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| Birth Name(s) : Cassandra Peterson |
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Full Cassandra Peterson Biography
Cassandra Peterson (born September 17, 1951) is an American actress best known for her on-screen horror host persona "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark". She gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ wearing a black, gothic, cleavage-enhancing gown as host of Movie Macabre, a weekly horror movie presentation. Her wickedly vampish appearance was offset by her comical character, quick-witted personality and Valley girl-type speech.
Born in Manhattan, Kansas, Peterson grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and graduated from General William J. Palmer High School in 1967. Days after graduating, she drove to Las Vegas, Nevada where she became a showgirl at The Dunes. The Guinness Book of World Records cited her as the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history. She had a small role as a showgirl in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, briefly dated Elvis Presley, played a topless dancer in Working Girls (1973), and posed (again as a stripper) for the cover of Tom Waits' 1976 album, Small Change.
Peterson auditioned for the role of "Ginger" for the third Gilligan's Island TV movie in 1981, shortly before KHJ-TV offered her the horror-host position. (Femme Fatales, 1:3, Winter 1992/1993, p. 6)
The demand for Elvira increased throughout the Eighties. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and many other talk shows, she also produced a long series of Halloween-themed TV ads for Coors Light Beer and Mug Root Beer. She did guest roles on television dramas such as CHiPS, The Fall Guy, and Fantasy Island, and appeared on numerous awards shows as a presenter. However, despite the fact that her success is forever linked to her image as Elvira, Peterson has never been reluctant to appear in television interviews and specials as herself.
In 1985, Elvira began hosting a home video series for Thriller Video. These were films hand-selected by Elvira herself. Choosing to stay away from the more explicit zombie, cannibal and slasher films of the time, these were generally tamer films such as The Monster Club and Dan Curtis TV films. She refused to host Make Them Die Slowly and Seven Doors of Death, so the videos were released on the LIVE Home Video label without Elvira's appearance as hostess.
Two Elvira themed pinball machines were produced by Bally/Midway. Elvira and the Party Monsters was released in 1989 and Scared Stiff was put out in 1996.
In 1989, she was sued by actress Maila "Vampira" Nurmi for alleged unauthorized use of her likeness and character. Besides the similarities in the format and costumes, Elvira's closing line for each show, wishing her audience "Unpleasant dreams," was notably similar to Vampira's closer: "Bad dreams, darlings..." uttered as she walked off down a misty corridor. The court ruled in favor of Peterson, holding that "'likeness' means actual representation of another person's appearance, and not simply close resemblance." Peterson claimed that Elvira was nothing like Vampira aside from the basic design of the black dress and black hair. Nurmi herself claimed that Vampira's image was based on Charles Addams character "Morticia Addams."
On Halloween night of 1992, Elvira appeared with rock band U2 when they played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on their ZOO TV tour. Just as she apparently did some 14 years later, she declared her candidacy for President, noting that "we already have two boobs in the White House, might as well be mine." Following a couple of corny jokes, she led the crowd to sing "Happy Birthday" to drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., whose birthday is on Halloween.
In the early Nineties she released a very successful calendar featuring Elvira in various locations (on a studio set) and in poses. One of the months can be seen in the video game Blood, hanging on various walls.
In 1997 Ray Productions of Orlando, Florida produced the first haunted house chain endorsed by Elvira titled 'Elvira's Nightmare Haunted House.' The attraction was fully themed and endorsed by Elvira and remained open for two Halloween seasons in Atlanta, Georgia.Elvira in the 2006 San Francisco Pride parade
The "Elvira" character has her own version of a motion simulator ride called "Superstition". The theme is that Elvira has created her own virtual theme park and she is transporting you there. You then ride her favorite ride, "Superstition" a roller coaster based on luck. The ride was recently at Carowinds in Charlotte, NC during October when the park turns into Scarowinds. For the past few years, the ride has also appeared at Six Flags Great America during Fright Fest. The ride replaces Space Shuttle America during that time.
In February 2003, Peterson filed for divorce from her husband/manager of 25 years, Mark Pierson. She retained all rights to the Elvira character despite Pierson's long time involvement.
During the weekend of January 13, 2006, Peterson held an estate sale at her Hollywood Hills home which constituted many household, personal and movie memorabilia items. The estate sale was due to her recent divorce in which her assets had to be evenly divided. Peterson still lives in Hollywood.
Cassandra Peterson remains a supporter of animal rights, and an active member of PETA. She continues to make appearances as Elvira. |
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