She was Miss World USA 1972 before becoming a DC Comics heroine, can you guess who she is?

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She got her career started at a young age when growing up in the desert town of Phoenix.

Oh my gosh, she was just… breathtaking. I remember seeing pictures from the 1972 Miss Arizona pageant and being completely floored. She had these amazing legs, and she absolutely owned that swimsuit competition – a classic one-piece, and her dark hair just cascaded down. She didn’t just win, she captivated everyone. It was clear she was special from the very beginning!

She gained national attention by winning Miss World USA that same year, representing Arizona.

I was so thrilled to watch the 1972 Miss World competition, and I was really rooting for the contestant representing the United States! She did amazingly well, making it all the way to the Top 15 – I was so proud!

This happened long before she became famous for playing the DC Comics superhero in the late 1970s.

Can you guess who she is? 

The 74-year-old actress still looks amazing, as seen when she was recently photographed in Washington, DC.

Lynda Carter is famous for playing Wonder Woman in the TV series that ran from 1975 to 1979. She also made a cameo appearance in the 2020 film Wonder Woman 1984, starring Gal Gadot.

Carter started working at a young age.

At age five she made her public television debut on Lew King’s Talent Show.

I remember when Carter was in high school, he was part of this amazing band called Just Us! They had a really unique sound – it wasn’t just the usual stuff. They played with a marimba, conga drums, acoustic guitar, and even a stand-up bass. It was a cool mix!

At age 15, Carter started singing in the local pizza parlor to earn money.

I was so thrilled when, a year later, she teamed up with two of her cousins to form a new band called The Relatives! They even got a fantastic gig opening at the lounge in the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas – they played there for three whole months, and I made sure to catch every show I could!

In 1970, Carter joined The Garfin Gathering and toured with the group, led by Howard Garfin, after a successful audition.

The Garfin Gathering performed throughout Nevada, playing gigs in casino lounges from Lake Tahoe to Las Vegas, including stops in Carson City and Reno.

In 1972, Carter left the Garfin Gathering to become an actress, and she returned to Arizona, where she started winning beauty pageants.

Okay, so when she first came to LA to chase her acting dreams, she somehow befriended Les Moonves, and honestly, it felt like he just made things happen for her. It was like suddenly all these opportunities were just… opening up, and I always suspected he had a lot to do with it. It was amazing to watch, but also… a little unsettling, if I’m being honest.

She landed a guest starring role on the hit TV series Starsky & Hutch.

When she was cast as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman in 1975, she became famous overnight.

It all happened at just the right moment. She’d often said she only had $25 to her name the day she landed the role.

The Wonder Woman series lasted for three seasons, from 1975 to 1979. 

Following the show, Carter shared with Us Weekly that she never intended to be seen as a sex symbol, especially not by strangers. She was deeply upset that pictures of her body were being circulated and displayed inappropriately, like in men’s restrooms. She expressed her discomfort with men’s unwanted gaze and acknowledged receiving messages revealing their thoughts, which she found disturbing.

In 2017, Carter shared that she didn’t want to be seen as just a glamorous figure, but as someone to look up to. She said, ‘I want girls to want to be like me, or to want to be friends with me!’

 

After Wonder Woman ended, she made a guest appearance on The Muppet Show.

She also appeared in several television specials throughout the early 1980s, including “Lynda Carter’s Special” (1980), “Encore!” (1980), “Celebration” (1981), “Street Life” (1982), and “Body and Soul” (1984).

I was so excited when I learned about this project! She really shone playing Rita Hayworth in the 1983 biopic, Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess. It was a fantastic portrayal of a Hollywood icon.

She worked on crime drama television series Partners in Crime with Loni Anderson in 1984. 

She then portrayed Helen Durant in the 1989 CBS television film Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All.

She’s acted in a variety of films, including ‘Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw’ (1976), ‘Lightning in a Bottle’ (1993), ‘Super Troopers’ (2001), ‘The Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer Park’ (2004), ‘Sky High’ and ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ (both 2005), ‘Tempbot’ (2006), ‘Tattered’ (2007), ‘Super Troopers 2’ (2018), ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ (2020), and ‘The Cleaner’ (2021).

Carter has been married twice. 

Her first marriage was to her former talent agent, Ron Samuels, from 1977 to 1982.

She married Robert A. Altman, a lawyer from Washington, D.C., on January 29, 1984. In 1985, she moved from Hollywood to join him in Washington, D.C., and they lived in Potomac, Maryland for several years.

Carter and her husband are parents to two children: James Altman, born on January 14, 1988, and Jessica Carter Altman, born on October 7, 1990.

Robert Altman passed away on February 3, 2021, at a hospital in Baltimore after a struggle with myelofibrosis, a rare blood cancer. He was 73 years old.

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2025-12-18 20:19