Cassandra Peterson was born in Manhattan, Kansas, and spent her formative years in Colorado Springs, Colorado. At the tender age of 17, she embarked on a career as the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history, captivating audiences with her charm and talent in the show "Vive Les Girls" at the Dunes Hotel. Encouraged by none other than the King of Rock 'n' Roll himself, Elvis Presley, she set out to conquer Europe, where she pursued a career as a singer and actor, gracing the silver screen in films such as Federico Fellini's Fellini's Roma (1972) and performing as the lead singer of an Italian rock band, thrilling crowds across the continent.
Upon returning to the United States, she embarked on a national tour as the star of her own musical-comedy show, "Mama's Boys", before eventually settling in Hollywood, where she spent four and a half years honing her craft with the esteemed improvisational comedy group, The Groundlings. In 1981, she auditioned for the role of a lifetime, landing the part of horror hostess on a local Los Angeles television station, and thus, the iconic character of Elvira was born.
As Elvira, Cassandra has leveraged her celebrity status to bring attention to numerous worthy causes and organizations over the years, including her tireless work for animal welfare and raising awareness and funds for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. In addition to co-writing and starring in both the local L.A. and nationally syndicated television versions of "Movie Macabre", she co-wrote, produced, and starred in two feature films, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) and Elvira's Haunted Hills (2001). In 2010, she returned to syndicated television in a reboot of her original series, Elvira's Movie Macabre (2010),followed by a similar show format for Hulu's 13 Nights of Elvira in 2014.
Most recently, Cassandra has produced, written, and starred in Elvira's 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special, Special - a 2021 four-hour special streaming on Shudder, as well as Dr. Elvira, a Halloween promotional mini-series for Netflix. Over the course of her illustrious career, Cassandra Peterson has spent over four decades solidifying the Elvira brand, which has become synonymous with Halloween and the horror genre.
