The Stunning Transformation Of Wonder Woman Star Lynda Carter

The '70s saw a number of groundbreaking strides in entertainment as a whole, including achievements in increasing public awareness of social issues, jump-starting proper representation for minority groups across race, gender, and sexuality, and the overall rise in popularity of these media formats, the decade was an important period in history. While there were many forgotten shows of the 1970s, on the flip side there was the mega hit series "Wonder Woman." Starring a young Lynda Carter, "Wonder Woman," which premiered in 1975, served not only as one of the first live-action TV shows in the DC world, but also as an on-screen representation of feminism in the mid-to-late '70s.

While comic publications span as far back as World War II, Wonder Woman, along with her star-spangled garb, was an iconic fictional figure for feminism well before the series was conceived. For Carter, it was through her 1975 portrayal of the fierce, gladiator-like superhero that she became an immediate icon to women around the world. What's ironic is that she shared notable traits that made her fictional counterpart so popular. In fact, these were aspects that allowed her to sustain respectable longevity as a Hollywood superstar. Whether it be the prioritization of her family life or her various accolades ranging from musical nods to video game inclusions, she's been a positive figure to many, making her evolution throughout her five-decade-long career more inspirational to witness. To learn more about her beautiful growth, here is the stunning transformation of "Wonder Woman" star Lynda Carter.

In 1951, Colby Carter and Juanita Córdova welcomed their third child, Lynda Carter. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, where she got into music at a young age. Although Lynda's entertainment career took years to fully take shape, her first television appearance came about when she was 5 years old. She was invited to sing on "The Lew King Ranger Show," an Arizona-based children's program dedicated to finding and showcasing local talent.

Lynda's love for the performing arts only continued to grow. As she said in a 2025 interview with the Television Academy, her passion was not only shaped by her mother, but also her burning desire to make something of herself. "My childhood was, I needed to do something for myself because nobody was going to help me. I knew that," she said. "I knew that because my mom and my dad were going to get divorced, and that was a big mess ... My mom was going to go back to work, and my brother was going to go off somewhere, and my sister was a mess. So, no one was going to help me."

When Lynda Carter was in high school, she took a big step in her music career when she joined a band called Just Us. According to her 2012 interview on "Sway in the Morning," this was her way of life as early as 14. "I got my first paycheck at age 14 in a club that was around the college campuses, and I was the girl singer in the band," she recalled.

The future TV star went on to tour with several other bands, moving up the ladder of musical success rung by rung. However, after spending some time touring around Nevada and New York, she was ready for a change. "I had just woken up one day and I did not want to wake up being old, like 30, and being on the road," she said in the Television Academy interview. "I was still young and I didn't want to make my life be on the road." 

And so, Carter made the move to Los Angeles, where she hoped to grow her music career even further. "When I moved to LA, I got a record deal, and I did a little studio work, singing jingles, and that kind of thing," she told Sway. Around that time, she also began taking acting classes.

Before Lynda Carter packed up and left Phoenix for the City of Angels, she won Miss Arizona and then Miss World USA." "I didn't like pageants. I was a serious person ... I was a singer and a writer," she said in her aforementioned interview with the Television Academy. It wouldn't be long before she added "actor" to her resume. Carter made her screen debut in a 1974 episode of  "Nakia."  The following year, "Wonder Woman" premiered.

In a 1976 interview for the Springfield Leader and Press  (via Heroes & Icons), Carter shared that she was invited to audition for "Wonder Woman" after her screen test for another project impressed the right people. "Three weeks later, I got a phone call and they said I had the part. So it was by chance that one producer talked to the other producer and said you have to see this screen test that I did of this girl and it happened," she said. 

Though it was a hit, ABC didn't renew "Wonder Woman" after the first season due to the large budget and its World War II themes. Luckily, CBS scooped up "Wonder Woman" and gave it a home on a new network. The show ran for two more seasons, and Carter became a superstar. "It was a breakthrough for women on television. It was a breakthrough certainly for my career," she told Entertainment Weekly in 2017. "Yes, it cast a long shadow, but it really did mold my whole career, and I've never regretted it. I always talk about Wonder Woman."

