Cassandra Peterson was born in Manhattan, Kansas, and grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She began her career at age 17 as the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history in the show "Vive Les Girls" at the Dunes Hotel. . In 1981, she auditioned for the role of a horror hostess on a local Los Angeles television station. Her show, Movie Macabre (1981), and her newly created character, Elvira, became an overnight sensation.
