Better known by her stage name of Elvira, Cassandra Peterson is a horror icon that is ubiquitous beyond any of her works. The star began playing the character that made her famous in the 1980s. Elvira started out as a character that hosted syndicated horror movies on television, and she quickly became more popular than the movies themselves! Cassandra has managed to turn the character of Elvira into a lucrative empire. Just recently, the 70-year-old star took the world by storm when she confirmed what many diehard fans had long suspected… that she’s gay! Join Facts Verse as Elvira actress reveals 19-year relationship with a woman.
Who Is the Woman Behind the Character of Elvira?
For around four decades, Cassandra Peterson has been known to the world as Elvira. Pretty much everyone that has ever seen a television will recognize the character of Elvira by appearance alone, but few know her history. In fact, there are many who fail to realize that the character of Elvira and the actress who plays her aren’t the same person! The macabre Elvira has black hair and gothic makeup, while the comparatively lively Cassandra Peterson is a redhead that always seems vibrant as can be. It has been an intentional choice on Cassandra’s part to keep herself and the character of Elvira as separate as possible in the eyes of the public.
Up until recently, not all that much was known about the woman behind the character of Elvira. In particular, there was one key piece of information that was kept from the public until 2021, when Cassandra Peterson published her memoir. That memoir revealed many things about Cassandra’s personal life, and fans finally got to know the person behind the iconic horror character that they had come to consider a part of the family. The most shocking thing that the memoir revealed was the fact that Cassandra Peterson has been in a relationship with a woman for two decades.
Cassandra Peterson seems hesitant to label her sexuality, but it seems that the partner that she’s been with for the past 19 years is a woman. For two decades, Cassandra kept the truth about her sexuality a secret as she felt that it might interfere with her brand. However, in today’s culture, she decided it was the right time to come out of the closet. Diehard fans of the horror icon were likely far less surprised by the revelation of her fluid sexual preferences, as they’ve been a rumor in the horror community for years. Since the character’s inception, Elvira has been a longstanding icon in gay communities in particular, though this has predominantly been chalked up to the character’s flagrant campiness.
Why Did Cassandra Peterson Hide the Truth?
There seem to have been numerous reasons that Cassandra Peterson chose to keep the true nature of her sexuality a secret from the public for so long. However, the main reason that the actress was so scared about coming out of the closet was that she didn’t want to go bankrupt! According to Cassandra, she had seen numerous people in the industry come out of the closet only to lose the majority of their fans soon afterwards. Cassandra understandably feared that she was going to follow in their footsteps if her true sexuality was ever made public knowledge. Because of this, she took steps to conceal her long-term relationship with her current partner. Until recently, Cassandra referred to that partner simply by the initial of “T”. Now, it has been revealed that the initial stands for Teresa. Cassandra Peterson’s partner of nearly 20 years is a woman named Teresa Wierson.
Cassandra Peterson and Teresa Wierson apparently began dating in 2003. At the time, Cassandra was in the process of divorcing her first and hitherto only husband, who was also her manager. Cassandra’s husband was a man by the name of Mark Pierson, and they were married from 1981 to 2003. When Cassandra and Teresa first began dating, Cassandra claims that she would introduce the latter figure as her assistant out of fear of social stigma. Of course, the people that Cassandra interacted with then went about treating Teresa as if she actually was an assistant, which caused problems within the relationship. Still, Cassandra kept up the façade for nearly two decades before finally coming out.
