Before she was the famed ’80s horror show hostess Elvira, Cassandra Peterson was a Las Vegas showgirl with big dreams. While working as a topless dancer, Peterson tells “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” she caught the eye of one of her idols.
“I was a big groupie,” Peterson says in the above video. “I loved music. I got to realize the dream of actually meeting Elvis and actually going out on a date with Elvis, so that was a dream come true for me.”
What happens on a date between the King and the future “Mistress of the Dark?” “There was a lot of making out going on,” Peterson admits. “We had a great time.”
While the relationship didn’t last, Peterson says Elvis gave her some life-changing advice. “He is 100 percent responsible for me getting out of Vegas and going on with my career,” she says. “Elvis said to me, ‘You don’t want to stay here, this is not a town you should be in.’ And I don’t think if that would’ve come from anybody but Elvis I would’ve done it.”
His advice inspired a move to Los Angeles, which is where Peterson auditioned for the role of Elvira. The rest is horror show history. More than 30 years later, she’s still casting a spell on her legions of fans.
