Lyle Waggoner

Born in 1935 in Kansas City, Kansas, and raised in St.

Son, Jason Waggoner, won "Today Throws a Wedding" on Today (1952) in September, 2006.

The television heartthrob from the 1960s and 1970s was the proverbial tall, dark and classically handsome actor. Completing the solid package was a great, muscular build, smooth charm, and an almost perfect set of teeth.

The one-time door-to-door encyclopedia peddler, prior to his prime TV job, appeared in poorly-made sci-fi and beach party flicks with such dubious titles as Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966), Swamp Country (1966), Journey to the Center of Time (1967) and Catalina Caper (1967). In time, he was more than just a gorgeous hunk with a resonant voice, and they began to incorporate Waggoner into the show as a comedy sketch partner along with Vicki Lawrence and Harvey Korman. His better scenes typically had him essaying the superficial cad or gleamy-toothed, self-important star. After seven seasons on the knockabout variety show, however, Waggoner felt like a "third banana" and yearned to take a chance on solo stardom. During his off-times, he had prepared himself by appearing in summer stock and/or dinner theater in such breezy assignments as "Boeing, Boeing", "Send Me No Flowers", and "Once More, with Feeling".

Louis, Missouri, he certainly paid his dues before landing his breakthrough as the suave announcer on The Carol Burnett Show (1967) in the late 1960s.

He also hosted the syndicated quiz show It's Your Bet (1969), and earned added "exposure" as Playgirl Magazine's first semi-nude centerfold in 1973.

He appeared in a few feature films (including Love Me Deadly (1972), Surf II (1983) and Wizards of the Demon Sword (1991)). Perhaps surmising he was undone by being too perfect a specimen, he wisely looked into business ventures.

In 1974, he left The Carol Burnett Show (1967) under mutual agreement with the producer.

Not long after his departure from the Burnett show, he landed the role of Major Steve Trevor on the popular comic strip-based series Wonder Woman (1975), playing the dashing, no-nonsense boss to Diana Prince. Again, the challenge was not there and he remained on the periphery for three seasons. In later years, Waggoner became more personality than performer and only sporadically appeared in glossy mini-movies and TV episodes, occasionally as himself.

In 1976, the Encino, California Chamber of Commerce appointed Waggoner "Mayor" of Encino. This is an honorary "goodwill ambassador" position. In addition to Waggoner, it has been held by other celebrities, including Steve Allen, Mike Connors, Fred Travalena, Ronnie Schell and Cesare Danova.

He was unavailable for a cameo appearance in Wonder Woman (2017) due to his participation in the cast reunion of Carol Burnett's variety show. While Lyle performed as Steve Trevor (both Senior and Junior) throughout the 1970s television series of "Wonder Woman", its first season was set during World War II. The 2017 theatrical film is set during World War I.