Despite being one of the world’s most beautiful women and the highest-paid actress on television, actress Lynda Carter became an alcoholic after her starring role on ABC’s “Wonder Woman” ended in 1979.

The combination of the show ending after five years of regular work coupled with the typecasting that limited Carter to acting roles in mediocre programs, helped increase her drinking.

A Marriage Distintegrates

By 1982, Carter’s five-year marriage to business manager Ron Samuels had fallen apart, in large part due to her drinking. She later admitted that drinking was a way of avoiding what she called “emotional difficulties” related to the marriage. After the couple divorced, Carter married investment banker Robert Altman on January 29, 1984.

Methods in Her Madness

Her drinking pattern was not one in which she desperately had to have a drink. It was a more progressive method which usually was heightened once she had a drink. That would be followed by successive drinks, at which point friends began to notice that she would act differently.

Regardless of what those friends were saying, Lynda Carter became an alcoholic by using alcohol as a way of dealing with the struggles of everyday life.

Family Legal Troubles

During the early years of her marriage to Altman, Carter largely limited her acting roles and moved to Washington D.C. There, her husband was a law partner in the firm headed by former Secretary of Defense and Presidential advisor Clark Clifford.

In 1992, Altman and Clifford were charged with bribery and other counts in a banking scandal. Clifford’s health prevented him from going to trial, but Altman did and was acquitted on all charges.

Given the stress that Carter was under at this time, it’s fair to assume that her drinking increased during this period, since the cost of Altman’s legal fees were steep. “It cost us everything we had. We had to rebuild,” said Carter.

Childbirth Puts Off the Inevitable

Over the next few years, Carter gave birth to two sons, but says that she stopped drinking during her pregnancies. However, that was a temporary stop, and continued until 1997, when her husband begged her to get help for her problem.

Being Honest With Herself

Lynda Carter became an alcoholic in an official sense when she entered a Maryland rehab center that same year. She noted that she put off dealing with her problem was that she was in denial. “It’s mostly denial because of the shame,” said Carter, who added, “You’re embarrassed if you don’t remember what happened last night.”

Family History

Noting her family history with alcoholism, Carter said that her mother’s side of the family had drinking problems, with one family member dying from the disease.

Since going public with her struggle in 2008, she has made countless efforts to show that one can live a happy life without alcohol.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lynda-carters-second-act/

http://www.thefix.com/content/wonder-woman-lynda-carter-opens-18-years-sobriety

https://55plusmag.us/articles/6-english/107-the-wonder-of-a-woman.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Altman