Born Linda Jean Cordoba Carter, on Jul 24, 1951, in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Reportedly 5' 8.25", 38-25-35.

Question: What's less sexy than a born-again Christian?

Answer: Nothing.

Lynda Carter, who achieved immortality as TV's Wonder Woman in the mid-70s, was drop-dead gorgeous on camera and reportedly breathtaking in person. Between her long, dark hair, striking gray-green-blue eyes, and playmate-like body that few sex icons of the day could outclass, her posters eventually outsold even Farrah Fawcett's. But for all that, Lynda Carter — even while playing a character that was hot for her boss — had absolutely no sexual mojo about her.

Which was probably exactly what Warner Brothers wanted at the time. They had recently bought the company that printed the Wonder Woman comics with the hope of putting together a show that could exploit the little girl demographic now that Universal's The Six Million Dollar Man had the little boy market locked. But the alchemy needed to transform pulp into celluloid was thornier than they had anticipated: Wonder Woman, conceived in the early 40s for exactly the same reasons Warner Brothers had acquired her — to rope in all the young girls who weren't spending their parents' money on Superman and Batman comics — had not been in print for a while and was now out of step with the times. The 70s were the heyday of Gloria Steinem, after all, and there was much about Wonder Woman that might be condemned as sexist. The new Wonder Woman, then, had to be reworked from top to bottom to be as modern, inoffensive, and immune to feminist attack as possible.

But this new, modernized and homogenized Wonder Woman — featuring a blonde Cathy Lee Crosby in the title role — was soundly rejected by viewers. Blondes might still be preferable to brunettes and Nazis and World War II ancient history for most folks, but most people are fierce traditionalists when it comes to their comics. Wonder Woman just wasn't the same without the Nazis and the silly costume.

So Warner Brothers tried again. This newer new Wonder Woman had the costume, the Nazis, the hair, the superpowers, the whole thing. It also starred the little-known Lynda Carter in the title role, who, though a college drop-out, failed folk singer, and actress with almost no experience, was also the former Miss World-USA. She was provocatively curvy enough to appeal to boys and men, had enough man-ass-beating superpowers to make her an appealing rolemodel for girls, but was clearly wholesome and non-sexual enough to withstand criticism that she and her swimsuit-like costume and striptease-like transformation from “Diana Prince” to Wonder Woman were pandering to men.

The strategy worked, and Warner Brothers had a new hit on its hands — not just with little girls, the primary target audience, but with their dads as well.

But not for long. Between the bad acting, lame stories, and even lamer dialog (“Follow me, Major — I'll teach those dirty Nazi agents a thing or two about democracy!”), Wonder Woman had little to recommend itself beyond the sheer but non-sexual beauty of Lynda herself, which, after all, can only hold one's attention for so long. Worse, Charlie's Angels hit the airwaves the same year Wonder Woman became a series, luring away whatever remnant male audience Wonder Woman still held in its thrall. By its second season, the show was booted from ABC to CBS and Warner Brothers was back to tinkering with the format, with the result that the show was again modernized and now set in 1977. It didn't help. As important as the young girl demographic may have been, it wasn't as lucrative as the male demographic, which had now been lost to ABC's Charlie's Angels. By season three, Wonder Woman was as good as dead, undone by the same G-rated beauty that had made Lynda so perfect a casting when the show first began.

Which was probably all for the best, at least in the “die young and leave a beautiful corpse” tradition of some of Hollywood's more Olympian icons. Lynda Carter as sometime singer, actress, frontwoman for contact lenses, spokescelebrity for IBS, born-again Christian and mother of two is a bit like the post-crucifixion Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ — alive, well, but irrelevant. Lynda Carter as the short-lived, gorgeous-but-untouchable Wonder Woman, on the other hand, is immortal, and a revered memory to aging geeks even today.

Also sprach Golem.

Film

• Tattered Angel (2007) .... Hazel Anderson
• Tempbot (2006) .... Mary Alice
• The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) .... Pauline
• Sky High (2005) .... Principal Powers
• The Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer Park (2004) .... Lynette
• Super Troopers (2001) .... Gov. Jessman
• Lightning in a Bottle (1993) .... Charlotte Furber
• Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976) .... Bobbie Jo James
• Nakia (1974)

• Slayer (2006) .... Colonel Jessica Weaver
• The Second Annual TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV (2004) .... Herself
• CBS at 75 (2003) .... Herself
• Terror Peak (2003) .... Dr. Janet Fraser
• Lynda Carter: The E! True Hollywood Story (2002) .... Herself
• Heart-throbs of the 70s (2001) .... Herself
• Intimate Portrait: Lynda Carter (2000) .... Herself
• The Mexican-Americans (2000) .... Herself
• Family Blessings (1999) .... Lee Reston
• Intimate Portrait: Loni Anderson (1999) .... Herself
• A Very Special Christmas from Washington, D.C. (1998) .... Herself
• CBS: The First 50 Years (1998) .... Herself
• Someone to Love Me (1998) .... Diana Young
• A Prayer in the Dark (1997) .... Emily Hayworth
• She Woke Up Pregnant (1996) .... Susan
• When Friendship Kills (1996) .... Kathryn Archer
• Daddy (1991) .... Charlotte Sampson
• Posing: Inspired by Three Real Stories (1991; aka “I Posed for Playboy”) .... Meredith Lanahan
• Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All (1989) .... Helen Durant
• Happy 100th Birthday Hollywood (1987) .... Herself
• Stillwatch (1987) .... Patricia Traymore
• Bob Hope Buys NBC? (1985) .... Herself
• Body and Soul (1984) .... Herself
• Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess (1983) .... Rita Hayworth
• Hotline (1982) .... Brianne O'Neill
• Lynda Carter: Street Life (1982) .... Herself
• Night of 100 Stars (1982) .... Herself
• Born to Be Sold (1981) .... Kate Carlin
• Celebration (1981) .... Herself [singer]
• The 38th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1981) .... Herself
• The American Music Awards (1981) .... Herself [presenter]
• Encore! (1980) .... Herself
• Lynda Carter Special (1980) .... Herself
• Men Who Rate a 10 (1980) .... Herself
• The Last Song (1980) .... Brooke Newman
• The 30th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1978) .... Herself
• The 35th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1978) .... Herself
• Circus of the Stars (1977) .... Herself
• A Special Olivia Newton-John (1976)
• Battle of the Network Stars (1976) .... Herself [ABC Team]
• A Matter of Wife...and Death (1975) .... Zelda
• The New Original Wonder Woman (1975) .... Yeoman Diana Prince/Wonder Woman

