7. Ellie Wood Walker / Linda Harrison
Appeared in: Who’s Afraid of Diana Prince? (1967 unsold pilot)
The 1966 Batman TV series is considered a witty, classic, and important piece of The Dark Knight’s legacy. If William Dozier’s Wonder Woman pilot had gone to series, it’s probably safe to say that it wouldn’t have been a celebrated part of its respective hero’s legacy – because, well, the pilot certainly isn’t.
Who’s Afraid of Diana Prince? reimagined Diana as a mousy-but-kind-hearted young woman living with her mother (who would have preferred if her daughter was married instead of being a superhero, it seems) who wanted to go out in a storm and save Steve Trevor. Unfortunately, when she actually transformed into Wonder Woman, she spent more time admiring herself in the mirror than she did saving anyone. What was also rather bizarre was that the Wonder Woman reflection was played by a completely different actress.
Ellie Wood Walker did a solid job with the limited material she had, while Linda Harrison (who would later go on to play Nova in Planet of the Apes) certainly looked the part as Wonder Woman, but neither really had much to work with.
Granted, the show was seemingly going to be more silly than serious, but to say the pilot hasn’t aged well would be a major understatement. Wonder Woman should be, well, everything this isn’t.
Thank goodness for the ’70s TV series a decade later.