Cassandra Peterson
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Welcome back to Horror Celebrity Spotlight, my series about the most interesting icons in the horror world! This week, we’re taking a look at iconic horror host Cassandra Peterson! Let’s examine her iconic career, the memorable work she’s performed, and all the Cassandra Peterson movies you need to watch!
The Basics
Full Name: Cassandra Gay Peterson
Age: 73
Best Known For: Playing Elvira, Mistress of the Dark!
Official website: Elvira.com. She also has an official Instagram.
An Iconic Horror Host
Cassandra Peterson’s journey to horror stardom began in 1981, when she won a casting call held by KHJ-TV, a local Los Angeles television station. The network needed a horror host for a new program, Movie Macabre.
They left it up to Peterson to decide what persona to play on the show. In a stroke of genius, she came up with Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark, a snarky and sexy horror-loving goth girl.
Elvira quickly caught on with audiences. Her revealing, all-black outfits became the stuff of legend. Elvira’s charisma, striking appearance, and sarcastic risqué humor turned Peterson into a star.
Within a few years, Elvira rocketed from an obscure character on an indy tv station to a famous pop culture icon that even non-horror fans recognized. She is one of the well-known horror characters of the 1980s, nearly as famous as Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees.
Her popularity led to a feature film, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988), and numerous merchandise, including a pinball game, action figures, calendars, and much more. Peterson has also appeared in numerous commercials. Elvira has endorsed beers, cereals, and even Blockbuster Video (remember them?)!
Random Tidbits
-As Elvira, Peterson was the first horror host to be syndicated nationally.
-Along with Mistress of the Dark, she also portrayed Elvira in another, less well known film: Elvira’s Haunted Hills (2001).
-Although Elvira has made up the majority of her career, Peterson has played many other characters in television and film. For example she portrayed a biker chick in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985).
-Peterson wrote her memoir, Your Cruelly, in 2021. She revealed that she’s been in a relationship with a woman since 2002 after she separated from her ex-husband, Mark Pierson.
-She released a series of Halloween vinyl albums in the ’80s and ’90s.
-According to the official Elvira website, the character has over a thousand licensed products. I’m not sure even Jason or Freddy have that many!
-Peterson had a long-running feud with popular ’50s horror host Vampira (Maila Nurmi). Nurmi, who by the ’80s was in her sixties and struggling financially, claimed that Elvira was a ripoff of her persona. Nurmi filed a lawsuit seeking damages, but a judge ruled in Peterson’s favor.
The physical resemblance between Elvira in the ’80s and Vampira in the ’50s is obvious, but the characters have different personalities. I don’t think the ripoff argument holds water. Nurmi passed away in 2008.
She said what?!
Elvira is a very quotable character, so I’m going to finish this off with some her gems.
“There’s nothing wrong with G-rated movies, as long as there’s lots of sex and violence.”
“I haven’t had any complaints yet.” (in response to someone asking, “how’s your head?”)
“If they ask about me, tell them I was more than a great set of boobs, I was also a great pair of legs.”
