What was Danica McKellar thinking?

Who? If you're of a certain age you may remember a pretty good series on TV called "The Wonder Years" that featured kids growing up in the 1960s and early '70s and narrated by the lead character Kevin Arnold, played by actor Fred Savage.

One of Kevin's best buddies and his sometimes love interest was a cute girl named Winnie Cooper played by then-child actress Danica McKellar.

After the series ended, McKellar took a break from acting and went off to college where she majored in math and graduated summa cum laude. She has since authored two bestselling books aimed at teen girls to encourage them in the study of math and has given numerous talks and presentations across the country on the importance of encouraging our daughters in math-related careers.

It all sounded pretty impressive to me, too, when I came across McKellar's information on Barnes and Noble.com

So I made the mistake of googling her name to find out more about how she decided to study math and to become well-known academically instead of superficially, i.e. Hollywood.

It was a mistake because what I found really shattered my impression of a beautiful, brilliant young woman out to encourage girls to better themselves.

Yep, at some point in her life McKellar opted to pose for racy lingerie photos in a men's magazine I've never heard of. Not nude, but not much left to the imagination. In the accompanying interview, according to Wikipedia, she did it in part to try to attract "grittier" acting roles. Btw, the magazine in question ceased publication in 2007, but McKellar's photos are on the internet for all time.

To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Why in the world did such a smart and attractive person decide this was the right thing to do? I have to wonder what her mother thought, and I have to wonder if McKellar, now 34, ever regrets selling out. Lastly, judging from the list of acting jobs she's had since Wonder Years ended, it doesn't appear that any of them were worth the compromise.

Maybe the pre-teen and teen girls targeted by McKellar's books won't think to look her up on the Web. I hope so, because I'd hate for them to come away with the tired worn-out notion that what you know STILL doesn't matter as much as what you look like.

Can Miss McKellar still be a role model for young girls? Maybe, but not mine.