Once Cassandra Peterson made the decision that she was finally going to let the world know that Elvira was gay, she then had to figure out how she was going to do it! Cassandra knew that she had to reveal the information carefully and in a way that seemed respectful. In the end, she chose to do it through the release of her aforementioned memoir. Though Cassandra Peterson didn’t lose her iconic status in the wake of the revelation, she did lose over 10,000 followers on social media! If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Cassandra Lost Followers on Social Media After Coming Out
Though Cassandra Peterson claims that she lost over 10,000 followers on social media after coming out as sexually fluid to the public, she also claims that she didn’t mind the loss. According to her, the amount of positive reception she received more than made up for the negativity. It seems that many fans of Elvira were proud of Cassandra for coming out of the closet, and that a great many of them were part of the LGBTQ crowd, as well! Cassandra still retains well-deserved status as a horror icon, and she continues to get work in the industry, Fans of the actress and her iconic character can look forward to her appearing in the upcoming reboot of The Munsters from director Rob Zombie.
Though Elvira is unquestionably a horror icon nowadays, the actress that popularized the character had humble beginnings. Cassandra grew up in a rural part of Kansas, and few would’ve predicted that she was going to end up becoming a star. However, the future celebrity’s taste for the macabre did rear it’s head while she was still young. According to Cassandra herself, the reason that she began to identity with horror films as a small child stems from an incident where she got burned by boiling water as a toddler.
How Cassandra Peterson Grew to Love Horror
As a toddler, Cassandra Peterson got a hold of a boiling pot of water and poured it on herself out of curiosity. This resulted in burns on the future star’s body that she still has today! Cassandra’s scars are hidden by Elvira’s costume, and it’s unlikely that many of the men that have fantasized about the horror icon over the years have realized that much of her body is covered in permanent burns. As a child, Cassandra’s peers made fun of these burns. This is the reason that Cassandra grew to love horror movies. According to the star herself, she began to identity with the oftentimes-disfigured villains in horror movies. The first horror movie that the actress ever saw was House on Haunted Hill, which her cousin took her to see at the theater.
Though Cassandra was bullied for her burns during her childhood, she developed into a stunning young woman that had no trouble attracting the male gaze. The young woman suffered abuse at home, which caused her to run away to Las Vegas and become a showgirl during her teenage years. It seems that watching House on the Haunted Hill wasn’t the only formative experience that a young Cassandra had at the movie theater. She also seems to have been greatly influenced by the Elvis film Viva Las Vegas, which she credits for inspiring her to run away to the titular city.
Cassandra’s looks got her plenty of work in Las Vegas, and she got to rub shoulders with the likes of such figures as Frank Sinatra and Tom Jones. Eventually, she got to meet none other than Elvis Presley himself. According to Cassandra, her and Elvis talked all night. Elvis told her that she needed to get out of Las Vegas and do something else with her life, which is how she eventually became Elvira.
Cassandra Followed Elvis Presley’s Advice
What Elvis told Cassandra Peterson specifically was that she had a good voice and ought to try becoming a singer. However, this advice did eventually lead to the actress developing the character of Elvira. Notably, the names Elvis and Elvira feature the same first four letters. Cassandra Peterson tried her hand at getting into music, heading to Italy and becoming a singer in a pop band. During her time in the country, Cassandra also appeared in a film by the name of Roma from the famous Italian director Federico Fellini.
After some time in Europe, Cassandra Peterson returned to American with renewed esteem and a great deal more experience in the art world. She subsequently joined the improvisational troupe the Groundlings, where she worked alongside such comedic legends as Phil Hartman and Paul Reubens. Paul Reubens would go on to develop the iconic character of Pee-Wee Herman, and Cassandra was soon to develop an iconic character of her very own.
It was in the early 1980s that the character of Elvira was finally revealed to the public. Cassandra secured the role after auditioning to be a movie host for a local television station in Los Angeles. Her background with the Groundlings helped her get the gig, and she was given the opportunity to create her character essentially from the ground up. Cassandra was already in her 30s at the time that she began portraying Elvira. Eventually, the character would become so popular that she would appear in movies of her own!
Now that Cassandra Peterson has come out of the closet, fans finally know that the long-standing rumors of Elvira being gay are true! Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that the actress who plays Elvira performed improv with Pee-Wee Herman during her early career, and that she has been in a relationship with a woman for 19 years? As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be amount he first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
