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Cassandra Peterson
Cassandra Gay Peterson (/kəˈsɑːndrə ˈpiːtɜːrsən/ kuh-SAHN-druh; born September 17, 1951) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Peterson gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ-TV in her stage persona as Elvira, hosting Elvira's Movie Macabre, a weekly B movie presentation. A member of the Los Angeles-based improvisational and sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings, Peterson based her Elvira persona in part on a "Valley girl"-type character she created while a member of the troupe.
The popularity of Elvira's Movie Macabre led to the 1988 film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, and later the 2001 film Elvira's Haunted Hills, both starring Peterson as Elvira. The television show was revived in 2010, featuring Elvira hosting public domain films, and airing on This TV until 2011. Elvira returned as a horror hostess in 2014 with 13 Nights of Elvira, a 13-episode series produced by Hulu, and again in 2021 for a one-night four-part 40th Anniversary Special that aired on Shudder.
Peterson has made cameo appearances as Elvira in a number of films and television programs, including appearing as a guest commentator during WrestleMania 2 and as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race, The Boulet Brothers' Dragula, and Halloween Wars. She also had a cameo in Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
Peterson was born on September 17, 1951 in Manhattan, Kansas. When she was a toddler, she was scalded by boiling water, which required skin grafts to cover over 35% of her body to heal, resulting in her having to spend three months in the hospital. Her family relocated to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where her mother and aunt operated a costume shop.
In a 2011 interview, Peterson stated that as a child, she was more fascinated by horror-themed toys while other girls were occupied with Barbie dolls. In elementary school, she watched House on Haunted Hill, which was the first horror film she ever saw. She trained in ballet before her breasts grew too large to do so ("Going across the floor was like boing-boing-boing"). During her teens, Peterson worked as a drag queen go-go dancer in a Colorado Springs gay bar and as a go-go dancer at Club A-Go-Go, a nightclub in Colorado Springs, and for soldiers at Fort Carson. She graduated from Palmer High School in Colorado Springs.
She cited among her early comic influences Phyllis Diller, Totie Fields and Anne Meara.
Inspired by Ann-Margret in the film Viva Las Vegas, while on a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, during high school, she persuaded her parents to let her see a live show where she was noticed by the production staff; despite being only 17 years old, she persuaded her parents to let her sign a contract. Immediately after graduating high school, she drove back to Las Vegas, where she became a showgirl in Frederic Apcar's pioneering "Vive Les Girls!" at The Dunes; there, she met Elvis Presley, with whom she went on a date. She played a topless dancer in the film The Working Girls (1974).
In the early 1970s, Peterson moved to Italy and became lead singer of the Italian rock bands I Latins 80[dead link] and The Snails. After being introduced to film director Federico Fellini by the producer of a documentary on Las Vegas showgirls in which she had appeared, she landed a small part in the film Roma (1972). When she returned to the United States, she worked at the Playboy Club in Miami as a showgirl in the 1973 revue Fantasies of Love au Naturel and later signed up with Hugh Hefner's Playboy Modeling Agency, working as a hostess and model. She also toured nightclubs and discos around the country with a musical/comedy act, Mama's Boys.
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Cassandra Peterson
Cassandra Gay Peterson (/kəˈsɑːndrə ˈpiːtɜːrsən/ kuh-SAHN-druh; born September 17, 1951) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Peterson gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ-TV in her stage persona as Elvira, hosting Elvira's Movie Macabre, a weekly B movie presentation. A member of the Los Angeles-based improvisational and sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings, Peterson based her Elvira persona in part on a "Valley girl"-type character she created while a member of the troupe.
The popularity of Elvira's Movie Macabre led to the 1988 film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, and later the 2001 film Elvira's Haunted Hills, both starring Peterson as Elvira. The television show was revived in 2010, featuring Elvira hosting public domain films, and airing on This TV until 2011. Elvira returned as a horror hostess in 2014 with 13 Nights of Elvira, a 13-episode series produced by Hulu, and again in 2021 for a one-night four-part 40th Anniversary Special that aired on Shudder.
Peterson has made cameo appearances as Elvira in a number of films and television programs, including appearing as a guest commentator during WrestleMania 2 and as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race, The Boulet Brothers' Dragula, and Halloween Wars. She also had a cameo in Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
Peterson was born on September 17, 1951 in Manhattan, Kansas. When she was a toddler, she was scalded by boiling water, which required skin grafts to cover over 35% of her body to heal, resulting in her having to spend three months in the hospital. Her family relocated to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where her mother and aunt operated a costume shop.
In a 2011 interview, Peterson stated that as a child, she was more fascinated by horror-themed toys while other girls were occupied with Barbie dolls. In elementary school, she watched House on Haunted Hill, which was the first horror film she ever saw. She trained in ballet before her breasts grew too large to do so ("Going across the floor was like boing-boing-boing"). During her teens, Peterson worked as a drag queen go-go dancer in a Colorado Springs gay bar and as a go-go dancer at Club A-Go-Go, a nightclub in Colorado Springs, and for soldiers at Fort Carson. She graduated from Palmer High School in Colorado Springs.
She cited among her early comic influences Phyllis Diller, Totie Fields and Anne Meara.
Inspired by Ann-Margret in the film Viva Las Vegas, while on a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, during high school, she persuaded her parents to let her see a live show where she was noticed by the production staff; despite being only 17 years old, she persuaded her parents to let her sign a contract. Immediately after graduating high school, she drove back to Las Vegas, where she became a showgirl in Frederic Apcar's pioneering "Vive Les Girls!" at The Dunes; there, she met Elvis Presley, with whom she went on a date. She played a topless dancer in the film The Working Girls (1974).
In the early 1970s, Peterson moved to Italy and became lead singer of the Italian rock bands I Latins 80[dead link] and The Snails. After being introduced to film director Federico Fellini by the producer of a documentary on Las Vegas showgirls in which she had appeared, she landed a small part in the film Roma (1972). When she returned to the United States, she worked at the Playboy Club in Miami as a showgirl in the 1973 revue Fantasies of Love au Naturel and later signed up with Hugh Hefner's Playboy Modeling Agency, working as a hostess and model. She also toured nightclubs and discos around the country with a musical/comedy act, Mama's Boys.
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