Young Lynda Carter: 1970s Through Today

Famed as the 1970s TV incarnation of Wonder Woman, young Lynda Carter became the feminine ideal for the three seasons (1976-1979) her show aired. As TV's first female superhero, she was an inspiration to women and girls, while her beauty-queen looks (she'd been Miss World USA) and snug star-spangled costume kept teenage boys and their fathers tuning in. This combination of strength, bravery and sex appeal made Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman the definitive screen version of the character. Consider Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman in the DC superhero films being produced today (notably Wonder Woman and Justice League) -- she plays a stunning, strong, and funny Wonder Woman. Young Gal Gadot is a wonderful Wonder Woman -- but she'll never be a young Lynda Carter. Carter will forever own the character, much like the late Christopher Reeve will always be the Man of Steel for those of us who can recall seeing his Superman films in the movie theater. 

Although Carter later claimed that she landed the role of the legendary girl-power superhero in part because she looked like the comic book drawings of her, she lit up the small screen with her beauty, figure, youth, and her portrayal of the demure Diana Prince. 

When the show ended in 1979, some worried that such massive success in her youth might limit her prospects -- would Lynda Carter would be so closely linked with Wonder Woman that she wouldn't be given the chance to play other roles? But Lynda Carter showed them that there was life after Wonder Woman and that her sexy star was not going to fade. 

Thanks to Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter was already every schoolboy’s dream girl. Then she posed for a 1978 poster, wearing a tied-off shirt that bared her toned midriff. Known as the “belly button poster,” it was a hot seller, and in the late '70s and early '80s, there was a lot of competition -- from familiar TV vixens like Farrah Fawcett, Loni Anderson, and Catherine Bach.  

Before landing the title role in TV’s Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter sang in several bands. She cut a solo album that was released in 1978, during the show's run, entitled Portrait. After the show was canceled, Carter was given her own CBS Special in which she sang, danced, flirted with guest stars, and showcased her signature long, toned legs.

In 2005, Carter took to the stage to play Mama Morton in the revival of Chicago, in London's West End.

In 2009, 30 years after hanging up her lasso of truth, Carter released At Last, an album of favorites from the Great American Songbook, and in 2011 she put out the more diverse and contemporary Crazy Little Things.

In 1983, Lynda Carter traded in her lush brunette locks for a ginger hairdo to star in a made-for-TV movie about the life of actress Rita Hayworth. Called The Love Goddess, the movie offered Carter a chance to showcase her singing and dancing, but some critics claimed that Carter failed to capture to allure and talent of Hayworth in her performance. Still, Carter looked hot as she channeled the premiere screen siren of the 1940s.  

Lynda Carter co-starred with Loni Anderson for a short-lived TV series in 1984 called Partners in Crime. In the show, both women were ex-wives of a murdered private investigator who team up to solve his murder. They are so successful that they decide to take over his private investigation business and solve crimes, using their wit, charm, and awesome collections of designer clothes. The series was canceled after just one season. 

Throughout the 1980s, Lynda Carter was a sought after performer for television variety shows where she entertained audiences with her singing and dancing. She even hosted her own variety shows. One of them, Lynda Carter: Body and Soul, earned her an Emmy nomination. On the acting front, she also appeared as a guest star for several television series and starring roles in made-for-TV movies. 

When folks could look past her smoking hot body, the next thing they noticed about Lynda Carter was her sparkling eyes. It was her stunning eyes that helped her land a long-time gig as the spokesmodel for Maybelline make-up and cosmetics. In print and television ads, she pushed the Maybelline brand with her ageless beauty. 

Lynda Carter has hardly aged in the 40 years since she ruled television as Wonder Woman. She remains an actress, singer, dancer, and spokesperson, as well as an activist for feminist and LGBT causes, and repeatedly shows the world that she’s still got it after all these years.