performed in a band during high school called 'Just Us', which consisted of a marimba, a congo drum, an acoustic guitar, and a stand-up bass played by another girl. When she was 17, she joined another band for more exposure called 'The Relatives' (because two members were cousins) which opened at the Sahara Hotel casino lounge in Las Vegas for three months. Because Lynda was under 21, she had to enter the casino through the kitchen. Gary Burghoff (who played Radar O'Reilly in "M*A*S*H" (1972) ) was the drummer. In 1970, she joined the last band she sang with, called 'The Garfin Gathering with Lynda Carter', and their first performance was in a brand new San Francisco hotel that had no sidewalk entrance built yet, so they played to mostly the janitors and whatever hotel guests parked their cars in the underground garage. But she performed so well under such intimidating circumstances, that Howard "Speedy" Garfin nicknamed Lynda "Wonder Woman!".

Won the title of Miss World USA representing her home state of Arizona in 1972.

A friend sat Lynda and her present husband, lawyer Robert Altman, together at a social dinner in the hopes that the two would hit it off.

Performed many of her own stunts on "Wonder Woman" (1975) including hanging from a helicopter, to the nervousness of CBS, during the second season episode "Anschluss '77".

Ended each of her television specials singing the song "Always".

While filming Battle of the Network Stars (1976) (TV), she poured champagne over the head of host Howard Cosell after her team won the tug of war contest not knowing he wore a hairpiece. Cosell was really upset. Later, whenever she saw him at a restaurant in New York, she would sent over a bottle of champagne and he always knew that it was from her.

Owns the DVD release rights to her television specials.

When asked, during her on-line Lens Express chat on Monday, November 8th, 1999, who she would like to portray Wonder Woman in a big screen movie version, she stated that she would prefer either actress Catherine Zeta-Jones or supermodel Cindy Crawford.

Scenes cut from Francis Ford Coppola epic Apocalypse Now (1979)

On the Circus of the Stars #2 (1977) (TV), Lynda was the target for David Janssen, who threw daggers at her. He came close, but he missed her every time.

The son of one of her stunt doubles, Jeannie Epper, told his classmates that his mother was Lynda's stunt double on the series "Wonder Woman" (1975), but they didn't believe him, not even after he showed them a picture of his mother in the Wonder Woman costume from the set. When Lynda herself found out about this, she invited the boy's class to the set so they could see Jeannie herself in action.

Half Irish, half Mexican

Auditioned for the role of Captain Kathryn Janeway on "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995).

She returned to her first love, singing, by appearing in the play "Chicago" at London's West End Adeplhi Theatre on September 26, 2005 as "Mama Morton", the leather-clad women's jailer for an eight-week run. Lynda has now successfully appeared in all three forms of acting, stage, screen and television.

She has had 2 children, with Robert Altman. James Clifford Altman was born on January 14, 1988 and Jessica Carter Altman was born on October 7, 1990.

Daughter-in-law of television producer Sophie Altman.

Ranked #3 on Wizard magazine's "Sexiest Women of TV" list (March 2008).

Grew up an avid reader of the Wonder Woman comic books.

Went to Globe High School in Globe, Arizona and Arcadia High School, in Phoenix. She attended Arizona State University, but after being voted the "most talented" student, she dropped out in order to pursue a career in music.

Toured as a singer with several rock groups before returning to Arizona in 1972.

Her only nude appearances in film came with one of her first, Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976).

In early June 2008, Carter found a body floating in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. while rowing out of the Potomac Boat Club. She called out to some fishermen and waited for the police to arrive.

Has been involved in many charitable causes, including a pioneering role with the Susan G. Komen Foundation (for breast cancer education and research) in which she received the Jill Ireland Award for her volunteer work, the Red Cross, USO, Ronald McDonald House, and many charities benefiting children.

Hosts the Lynda Carter Golf Tournament for charity.

