Lynda Carter, the actress who immortalized Wonder Woman on television, built her most lasting legacy far from the cameras—in the quiet suburbs of Washington, D. C. , raising her two children, James and Jessica Altman. While the world knew her as the fierce Amazon princess, her children knew her simply as mom, and that grounding choice shaped two accomplished adults who are now building their own families and careers.
Born on July 24, 1951, in Phoenix, Arizona, Carter was the youngest of three children in a middle-class family. Her father, Colby Carter, was a businessman who taught her discipline and ambition, while her mother, Juanita Cordova, connected her deeply to their Mexican heritage. Carter later reflected on those roots, saying they gave her both belonging and lasting strength. Music was her earliest passion.
By age five, she was singing along to the radio, and as a teenager, she performed with local bands in Phoenix clubs. Friends and teachers noticed her presence early on, noting that people stopped to listen whenever she sang. But opportunities in Phoenix were limited, and Carter knew she would have to leave to chase something bigger. Her breakthrough came in 1972 when she was crowned Miss World USA at just 21 years old.
While she did not win the global title in London, the recognition opened essential doors, leading to modeling contracts, magazine appearances, and television guest spots. She later said she did not want to be remembered for a crown, but for work that had meaning. In 1975, Carter landed the role that would define her career: Diana Prince, Wonder Woman. The show made her a cultural phenomenon almost overnight.
At a time when television offered few female heroes, she embodied strength, grace, and empowerment for a generation of viewers. She later said she was not just playing Wonder Woman but trying to live up to the ideals of strength and justice the character represented to women and girls. The sudden fame, however, came with pressures. While fans adored her, some in the industry reduced her to just her looks.
She once called it both a blessing and a curse, noting that people loved her as Wonder Woman but did not always see Linda the person behind the costume. Still, her portrayal was groundbreaking from 1975 to 1979, and the character’s appeal endured for nearly five decades. Her personal life initially followed a troubled Hollywood script. In 1977, at the height of her fame, she married her agent, Ron Samuels.
Though their union looked glamorous from the outside, Carter later described it as a painful chapter, saying she felt trapped in a relationship that looked perfect but was empty within. The couple divorced in 1982. Two years later, Carter met Robert A. Altman, a prominent Washington, D.
C. , attorney and future technology entrepreneur. Unlike her first husband, Altman offered substance, intellect, and steadiness. Carter said she fell in love with his kindness and the calm he brought to her life.
They married privately in 1984, and Carter made the life-altering decision to leave Los Angeles and settle in the D. C. suburbs. In a 2017 interview, Carter explained that she had spent so much time on movie sets but lacked substance in her personal life.
True fulfillment, she said, came from her family. Real love, for her, was not about red carpets but about creating a home and sanctuary. This new chapter was not without profound challenges. In the mid-1980s, Carter privately struggled with alcoholism.
She later candidly described hitting rock bottom, saying it was the idea of her children and her responsibility to them that saved her life. With Altman’s support and her own determination, she sought treatment, rebuilt her life, and became a vocal advocate for addiction recovery and mental health awareness. Altman remained her anchor through more than three decades of a devoted marriage. When he passed away suddenly in 2021 from a rare blood cancer, Carter described it as the hardest, most devastating moment of her life.
In an emotional Instagram tribute, she wrote that their children, Jessica and James, were the lights of her life and Robert’s greatest joy, adding that she saw so much of Robert in them. Carter and Altman made a deliberate choice to raise their children away from the spotlight. They wanted James and Jessica to grow up in a normal environment, free from the unnatural pressures of Hollywood. Carter has often described motherhood as her proudest role, telling People magazine that being a mom was, without a doubt, the most meaningful role of her life.
She was the kind of hands-on mother who never missed a school play, parent-teacher conference, or soccer game. She volunteered, carpooled, and made lunches. Her children knew that the world might see her as Wonder Woman, but at home, she was just mom. Jessica once recalled that to the world her mother is Wonder Woman, but to her, she is simply her mother, remarkable for her kindness and strength as a person.
James Altman, born in 1988, followed his father’s analytical path. He studied history at the University of Michigan before earning his law degree from George Washington University Law School in 2014. He took on a significant role at ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, where Robert had served as CEO. James was a key figure during the company’s multibillion-dollar acquisition by Microsoft in 2021.
More recently, James stepped into a creative role as an executive producer on Prime Video’s television adaptation of Fallout, which premiered in 2024. At the premiere, his proudest supporter was his mother, who posted a gushing tribute, telling him he would always be her first baby. James and his wife Kendra are parents to Linda Carter’s first grandchild, a daughter named Brianna, born in 2022. Carter shared her joy in a viral Instagram post, writing that her heart had never been so full.
The photo of the former Wonder Woman cradling her granddaughter resonated deeply with fans. James has said that becoming a father gave him a profound new perspective on the depth of his own parents’ love and sacrifices. Jessica Altman, born in 1990, initially followed a similar path, earning her law degree from the University of Michigan in 2017. But her heart belonged to music.
After performing alongside her mother at a special event at the Kennedy Center and receiving rapturous applause, she decided to leave law and pursue her true calling. She now performs professionally under her full name, Jessica Altman. In 2024, she released her debut album, Aftermath. The album includes a moving track titled Cherry Blossoms, a tribute to her late father, inspired by memories of their springtime walks among the blooming trees in Washington, D.
C. She explained that cherry blossoms blooming in the spring will always remind her of her dad. In 2023, Jessica married Joe McFadden. To honor her father on her wedding day, she sewed a piece of one of his old dress shirts into the lining of her wedding gown, a gesture her mother mirrored in her own mother-of-the-bride dress.
It was a quiet, powerful way to keep Robert’s memory close during one of life’s most important milestones. James and Jessica remain deeply close to their mother, appearing alongside her at red carpet events and sharing public tributes on social media. They are the living embodiment of the life Linda and Robert Altman built together—a life rooted not in the glare of fame, but in love, mutual respect, and family. To the world, Lynda Carter will forever be Wonder Woman.
But to James, Jessica, and now little Brianna, she is simply mom, simply nana. Through professional triumphs and personal struggles, she built a legacy rooted not in film credits but in the people she loved most. Even now, Carter continues to honor her iconic legacy. In 2020, she surprised fans with a cameo in Wonder Woman 1984, playing the legendary Amazon warrior Asteria.
She described the experience as incredibly emotional, saying it felt like coming home. Beyond acting, she continues to perform music and remains a vocal advocate for women’s rights and addiction recovery awareness. In the end, Carter’s greatest superpower was never the golden lasso or the bullet-deflecting bracelets.
It was her profound ability to raise a strong, loving, and resilient family, and to remain a genuine beacon of inspiration long after the studio cameras stopped rolling.