Lyle Waggoner was during his prime a heartthrob to many as his rise to fame came in the 60s and lasted on through the 70s. He was the proverbial tall, dark, and very classically handsome actor that drove women wild. He did manage to pay his dues before making his breakthrough as the announcer on The Carol Burnett Show in the late 60s, working his way up the ladder so to speak as he had a few different roles and even a job peddling encyclopedias from door to door. Remember the folks that did this? If you think telemarketing is an unenviable position just think about what Lyle and so many others had to as they lugged their wares from house to house trying to make a sale.
He also had several roles in poorly made scifi and beach films that didn’t really get him anywhere but did grant him a bit of experience when it came to acting and what he really wanted to do with his career. After a while it was discovered that he was more than just a popular hunk that had a great voice, and he started being given bigger roles on the Carol Burnett Show along with the regulars. Lyle was always game for pretty much any sketch that was devised with him in mind as a participant and he even showed a refined sense of comic instinct that served as a perfect foil to Burnett. Most of the time he would play the superficial cad or the self-important star, but he did it well.
Unfortunately after seven seasons of this he started to feel like a third wheel and found himself wanting to take a chance at a solo career. He left things in an amicable manner at least and without any hard feelings, which is definitely a professional way to move on. At one point he was even considered to be a candidate for the role of Batman on TV, but he lost out on that opportunity to the late Adam West. One honor he did receive however, if you want to call it an honor or something else, was that he was selected as the first centerfold for Playgirl magazine in 1973. Plenty of women back in the day would have likely seen this as something worthy of note but it’s also something that seems like it might have been a minor appearance in his career in the long term.
During the off-time he found it possible to prepare himself by appearing in dinner theater where he could better hone his craft. It wasn’t too long after his departure from the Carol Burnett Show that he managed to land the role of Steve Trevor, a very important and pivotal role on the comic-based Wonder Woman series that came out in the 70s. He played the dashing, no-nonsense boss to Diana Prince and he did it with just as much enthusiasm and skill as he’d developed with Burnett, but for some reason he still didn’t feel challenged enough. He remained on the periphery of the show for about three seasons and after a time became more of a known personality than a performer.
Eventually he only showed up here and there in mini-movies and TV episodes, with a lesser emphasis on feature films. After this none of his roles really carried much weight and eventually he began to look into other business ventures that could keep him afloat. In 1979 he came up with Star Waggons, which was a service that provided film and TV companies with rental trailers. That seemed like a worthy business for someone that knew the value of a trailer in the industry. For a man that rose to fame and learned how to enjoy it for so long Lyle has certainly earned his spot as someone that Hollywood should remember in a very positive light. While he was seen as vain and had plenty of roles that made him play the part he still seemed like a rather interesting individual.
Lyle has always been a charmer and a rather vainglorious character that has belonged in front of the camera since he has a way about him that is simply too good to keep away for too long. He managed to retire from acting in 2005 and has been with his one and only wife Sharon Kennedy for well over 50 years now and has had two sons. In his 70s now, Lyle is still looking pretty good and has homes in both California and Wyoming, so obviously whatever he’s been doing since his retirement has served him well. Appreciating what he’s done for the industry and all he’s contributed is very easy since it’s clear that he’s one among many that has paved the way for the stars that exist now.
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