Why ‘Wonder Woman’s’ Lynda Carter Left Hollywood For Washington D.C.

In the role of television’s Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter had the strength, resilience and intelligence to fight crime and put the troubles of the world to rest. As an in-demand actress and singer in the 1980s, Carter used those same qualities to make the real-life decision to turn her back on the Hollywood lifestyle in favor of a family-based, politically-invested life in Washington, D.C.

Carter began her career as a singer and a model

Carter starred in Wonder Woman from 1976 to 1979 and will be forever linked to the comic book character due to her human portrayal of the crime fighter, both in spangled stars and stripes and as the undercover Prince. “People forget that I spent most of the time on television playing an alter ego,” Carter told The San Diego-Union Tribune in 2009. “That’s how I allowed people to really understand her.”

The youngest of four siblings raised in Arizona, Carter studied performing and by her mid-teens was fronting bands as lead vocalist. Although she qualified for an academic scholarship to attend Arizona State University, Carter opted for a life on the road, touring and performing in venues from the Catskills to Las Vegas. read more—photos