Lynda Carter, Just Your Average Superheroine

Altman, 58, who is president and CEO of ZeniMax Media, an interactive media company in Rockville, says, "I can't even imagine what Lynda must have felt when I faced all those legal problems. It was a very frightening time for her . . . but she was an amazing, courageous person.

"There was never a day of, 'How did you get us into this mess?' Similarly, when she had her personal trials -- it's not much fun, but you go through it together."

Though Carter's alcoholism began during her troubled first marriage, it spiraled out of control after the stress of the BCCI scandal.

"There were long periods -- years, in fact -- where I didn't drink anything," says Carter. "You keep thinking if you can stop, you're okay." She and Altman sat down in 1997 and confronted the issue, concluding that treatment in Father Martin's Ashley, a rehabilitation facility in Maryland, was the best option for her.

"My husband was a saint," Carter says. "I was there for him, and he was there for me, and we love each other."

Though sober for eight years, Carter did not discuss her alcoholism publicly until that appearance three years ago on CNN's "Larry King Live." "I wanted my time," she says. "I didn't want to be a poster child for AA or recovery. I'm not defined by it."

Nor does she define herself as a Washington society figure, despite the charitable and political fundraising activities she and Altman have pursued throughout their marriage, including a $25,000-per-couple dinner they hosted at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1999 to benefit the Democratic National Committee.

"What do I want to be a social doyenne for?" says Carter. "My family takes up so much time. I just don't go out as much. I don't really want to. Another rubber chicken dinner doesn't mean much to me."

But the role she really doesn't mind being defined by is the one she'll probably always be best known for: ah, Wonder Woman:

"It's much easier to embrace than to resist -- and what's not to like?"

Andrew Gunn, the producer of "Sky High," says his memories of "Wonder Woman" made Carter the top choice to play Principal Powers in his film. "I remember watching 'Wonder Woman' as a kid," says Gunn, 37. "But I had no idea of the extent of her status as an icon. These big burly crew members were turning into teenage boys at the sight of her.

"They'd be like, 'You don't understand. I had her poster on my wall when I was growing up.' It's very funny -- just how big a name she is and how much they identify with her."

And what about the prospect of a "Wonder Woman" movie, now in development, with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon writing and directing?

"I'm just hoping that it's right," says Carter. "And I'm hoping that the girl who does it is fantastic and embraced and loved and all the rest of it. I hope she's warm and wonderful and knocks 'em dead. I think it's time. I think it's good there's a new Wonder Woman."

Gunn says it won't be an enviable position: "The poor actress who takes the part has to go in knowing she'll be compared. People could say, 'She's good, but she ain't no Lynda Carter.' "