49 Facts About Lynda Carter

Lynda Jean Cordova Carter was born on July 24,1951 and is an American actress, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss World USA 1972 and finished in the top 15 at the Miss World 1972 pageant.

Lynda Carter was born in Phoenix, Arizona, the daughter of Juanita and Colby Lynda Carter.

Lynda Carter's father is of English and Scots-Irish ancestry, and her mother, whose family hailed from Mexico, is of Mexican, Spanish, and French descent.

Lynda Carter has one brother, Vincent, and one sister, Pamela.

Lynda Carter made her public television debut on Lew King's Talent Show at age 5.

At age 15, Lynda Carter began singing in the local pizza parlor to earn extra money.

The group opened at the Sahara Hotel and Casino lounge in Las Vegas for three months; because Lynda Carter was under 21 she had to enter through the kitchen.

In 1970, Lynda Carter successfully auditioned for and then sang on tour with The Garfin Gathering and bandleader Howard Garfin.

In 1972, Lynda Carter decided to leave the Garfin Gathering to pursue an acting career, returning to Arizona.

In 1972, Lynda Carter won a local Arizona beauty contest and gained national attention in the United States by winning Miss World USA 1972, representing Arizona.

Lynda Carter took acting classes at several New York acting schools during the early 1970s.

Lynda Carter made her first acting appearance in an episode of the 1974 police drama Nakia entitled "Roots of Anger".

Lynda Carter began making appearances on such TV shows as Starsky and Hutch and Cos, as well as appearances in several "B" movies.

Lynda Carter's acting career took off when she landed the starring role on Wonder Woman in 1975, as the title character and her secret identity, Diana Prince.

Lynda Carter has publicly stated that, on the day she got the part, she had $25 in the bank.

Lynda Carter was close to returning to Arizona when her manager informed her that Joanna Cassidy had lost the role and Carter had the part of Wonder Woman.

Lynda Carter's performance, rooted in the character's inherent goodness combined with a comic-accurate costume and a catchy theme song made for a depiction that was nothing less than iconic.

Lynda Carter holds dear the new film and the character introduced more than 75 years ago.

In 1978, Lynda Carter was voted "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World" by the International Academy of Beauty and the British Press Organization.

Lynda Carter had signed a modelling contract with Maybelline cosmetics in 1977.

Lynda Carter was the first woman to provide a voiceover for a movie trailer, as she did for the 1975 film The Drowning Pool.

Lynda Carter is credited in several variety television programs for being a co-writer on several songs and making numerous musical guest appearances.

Lynda Carter sang two of her songs in a 1979 Wonder Woman episode, "Amazon Hot Wax".

In 1977, Lynda Carter released a promotional poster through Pro Arts at the suggestion of her then-husband and manager, Ron Samuels.

The only evidence remaining of Lynda Carter's involvement are the Playboy centerfolds that were specially shot by the magazine as movie props, and a glimpse of Lynda Carter's pinup in the Redux version.

In 1980 Lynda Carter initially made a guest appearance on The Muppet Show.

Lynda Carter then portrayed Helen Durant in the 1989 CBS television film Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All where she booby-traps Las Vegas entertainer Johnny Roman, her husband Doctor Carl Durant, and his employee accountant Brad Peters causing their deaths.

Lynda Carter appeared in commercials for Lens Express.

Around that time Lynda Carter created her own production company, Potomac Productions.

In 1993, Lynda Carter expanded her performance resume to include voice-over work as the narrator for the Sandra Brown book Where There's Smoke.

The new millennium saw Lynda Carter continuing to work in various areas.

In 2000, Lynda Carter hosted the I Love 1978 episode of BBC2's I Love the '70s.

Lynda Carter performed in a variety of film roles, making up a majority of her film work in the 2000s.

Lynda Carter made her first appearance in a major feature film in a number of years in the big-screen remake of The Dukes of Hazzard, directed by Chandrasekhar.

Lynda Carter appeared in Disney's action comedy film Sky High as Principal Powers, the headmistress of a school for superheroes.

Lynda Carter expanded her voice-over work to include video games, performing voices for the nord and orsimer females in two computer games of The Elder Scrolls series beginning in 2002, and including The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

From September to November 2005, Lynda Carter played "Mama Morton" in the West End London production of Chicago.

Lynda Carter played engagements at such venues as Feinstein's at Loews Regency in New York, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Razz Room in San Francisco, and the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles.

In June 2011, Lynda Carter released her third album, Crazy Little Things which she describes as a delightful mix of standards, country, and pop tunes.

In 2015, Lynda Carter wrote and recorded five original songs for the video game Fallout 4 in which she herself stars.

In 2018, Lynda Carter released her fourth album titled Red, Rock n' Blues with her All-Star Band which featured two vocals with her daughter, Jessica Altman.

Lynda Carter continues to perform her concerts nationally at venues including The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood, Feinstein's at the Nikko in San Francisco, the Franklin Theater in Nashville, and Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC.

Lynda Carter is among the interview subjects in Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle, a three-hour documentary narrated by Liev Schreiber that premiered on PBS in October 2013.

Lynda Carter left Hollywood in 1985 to join her husband in Washington, DC for a few years.

In 2003, Lynda Carter revealed that her mother had suffered from irritable bowel syndrome for over 30 years leading to Lynda Carter touring the country as an advocate and spokeswoman.

Lynda Carter was the Grand Marshal for the 2011 Phoenix Pride Parade and the 2011 New York Pride Parades, as well as the 2013 Capital Pride Parade in Washington, DC In 2010 she served as Grand Marshall for the Washington, DC AIDS Walk.

When she was asked what the recovery process had taught her, Lynda Carter explained that the best measure of a human being is "how we treat the people who love us, and the people that we love".

Lynda Carter's dedication is the 369th honoree on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.

In 2016, Lynda Carter received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gracie Awards.