She is the youngest of three children of Colby Carter and Jean Carter. Her brother is Vincent Carter and her sister is Pamela Carter.

According to a DVD commentary by Lynda Carter, she invented the "spin" move when Diana would transform into Wonder Woman.

Lynda Carter, released an album in 1978 entitled, "Portrait" but the sales of the album were poor. She released a Jazz type LP "At Last" in 2009, which was 31 years after her first album. The album peaked at a respectable #6 on the Jazz charts. Recently, she released another called "Crazy Little Things".

Personal Quotes

When asked if she made a profit from the Wonder Woman dolls, "I think that you're probably familiar with a problem in Hollywood, and that is that they market you and they use you. They did a mask of my face and put it on the doll and they put my name on for the first run of it. And then they took my name off and said they didn't have to pay me anymore. So it's the kind of thing that you can be used SO much in this industry. I make nothing. I don't even make anything from the reruns. Don't ever settle for net profits. It's called 'Creative Accounting'."

I won't consider myself a star until I've had more experience. I think the real stars are people like Streisand, Brando, Dustin Hoffman, Hepburn... Hepburn is my favorite. She epitomizes to me what a star should be.

Oh my God. You and three other people. [When told by an interviewer that he owned a copy of her solo record album "Portrait".]

[on hanging from the helicopter for an episode of Wonder Woman]: "The stunt girl was about to go under it and I said 'Oh, I can do this!' I ran under and they went up, and when the producers found out about it, they went ballistic."

[on the enduring popularity of the Wonder Woman series]: "I'd like to think I had something to do with it, but it's a phenomenon unto itself. And it's not too bad to be a sort of pop icon, you know? It's not too tough to handle."

[on characterizing Wonder Woman]: "I tried to play her like a regular woman who just happened to have superhuman powers. I figured she'd lived with it every day of her life."

I really loved doing the stunts. I had a lot of stunt women, because they all did something different, but I ended up doing most of the fights myself. The stunt guys taught me how to throw a punch, and eventually I became an honorary member of the Stunt Women's Association.

I'm 5' 9", but most people think I'm about 6 feet tall. It's because I have very long legs.

I think I was much better in the part when it was modernized. The series matured as it went along.

[on the Wonder Woman TV series being updated from World War II]: "I think they [CBS] wanted to retool it and modernize it when they bought it, so they weren't just buying the same show."

Wonder Woman struck a chord that no one expected.

[on life before Wonder Woman]: "To tell you the truth, I couldn't pay my next month's rent when I got the part. I was thrilled to have a pilot of my own."

[regarding her years as a born again Christian] "I kinda gave that up. I kinda got burned out, going around and banging on people's doors and telling them what to believe. I mean, what's that all about?"

It never really felt like I had a lot of substance in my life. I had broken up with my former husband [Ron Samuels] and I kind of looked around. I didn't have a lot of friends. I had become isolated by fame. I longed for a family and some substantive relationships. Fame is a vapor. You can't grab hold of it.

I've been in recovery for nine years. I describe the experience as like being an unwilling participant with alcoholism. The whole experience is very frightening and I know it's a big problem here like it is back home. It's a scary situation to be in. I'm just trying to do my bit and let people know that they're not alone if they're going through it. If I can help them out, do the work I love to do and spend the rest of my time with friends and family, enjoying my time with the people I love, then that's what it's all about. - England, Sept. 2005

Mexican food is my weakness. Thank God I live in Washington where it's horrible. They put in some tomatoes and bell peppers and call it salsa!

Some of the best memories of my childhood were of being with my grandmother when she was making tortillas, having to cut the tripe when she made menudo, or sorting the sticks and stones out of the beans on her table.

Where Are They Now

(October 2005) Currently playing Matron 'Mama' Morton in Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre, London

(May 2007) Performing a 6 night cabaret show at the York Hotel's Plush Room in San Francisco, California.

(June 2007) Performing a three night cabaret act at the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles, California.