Cassandra Peterson reflects on her career as campy Mistress of the Dark
By LARRY WOMACK - Special to The Buzz
Twenty years ago, Cassandra Peterson would never have guessed that in 2002, she'd be starring in her second feature film as alter ego Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. When Peterson first heard that Los Angeles' KHJ-TV was looking for someone to replace their recently deceased horror host, "I really wasn't that thrilled about it. 'Oh, yeah, horror host, great,"' she recalled with a sedate, sarcastic groan. "Didn't sound that good to me."
Peterson had started out with different showbiz goals. Just 17, and inspired by Ann-Margret in "Viva Las Vegas," she set the record for youngest showgirl on the Vegas strip. Upon finding a showgirl's life to be more tedious than glamorous, and having been warned away from the town (as well as encouraged professionally) by Elvis Presley, she headed to Europe to pursue a singing career. There, she headed an Italian rock band and met another legend, Federico Fellini, who cast Peterson in his classic film "Fellini's Roma." Peterson returned stateside, and eventually friends persuaded her to audition for the horror host job.
After the horror show's producer saw her perform with The Groundlings (an improvisational troupe featuring the likes of Phil Hartman and Paul Reubens), he hired her to host as a character that she performed that night: "a kind of ditzy actress, valley girl." But there was one catch. She had to come up with a look for the character: "something spooky that would go with the horror movie show."
The character, born from that marriage of those two very different concepts, was augmented with a shlock host's repertoire of one-liners and became Elvira. According to Peterson, the physical transformation takes 90 minutes, from beginning to end, and "it never gets quicker." Elvira's poofy black hair, skimpy black dress and gravity-defying curves have likely sent pulses racing far more often than the B-grade horror films she is famed for hosting. "I thought it was a little too sexy for TV," she remembered, "but they didn't seem to mind."
Most would never think it to look at Elvira, but Peterson revealed that 35 percent of her body is skin grafting. At just 3 years of age, little Cassandra was burned by an overturned pot of boiling Easter eggs, resulting in the fusion of her eyelids and loss of most of her hair. When we spoke in February, she estimated having undergone seven to 10 surgeries in her life to deal with scarring that has keloided. "The costume's designed so that it's strategically placed. All the good parts show." She has found inspiration in the pain, however. "A lot of things happen for a reason, and I have this strange feeling that without being burned, I don't think I would have been Elvira."
Success as Elvira came quickly. Elvira, with the highest rated local show, became the first horror host to be nationally syndicated. As personal appearances, fan club and other offers came in, Peterson and husband/manager Mark Pierson asked for the rights to the character. Don't cry for KHJ, though. When "Movie Macabre" grabbed the top ratings spot, Peterson was given a $15 raise - to $200 a week. Since that time, KHJ has left the airwaves "due to some illegal Nixon campaign contributions," Peterson explained.
Explaining her character's popularity, Peterson said bluntly, "The horny guys out there like the boobs." But there were more than two reasons for her quick rise to popularity. The character appeals to a gay audience "because of a whole different set of reasons. Elvira is kind of like a drag queen. I think I learned everything I know from gay men." Peterson attributed her huge following among women to Elvira's take-charge personality. "That makes her kind of a tough, doesn't-take-any-crap-especially-from-men, ballsy kind of a woman. I think that women really appreciate seeing that kind of a woman."
When Peterson, as Elvira, became the first female spokesperson for a beer, her exposure went national. The relationship has since ended, and Peterson has even started marketing her own beer. She is positive about the experience, but recalled a time when she didn't want to sign on with the company. "The Coors family is part of the Heritage Foundation, which is very right-wing, very anti-gay," she explained. "There was a time when I didn't want to re-sign with Coors unless they could talk with the gay community and come to some understanding about the (issues) they had. I felt very two-faced doing Coors. I actually think that in some small way, I hope, I was responsible for helping them patch that situation up."
"Movie Macabre" and peddling beer, however, were just the beginning. The character spawned two video series, a series of teen novels, the best-selling women's Halloween costume of the past three decades, action figures, a long-running comic book series and dozens of other forms of licensed Elvira products. Her first feature film, "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark," is a cult classic full of horror references and snappy one-liners.
But the vamp of camp isn't ready to hang up her gown yet. Her second feature film, "Elvira's Haunted Hills," is in independent theaters around the country and currently available on VHS and DVD. The movie, a loving send-up of the Roger Corman movies from the '60s and '70s, was filmed in the Carpathian Mountains and co-stars Richard O'Brien (writer/star of "Rocky Horror"). Peterson spent much of last year using early screenings to promote some of her favorite charities.
While burn charities, usually focusing their efforts on children, don't often "call and say, 'Oh, Elvira, show up at our church,'" Peterson explained, there are plenty of charities that have welcomed a helping hand from the self-billed "gal in black who works on her back." A staunch supporter of animal rights, she has been a longtime spokesperson for PETA, which is "very close to my heart." Peterson has also been long involved in AIDS charities.
Reflecting on her alter-ego, Peterson considers it an understatement to say, "I think we're very different."
One obvious difference is Peterson's family life. She and husband Pierson are proud parents of a second-grader. What does her child think about Elvira? "My daughter, she just, you know, couldn't care less. She's grown up with it. I think she thinks that all mommies have some other hidden identity, which they may. She told her teacher once in pre-school that she had a black mommy and a white mommy, which was very interesting."
But there are other differences just as important. "Elvira certainly is a lot more outgoing, a lot more truthful, honest. She doesn't hold back. Elvira's on all the time, and I am not on all the time - I'm off all the time. Elvira's my personality on Methadrine or something."
Peterson feels the new movie is worth seeing for anyone because "it's really, really funny. It's hysterical. One of my biggest gripes when I've been watching it with audiences is that they laugh through so many funny lines that they miss half of it." The film has so far received warm reviews. For those who are already fans of Elvira, Peterson feels that the film will be a special treat. "Doing it on our own, we got to make it just the way we wanted. We didn't have any input or outtake from studio execs. This is pure Elvira."
Buzz bite
Name: Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira, Mistress of the Dark)
Birthplace: Manhattan, Kansas, in 1952
Favorite influences: Ann-Margret and Mae West. "I see similarities (between Elvira and) Mae West, and I wish there were more. I think that Mae West was just brilliant. Brilliant." Elvira, like West, projects a naughty yet somehow benign image.
Credits (as Elvira): hosting TV series "Elvira's Movie Macabre," starring in movies "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" and "Elvira's Haunted Hills," a long-lived comic book series and numerous other home video and horror-related projects
Credits (Peterson): "Fellini's Roma," "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," and "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie"