• I Love the '70s (2003; TV series) .... Herself

• Smallville: “Progeny” (Apr 19, 2007) .... Moira Sullivan
• Law & Order: “Flaw” (Sep 28, 2005) .... Lorraine Dillon
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: “Design” (Sep 27, 2005) .... Lorraine Dillon
• Entertainment Tonight (Jun 25, 2004) .... Herself
• Hope & Faith: “Phone Home for the Holidays” (Nov 21, 2003) .... Summer Kirkland
• Larry King Live (Apr 27, 2003) .... Herself
• The Caroline Rhea Show (Mar 7, 2003) .... Herself
• The Caroline Rhea Show (Mar 5, 2003) .... Herself
• The View (Mar 5, 2003) .... Herself
• Double Dare (2003) .... Herself
• Larry King Live (Mar 5, 2002) .... Herself
• I Love 1970's: “I Love 1979” (Sep 23, 2000) .... Host
• I Love 1970's: “I Love 1978” (Sep 16, 2000) .... Host
• So Graham Norton (Mar 10, 2000) .... Herself
• So Graham Norton (3/10/2000) .... Herself
• Work with Me: “The Best Policy” (Oct 6, 1999) .... Herself
• Work with Me: “The Best Policy” (10/6/1999) .... Herself
• The RuPaul Show (Sep 23, 1998) .... Herself
• Live with Regis and Kathie Lee (Mar 31, 1997) .... Herself
• Larry King Live (Jul 20, 1996) .... Herself
• Leeza (Feb 19, 1996) .... Herself
• George & Alana (Feb 15, 1996) .... Herself
• Live with Regis and Kathie Lee (Sep 19, 1994) .... Herself
• The Suzanne Somers Show (Sep 19, 1994) .... Herself
• Hawkeye (1994) .... Elizabeth Shields
• Larry King Live (Oct 13, 1993) .... Herself
• Live with Regis and Kathie Lee (Oct 22, 1991) .... Herself
• Larry King Live (Oct 21, 1991) .... Herself
• Win, Lose or Draw (Feb 17, 1989) .... Herself
• Win, Lose or Draw (Feb 16, 1989) .... Herself
• Win, Lose or Draw (Feb 15, 1989) .... Herself
• Win, Lose or Draw (Feb 14, 1989) .... Herself
• Win, Lose or Draw (Feb 13, 1989) .... Herself
• CBS This Morning (Mar 1, 1988) .... Herself
• Showbiz Today (Feb 10, 1987) .... Herself
• The Late Show (Feb 9, 1987) .... Herself
• Good Morning America (Dec 9, 1986) .... Herself
• Larry King Live (Oct 28, 1986) .... Herself
• Partners in Crime (1984) .... Carole Stanwyck
• The John Davidson Show (Mar 5, 1982) .... Herself
• The Merv Griffin Show (Mar 1, 1982) .... Herself
• Television: Inside and Out (Dec 5, 1981) .... Herself
• The Merv Griffin Show (Oct 28, 1981) .... Herself
• The Midnight Special (Feb 2, 1981) .... Herself
• Dinah! (Feb 19, 1980) .... Herself
• The Muppet Show (Jan 29, 1980) .... Herself
• Dinah! (Jan 7, 1980) .... Herself
• The Muppet Show (1979) .... Herself
• Dinah! (Nov 17, 1976) .... Herself
• Starsky and Hutch: “The Las Vegas Strangler” (Oct 25, 1976) .... Vicky
• Starsky and Hutch: “The Las Vegas Strangler” (10/25/1976) .... Vicky
• Cos (Sep 19, 1976) .... Herself
• Break the Bank (Apr 12, 1976) .... Herself
• Wonder Woman (1976) .... Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
• Matt Helm: “Panic” (Dec 27, 1975) .... Bobbi Dee
• Matt Helm: “Panic” (12/27/1975) .... Bobbi Dee
• Nakia: “Roots of Anger” (Nov 30, 1974) .... Helen Chase

• Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Feminist Icon (2005)
• The Best of So Graham Norton (2000) .... Herself

Cyber Temples

• Lynda Carter Nude Celebrity Movie Reviews
  Mr. Skin
  Bio, filmography, and nude stills and clips from her films

Miscellaneous

• Lynda Carter Filmography
  Internet Movie Database
  Always up-to-date filmography
• Lynda Carter
  Wikipedia
  Lynda Carter in wikireality