Cassandra Peterson was born in Manhattan, Kansas, and grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She began her career at age seventeen as the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history in the show Vive Les Girls at the Dunes Hotel. After receiving advice from the "King" himself, Elvis Presley, she traveled to Europe where she pursued a career as a singer and actor. She worked in several Italian films, including director Federico Fellini's Roma and performed throughout Europe as lead singer of an Italian pop band. Upon returning to the States, Peterson toured America as star of her own musical-comedy show, Mama's Boys. She eventually settled in Hollywood, where she spent four years with L.A.'s foremost improvisational comedy group, The Groundlings. In 1981 she auditioned for the part of "horror hostess" on a local Los Angeles television station. Her show, Movie Macabre, and her newly created character, Elvira, became an overnight sensation. Peterson has used Elvira's celebrity status to bring attention to many worthy causes and organizations over the years, including her well-known work for animal welfare and raising money and awareness for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. In addition to co-writing and performing in both the local L.A. and nationally syndicated television versions of Movie Macabre, Peterson co-wrote, produced, and starred in two feature length films: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and Elvira's Haunted Hills. Peterson has spent over three decades solidifying the Elvira brand and building it into an international cult icon that has become synonymous with Halloween and the horror genre.