As Lynda Carter's acting career took flight, her love for music continued to flourish. In 1978, Carter released her debut album, "Portrait." With a Pop focus, the album consisted of 10 songs — later 12 — original songs. She even got to premiere two songs from her debut album in a 1979 episode of "Wonder Woman."

On a 1980 episode of HBO's "Hollywood," Carter pointed out that her music career started long before her acting career, lest anyone think she was another successful actor who decided to join a band on a whim after achieving Hollywood stardom. "Music has been my life for as long as I could remember, and doing a television series gave me the ability to finally do my work and my album under the conditions that I really want to do them. Not just another artist trying to get on the charts or whatever," she said. "It's my first love."

After meeting at a dinner event hosted by Maybelline in 1982, Lynda Carter stirred up a romantic relationship with attorney Robert A. Altman. That same year, her divorce from her first husband, producer Ron Samuels, was finalized.

In 1983, Carter relocated to the Washington, D.C., area, where Robert resided, and they tied the knot in 1984. A few years later, the "Wonder Woman" star became a mom for the first time. In 1988, Carter welcomed her firstborn, James Altman, and in October 1990, daughter Jessica Carter Altman arrived. "Being a mother has been the greatest joy of my life," she wrote on Facebook in 2021.

In a 2017 interview with People, Carter reflected on leaving Los Angeles and starting a family shortly after her career took off. "I had a large body of work already, and I didn't really have a lot of substance in my life," she told People. "I spent a lot of time on movie sets — and that is being said in a way right now that I'm grateful for it — but I didn't have a lot of substance in my life." This new chapter in the DMV evidently was just what she needed at that time. "It's always the people in your life — the friends and family that you choose to spend time with," she reiterated. "It is every step you take that is the more difficult step in taking care of your children. The easy way out often ends up being the hardest."  In 1987, Carter and Robert moved into a palatial home in Potomac, Maryland. As of this writing, Carter still lives there; Robert died at the age of 73 in 2021 

Even after Lynda Carter moved far away from Los Angeles, she continued to work in Hollywood. From 1994's episodic series "Hawkeye" to a voice acting role in "The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind," the TV icon's filmography did not stall out. Carter, however, was mostly relegated to guest appearances in TV shows or TV movies in the years that followed. That was until 2005, when she made a major career comeback on the big screen.

In the 2005 comedy "The Dukes of Hazzard," Carter got to work alongside Jessica Simpson, who was in the middle of her own stunning transformation. Carter also made her West End stage debut, portraying Mama Morton in a production of "Chicago." The most notable, however, was her inclusion in the cast of "Sky High," a superhero spectacle that became a prominent film in Disney's history. Portraying Principal Powers, Carter returned to her live-action roots alongside notable names like Kurt Russell, Danielle Panabaker, and a young Mary Elizabeth Winstead. 

In a 2005 interview with Today, Carter shared that she was especially excited about her role in "Sky High," given the trajectory of her career at that point. "At this time in my life, I'm not so interested in playing the same TV movie again about toxic waste or anorexic children. I'm much more interested in going outside of the box," she said.

As charmed as Lynda Carter's life might've seemed to fans, behind the scenes she has grappled with alcoholism. She used it to cope with personal and professional lows, including her difficult first marriage to Ron Samuels, as well as Robert A. Altman's legal battle regarding a bank fraud scandal in the '90s. In a 2008 interview with The Insider (via People), Carter spoke publicly about her history with alcohol for the first time. 

"I think I drank because there was unhappiness in my first marriage ... As I look back, I seem to be more inebriated than other people," Carter said on a 2013 episode of "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" "You think that you're keeping it from everyone, but the people that are around, they know."

After Altman was acquitted of the bank fraud charges, he encouraged Carter to get help. "My husband asked me ... 'Can't you just stop this for the children and for me?'" she recalled in the aforementioned Insider interview. Carter then entered a rehab facility in Maryland in 1997. As she shared in a 2015 interview with Express, her sobriety journey wasn't easy, as she had to undo years of habits that led her to this point. "I wasn't really present for my two children, though my two kids never saw me out of control," she said. "When I had a drink, I couldn't stop." Carter has been sober since 1997.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Given Lynda Carter's connection to Robert A.  Altman — an attorney, businessman, and video game executive — it checks out that she's dabbled in the video game world. From 2002 to 2011, Carter lent her voice to "The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind," "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim," and "The Elder Scrolls Online." While this remained a success for Bethesda Game Studios — a branch of Altman's ZeniMax Media — "Fallout" became yet another hit action-RPG for the company. With the franchise gaining even more momentum in 2008 due to the success of "Fallout 3", the highly anticipated fourth installment saw Carter become involved in the project. In 2015, Carter not only voiced Magnolia in "Fallout 4," but also provided some original music as well.

