Lynda Carter then and now: The Wonder Woman star at 75

Lynda Carter became one of television's defining faces of the 1970s when she put on Wonder Woman's tiara, bracelets and star-spangled costume. But the role did not come out of nowhere: before Hollywood knew her as Diana Prince, she had already worked as a singer, pageant winner and aspiring actress. Born on July 24, 1951, Carter is 75 as of Nov. 11, 2026, and she was honored in New York at the Angel Ball on Oct. 19, 2026.

How did Lynda Carter get her start?

Long before *Wonder Woman*, Carter was performing. She made a public television debut on *Lew King's Talent Show* at age 5. In high school, she sang in a band called Just Us, and by her mid-teens she was already taking paid singing jobs in local venues.

Music stayed central to her early path. At 16, she joined a band called The Relatives with two cousins; actor Gary Burghoff was the drummer. In 1970, she successfully auditioned for The Garfin Gathering and toured with the group through casino lounges on Nevada's so-called Silver Circuit.

Her first major national attention came through pageants. In 1972, Carter won Miss World USA, representing Arizona, and finished in the top 15 at the Miss World pageant. After that, she shifted her focus toward acting, returned to Arizona and then took acting classes at several New York schools in the early 1970s.

Her first acting appearance came in 1974 in an episode of the police drama *Nakia*. More small-screen work followed, including appearances on *Starsky & Hutch* and *Cos*, along with roles in several B movies, among them *Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw*. By the time her big break arrived, she had already spent years learning how to perform in front of live audiences and cameras.

How did she become Wonder Woman?

Carter's breakthrough came at a turning point for the character on television. In 1974, ABC aired a *Wonder Woman* TV film starring Cathy Lee Crosby, but it did not become a series. Warner Bros. and ABC then tried again with a new pilot, *The New Original Wonder Woman*, built to be closer to the comic-book version of the heroine.

After a broad talent search, Carter was chosen for the lead. She was 23 at the time, had only a handful of minor acting roles, and had been Miss World USA in 1972. The role arrived just as her savings were running low. Carter later said she had only $25 in the bank and was close to returning to Arizona when she learned she had won the part.

That pilot aired in November 1975 and was successful enough to lead directly to the series. Carter played both Wonder Woman and her secret identity, Diana Prince, opposite Lyle Waggoner, who played Steve Trevor in the first-season World War II setting and Steve Trevor Jr. after the show's move to the modern day.

The casting proved decisive for Carter's career. What had been a promising but uncertain acting path became a star-making role on a network series with a character already known to generations of comic-book readers.

What made her Wonder Woman so memorable?

The simplest answer is that Carter's version was built to feel like the classic character. The series ran for three seasons from 1975 to 1979. Its first season aired on ABC and was set in the 1940s during World War II. The second and third seasons moved to CBS, shifted the story to the late 1970s and used the title *The New Adventures of Wonder Woman*.

That format change mattered, but Carter stayed at the center of both versions. In one era she was helping Steve Trevor during wartime; in the other she was an agent in a more contemporary action series. The setting changed, yet the character's basic qualities did not.

Carter's performance was earnest, and it endeared her to both fans and critics. Her portrayal leaned into Wonder Woman's goodness rather than irony, and the production also gave viewers several enduring visual trademarks: the comic-accurate costume, the golden lasso, the bullet-deflecting bracelets and the famous spinning transformation. Carter herself suggested the spin as a way to show Diana Prince changing into Wonder Woman.

The role became so closely linked with her that it shaped the way later generations understood the character on screen. In 1985, DC Comics named Carter one of the honorees in *Fifty Who Made DC Great* for her work on the series. Even after later film and TV interpretations of Wonder Woman appeared, Carter's version remained a reference point.

What did she do after *Wonder Woman*?

Carter did not disappear after the series ended. One of her first high-profile follow-ups was a guest appearance on *The Muppet Show* in 1980, where the running joke was that the Muppets kept treating her as Wonder Woman rather than as Lynda Carter. That same period also showed how seriously she took music. She headlined a run of musical TV specials, including *Lynda Carter's Special* and *Encore!* in 1980, *Celebration* in 1981, *Street Life* in 1982 and *Body and Soul* in 1984.

She also moved into starring roles outside superhero material. In 1983 she played the title role in *Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess*, and in 1984 she co-starred with Loni Anderson in the crime drama series *Partners in Crime*. Through the 1990s she appeared in a number of TV movies and also created her own production company, Potomac Productions.

Her screen work continued well into the 21st century. Carter appeared in *Super Troopers* in 2001, *The Dukes of Hazzard* and Disney's *Sky High* in 2005, and later in *Super Troopers 2* in 2018. She guest-starred on *Smallville* in 2007 and had a recurring role on *Supergirl* from 2016 to 2018 as President Olivia Marsdin.

She also built a second long-running lane as a singer and live performer. In 2005, she played Mama Morton in the West End production of *Chicago*. Beginning in 2007, she toured the United States with her one-woman cabaret show, *An Evening with Lynda Carter*. Her 2009 album *At Last* reached No. 10 on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart, and she followed it with *Crazy Little Things* in 2011 and *Red, Rock n' Blues* in 2018.

Another part of her later career came through voice work. Carter performed voices in *The Elder Scrolls* game series beginning in 2002, including *Morrowind*, *Oblivion* and *Skyrim*. She also appeared in *Fallout 4* and wrote and recorded original songs for that game.

For many fans, one of the most satisfying later moments was her return to the wider *Wonder Woman* universe. She made a cameo as Asteria in 2020's *Wonder Woman 1984*, giving her a direct on-screen connection to a newer screen generation of the character she had already made famous.

Where is Lynda Carter now?

Carter's later honors reflect how broad her career has been. In 2014, she received a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars. In 2016, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gracie Awards. On April 3, 2018, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The recognition continued in 2022, when she received the Sor Juana Legacy Award from the National Museum of Mexican Art and was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. She also continues to perform concerts nationally with her All-Star Band.

On Oct. 19, 2026, Carter was among the honorees at the Angel Ball, a cancer-research fundraising gala at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. At 75, she remains closely identified with *Wonder Woman*, but her career has stretched beyond one role. It includes pageants, television drama, comedy, live music, stage work, film and voice acting.

That range helps explain why Carter still stands out to classic-TV viewers. She was not only the face of a hit superhero series. She was also one of those rare performers who used a signature role as a foundation and then kept building from it for decades.

For more on classic TV and familiar screen stars, visit NewsCubby's TV & Streaming, Movies, Entertainment and Videos sections.

Timeline

• **July 24, 1951:** Lynda Carter is born in Phoenix, Arizona.
• **1972:** She wins Miss World USA and reaches the top 15 at Miss World 1972.
• **1974:** She makes her first acting appearance in an episode of *Nakia*.
• **November 1975:** *The New Original Wonder Woman* pilot airs and leads to the series.
• **1975-1979:** Carter stars as Diana Prince and Wonder Woman on television.
• **1980:** She appears on *The Muppet Show* and begins a run of musical TV specials.
• **April 3, 2018:** She receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• **2020:** She makes a cameo as Asteria in *Wonder Woman 1984*.
• **Oct. 19, 2026:** She is honored at the Angel Ball gala in New York.

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*ARCHIVE PHOTOS: Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman in a 1976 ABC photo for the series (left), and Lynda Carter in New York in January 2018 (right). Photos: ABC Television / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain (left); Greg2600 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0 (right). Both cropped.*

*NewsCubby articles are produced with AI assistance and reviewed by humans.*