How Elvis Presley Changed Cassandra Peterson’s Fate Forever

For nearly forty-five years, the gothic persona of Elvira has been a fixture in the world of horror, first appearing on screens in 1981 as the host of Elvira’s Movie Macabre. With her striking black dress, towering beehive, and a sharp sense of humour, she quickly became a symbol of all things eerie and tongue-in-cheek. The character’s popularity led to two feature films, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark and Elvira’s Haunted Hills, and her image has since adorned everything from collectable figures to kitchenware. Elvira, as she often quips, is the “Santa Claus of Halloween,” delighting a devoted following with her signature sign-offs and irreverent wit.

Beneath the elaborate costume, however, is Cassandra Peterson, whose journey to cult status was anything but straightforward. Raised in Kansas and later Colorado, Peterson’s fascination with the macabre began early, favouring monsters over dolls. She trained as a ballerina and, while still at school, worked as a go-go dancer in local clubs. A screening of the 1964 musical Viva Las Vegas sparked a new ambition: to become a showgirl in Las Vegas.

From Small-Town Dreams to the Las Vegas Stage

At seventeen, Peterson convinced her parents to let her accompany them to Las Vegas, where a chance meeting with a dance captain at the Dunes Hotel led to an offer to join the summer cast of Viva Les Girls. Her parents were less than thrilled.

“They said, ‘No way in hell,’ and dragged me out of there by my falls,”

she recalled in Pamela Des Barres’ book Let’s Spend the Night Together. After months of threats and arguments, her parents relented. The day she finished school, she packed her belongings and drove to Las Vegas, where she began rehearsals and soon took to the stage as a showgirl.

It was during this period that Peterson’s life took an unexpected turn. Her flatmate was seeing Joe Esposito, Elvis Presley’s road manager, and one evening Peterson found herself invited to Presley’s suite. A lifelong fan, she leapt at the chance. She ended up sitting beside Presley at the piano, harmonising with him and talking late into the night about everything from family to spirituality.

Advice from the King

During their conversation, Presley offered a piece of advice that would alter the course of Peterson’s life.

“You have a good voice,” Presley told her. “Have you ever taken singing lessons?”

When she replied that she hadn’t, he urged her to leave Las Vegas.

“If you stay here you’ll wind up like one of these old showgirls. You won’t have anything when you get older, and that’ll be the end of you.”

Peterson later admitted,

“If anybody else had told me that, I would have thought they were full of shit. But he was Elvis.”

Reflecting on the encounter, she told AP News,

“He absolutely changed my life, 100%... He said, ‘This is no place for a 17-year-old girl. You need to get the hell out of here.’”

The very next day, she sought out a singing teacher. Not long after, she was chosen to sing in a show, which led her to Europe, where she began a new chapter as a singer and actress in Italy.

Elvira’s Enduring Legacy

Peterson often muses that, had she ignored Presley’s advice, she might still be performing in Las Vegas, albeit as its oldest showgirl.

“Honestly, I tell everyone, I was the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas at the time. I would now be the oldest showgirl in Las Vegas,”

she remarked. As a subtle tribute, a scene in Elvira: Mistress of the Dark features her wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with Presley’s image. His encouragement gave her the confidence to pursue a different path, ultimately leading to the creation of one of horror’s most beloved icons.