The soundtrack of "Fallout 4" was home to five songs performed by Carter: "Good Neighbor," "I'm the One You're Looking For," "Man Enough," "Train Train," and "Baby It's Just You." In a 2015 interview with Comic Book Movie, project director Todd Howard explained how the "Wonder Woman" icon's involvement came to be. "We've been friendly with Lynda for a long time," he said. "A lot of people don't know that she's also a really accomplished singer. She has a Grammy-award-winning band, and she tours. That's actually how she came up initially. When we started this game, I wondered if Lynda would do some original music. ... Lynda was definitely up for it."

Though Lynda Carter was eager to take on projects outside of the superhero genre after her time on "Wonder Woman," she certainly hasn't closed the door on the DC Extended Universe for good. In 2007, she landed a guest role on "Smallville," playing Moira Sullivan. "You get offered things quite often and sometimes you'll get a script for a show that you like, but you're not crazy about the character. Or, you've played the heroine role a million times when you've been around as long as I have," she told TV Guide at the time. "Moira is a bit of a soap opera in one person: love, loss, magic meteorites. So I told them I would love to do it."

In 2016, Carter returned to the DCEU once again in CW's "Supergirl." But this time, she stuck around for more than one episode. On "Supergirl," which featured Melissa Benoist in the titular role, Carter played President Olivia Marsdin, a character who was determined to facilitate the peaceful integration between aliens and humans on Earth, while also being an alien herself. Carter appeared in five episodes in Season 2.

In 2016, Carter told E! News that she had a great time on "Supergirl," noting that she connected with Benoist. "We had a lot of fun on the set because she does a couple of things that are Wonder Woman-ish and we laughed," she said. "I think she is a talented and amazing girl. I said, 'You know, I may be the only person ever that gets what you're going through. I get everything. I get it all.'"

After being in development for decades, a "Wonder Woman" movie hit theaters in 2017. Actor Gal Gadot, who would go on to become friends with Lynda Carter, took on the titular role. Carter was honored to pass the torch to Gadot. Though Carter did not appear in the first flick, she did pop up in 2020's "Wonder Woman 1984." In a post-credit scene, she appeared as Amazonian warrior Asteria.

What's more, the second "Wonder Woman" movie shaped a poignant tribute to her second husband, Robert A. Altman. In a 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Carter noted that she was working on a song called "Human and Divine" before appearing in "Wonder Woman 1984," but Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor's relationship helped it all come together. "That creative seed began with my own great love and that is where it still lives, in my heart and the love for my husband," she said.

Carter further explained how the 2021 song's pieces all fell into place: "When Patty Jenkins [director] cast me as Asteria in the 'Wonder Woman 1984' movie, the song and lyric then became about the love between Steve and Diana. However, I quickly realized this is the love we all yearn for. It is an anthem to the great love stories of the ages. My hope is that this song will inspire the connection to the love in your own life."

Lynda Carter has been a household name since the 1970s, and she has used that name for good for decades. In 2003, she advocated for research funding for Alzheimer's, a disease in which her mother was diagnosed with that same year. She also became an executive committee member of the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, as well as supporting other Alzheimer's organizations in the years that followed.

Another example was her 2022 involvement with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and their efforts to find sustainable treatments for blood cancer. This came following the loss of her second husband, Robert A. Altman, who died in 2021 due to myelofibrosis, a rare form of blood cancer. 

Her philanthropic efforts aren't limited to just health research. In 2024, Carter received Take the Lead's Leading Woman Award for her participation in enforcing women's rights throughout her tenure as a public figure. "You can't help but feel good when you know you're giving back," Carter told Take The Lead. "The best thing you can do is see a need and fill it. See a problem and fix it."