DL Book Club: 'Yours Cruelly, Elvira,' by Cassandra Peterson
Short review: it's great. What a life. She was go-go dancing at night when she was 14 years old (the tits had already come in) and performing in drag bars a year later. By the time she was 17 she was a Vegas showgirl and met everyone (Sinatra, Tom Jones, and Wilt Chamberlain don't come off well here). One of the people who auditioned for the lead teen in the Mistress of the Dark movie was Brad Pitt, who wasn't cast because he was too good-looking.
There's an interesting chapter about the Elvira endorsement deal with Coors, which despite being financially successful was dropped twice because some in the senior Coors family found Elvira "satanic" or "demonic." The company tried to screw her over when she developed her own Elvira beer.
And she says that "Movie Macabre" was successful in syndication precisely because it was so cheap-looking; before Elvira was famous, viewers assumed she was their own local horror host.
Cassandra comes off as a real sweetheart with a great sense of humor and perspective. Haven't got to the lesbian stuff yet.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | October 1, 2021 1:18 AM
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Ha! Coors replaced her with Pamela Anderson for its Halloween campaign, so Cassandra booked herself at a big gay club in Denver for Halloween, on Coors turf.
A Coors executive told the owner of the club that he'd ensure an appearance by Pam Anderson if the club dropped Elvira. The owner told him, "This is a GAY BAR. What the FUCK do we need with Pamela Anderson?"
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | September 25, 2021 8:08 PM
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Since NBC had produced the Mistress of the Dark movie, NBC head Brandon Tartikoff suggested to Lorne Michaels that Elvira host the Halloween SNL. Years later, Cassandra found out Lorne refused and Tartikoff overruled him.
When she got to New York, Lorne refused to speak to her when she would ask him questions; she didn't know why, but thought it was a mind game. Then Lorne announced the show would have a co-host: Dabney Coleman.
Throughout the week he took the sketches that were written for her and gave them to Coleman, Jan Hooks and even the musical guest, Ric Ocasek. All that was left was the opening and a brief bit during Weekend Update. Lorne screamed at her during Weekend Update rehearsal and her husband and Lorne got into a shoving match in front of the entire cast and crew.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | September 25, 2021 11:06 PM
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I'm trying to picture Ric Ocasek performing material meant for Elvira.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | October 1, 2021 1:18 AM
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