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Talkhouse

Cassandra Peterson was born in Manhattan, Kansas. At age 17, she became the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history, and after receiving advice from the King himself, Elvis Presley, she traveled to Europe where she pursued a career as a singer and actor. Upon returning to the States, Peterson toured America as star of her own musical-comedy show, Mama’s Boys. She eventually settled in Hollywood, where she spent four years with the Groundlings, Los Angeles’ foremost improvisational comedy group. In 1981, she created the character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, for a local Los Angeles television station. Elvira and her show, Movie Macabre, became an overnight sensation and was soon picked up by stations across the country. Peterson cowrote, produced, and starred in two feature-length films, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark and Elvira’s Haunted Hills. In 2021, she published her memoir, Yours Cruelly, Elvira, which became a New York Times bestseller. Peterson has spent over four decades solidifying the Elvira brand, one that has become synonymous with Halloween and the horror genre. Her latest book, <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/cassandra-peterson/elviras-cookbook-from-hell/9780306832864/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elvira’s Cookbook from Hell: Sexy, Spooky Soirées and Celebrations for Every Occasion</a>, is published September 30 by Grand Central.

Cassandra Peterson

Film

Three Great Things: Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira)

Shannon Plumb has shot over 200 short films, which have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and on international screens. She started by shooting herself as various characters, acting out three-minute situations using humor and silence as her vehicles for storytelling. In 2013, her first feature film, Towheads, premiered at MoMA as part of New Directors / New Films; it is now streaming on the <a href="https://www.criterionchannel.com/towheads" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Criterion Channel</a>. You can see her short films at <a href="http://shannonplumb.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shannonplumb.com</a> and Towheads is available on Netflix and iTunes. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, director Derek Cianfrance, and their two sons.

Shannon Plumb

Shannon Plumb (Towheads) Talks Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth

Aging