July 27 Lynda Carter

Happy Birthday to Lynda Carter and Jennifer Lopez.

To celebrate Lynda Carter’s birthday I watched the first season of Wonder Woman. There are 3 Halloween costumes I remember wearing: a sailor suit (my dad’s), Cinderella and Wonder Woman. The last two were the plastic dress and cape and a plastic mask that had a string that didn’t stay connected and little holes for the mouth (which felt like it was hard to breathe) and eyes (which made it difficult to see).

I forgot the story took place as it was originally written in the comic books during WWII. Henry Gibson and Kenneth Mars play Nazi soldiers who plot to bomb NY with a plane and a submarine. Lyle Waggoner plays a US officer/pilot who goes after the Nazi plane. He shoots down the plane and looses his own plane in the process. He lands on a beach where Lynda Carter, a princess finds him. Her mother is played by Cloris Leachman, a well jeweled Queen who created the Paradise Island where there are no men, but the Queen acts like she misses one aspect of men.

To decide who will take Lyle back to his own country a tournament is held. The princess is not to compete and decides to go into the country. The women are masked per tradition. The Princess wins. She is given a belt for protection and a golden lasso which forces the person wrapped in it to tell the truth. She already has the bracelets that are bullet proof. She gets the flag outfit and the red boots and calls herself Wonder Woman. The outfit causes quite a stir on the 1940’ crowd.

Stella Stevens is a Nazi spy who is working as a secretary for Lyle at the defense department. Red Buttons is working with her, but you don’t know that at first. His part is as a theatrical agent who witnesses Wonder Woman take care of bank robbers including deflecting bullets. To get money she agrees to a show. An older woman working with Stella Stevens has a machine gun in her valise. Wonder Woman deflects all the bullets with a smile.

Wonder Woman takes down the Nazi plane and crashes it into the U boat. She takes down the Nazi spies and saves Lyle. Her secret identity is the secretary for Lyle at the defense department. Clark Kent glasses and all. I like the transition scenes Lynda spins to become Wonder Woman. If only it were that easy.