Lynda Chance Popular Books

Lynda Chance Biography & Facts

Lynda Jean Cordova Carter (born July 24, 1951) is an American actress, singer and beauty pageant titleholder best known as the star of the live-action television series Wonder Woman, in the role of Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, based on the DC comic book fictional superhero character of the same name. As a pageant contestant, Carter was crowned Miss World USA 1972 and finished in the top 15 at the Miss World 1972 pageant. She achieved fame playing Wonder Woman in a series that aired on ABC and later on CBS from 1975 to 1979. Early life Carter was born in Phoenix, Arizona, the daughter of Juanita (née Córdova) and Colby Carter. Her father is of English and Irish ancestry, and her mother, whose family hailed from Mexico, is of Mexican, Spanish, and French descent. She has one brother, Vincent, and one sister, Pamela. Carter made her public television debut on Lew King's Talent Show at age 5. During high school, Carter performed in a band called Just Us. The band included a marimba, a conga drum, an acoustic guitar, and a stand-up bass which was played by another girl in the group. At age 15, Carter began singing in the local pizza parlor to earn extra money. When she was 16, she joined two of her cousins in another band called The Relatives. Actor Gary Burghoff was the drummer for the band. The group opened at the Sahara Hotel and Casino lounge in Las Vegas for three months; because Carter was under 21 she had to enter through the kitchen. In 1970, Carter successfully auditioned for and then sang on tour with The Garfin Gathering and bandleader Howard (Speedy) Garfin. Their first performance together was at the Holiday Inn Chinatown, a San Francisco hotel so new that it had no completed sidewalk entrance. Consequently, they played mostly to the hotel staff and hotel guests who parked their cars in the underground garage. The Garfin Gathering toured the Nevada "Silver Circuit", playing shows in many of the state's casino lounges between Lake Tahoe, Carson City, Reno, and Las Vegas. In 1972, Carter decided to leave the Garfin Gathering to pursue an acting career, returning to Arizona. Career In 1972, Carter won a local Arizona beauty contest and gained national attention in the United States by winning Miss World USA 1972, representing Arizona. In the international Miss World 1972 pageant, representing the United States she reached the Top 15. She took acting classes at several New York acting schools during the early 1970s. One of her acting partners during this time was future CBS president Les Moonves. Carter made her first acting appearance in "Roots of Anger", an episode of the 1974 police drama Nakia. She began making appearances on such TV shows as Starsky and Hutch and Cos, as well as appearances in several "B" movies. Wonder Woman Wonder Woman, the fictional superhero character, was created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston and artist Harry G. Peter in 1941 for DC Comics. Conceived in the wake of the popularity of Superman, Marston designed his creation as counter-programming to the Man of Steel. The Diana Prince/Wonder Woman character is also called the Amazing Amazon, the Spirit of Truth, Themyscira's Champion, and the Goddess of Love and War. Wonder Woman was an instant hit with readers and became the most prominent DC comic book female superhero. Carter's acting career took off when she landed the starring role on Wonder Woman in 1975, as the title character and her secret identity, Diana Prince. The savings she had set aside from her days of touring on the road with her band to pursue acting in Los Angeles were almost exhausted. Carter has publicly stated that, on the day she got the part, she had $25 in the bank. She was close to returning to Arizona when her manager informed her that Joanna Cassidy had lost the role and Carter had the part of Wonder Woman. Carter's earnest performance greatly endeared her to both fans and critics and as a result, she continues to be closely identified with Wonder Woman. The Wonder Woman series lasted for three seasons, which aired on ABC and later on CBS from 1975 to 1979. Carter's performance, rooted in the character's inherent goodness combined with a comic-accurate costume and a catchy theme song made for a depiction that was nothing less than iconic. After the show ended, Carter told Us that "I never meant to be a sexual object for anyone but my husband. I never thought a picture of my body would be tacked up in men's bathrooms. I hate men looking at me and thinking what they think. And I know what they think. They write and tell me." The 2018 journal article "Casting a Wider Lasso: An Analysis of the Cultural Dismissal of Wonder Woman Through Her 1975-1979 Television Series" argued that the show strongly adapted Wonder Woman's ideals but "was suppressed, undone, and discredited" by American culture as part of a larger legacy suppressing the character. In 2017, Carter explained her perspective of portraying the Diana Prince/Wonder Woman character. Carter says she got the role back in 1975 largely because she looked the part which was both a blessing and—as one of the show's producers warned her—a curse, saying that "Oh, women are going to be so jealous of you." Carter had responded, "Not a chance. They won't be, because I am not playing her that way. I want women to want to be me, or be my best friend!". As Carter describes portraying Wonder Woman, "There is something about the character where in your creative mind for that time in your life where you pretended to be her, or whatever the situation was, that it felt like you could fly". In 1985, DC Comics named Carter as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great for her work on the Wonder Woman series. In 2007, DC Direct released a 13-inch (330 mm) full-figure statue of Carter as Wonder Woman, limited to 5,000 pieces; it was re-released in 2010. Also in 2010, DC Direct began selling a 5+1⁄2 in (140 mm) bust of Carter's Wonder Woman to celebrate the 75th anniversary of DC Comics. During production of the 2017 Wonder feature film, director Patty Jenkins approached Carter to appear in a cameo role in the film, as Carter confirmed, "Patty asked me to do a cameo in this. She was in England, and I was doing my concerts," explaining she had singing engagements that made her unavailable. "At that time we couldn't get our timing together. So, this next time, if she writes me a decent part, I might do it." Carter did make a cameo in the post-credits scene of the sequel film, Wonder Woman 1984 where she plays Asteria, the "Golden Warrior" of the Amazons. Carter holds dear the new film and the character introduced more than 75 years ago. "Many actresses or actors, they want to divorce themselves from a role because we are actors, we really aren't the people that we play. But I knew very early on that this character is much more than me certainly, and to try to divorce myself from the experience.... Discover the Lynda Chance popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Lynda Chance books.