Profile Text
Peterson in 2016, photo by kathclick /Bigstock.com
Place of Birth: Manhattan, Kansas, U.S.
Date of Birth: September 17, 1951
Ethnicity: German (around half), Swedish (37.5%), smaller amounts of English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, and Polish
Cassandra Peterson is an American actress, writer, and singer. She is known for her horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark; she has hosted the horror film shows Elvira’s Movie Macabre , ThrillerVideo , Elvira’s Midnight Madness , and 13 Nights of Elvira , and starred in the films Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) and Elvira’s Haunted Hills . She has also featured in the movies The Working Girls (1974), Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again , Echo Park (1986), Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold , Encounter in the Third Dimension , All About Evil , The Munsters , The Haunted World of El Superbeasto , LEGO Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood , Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island , and Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! , the latter four in voice performance; on the shows Fantasy Island , CHiPs , The Fall Guy , The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , and Dota: Dragon’s Blood ; and in the music videos “Born in East L.A.” and “Zombie Killer.”
Cassandra is the daughter of Phyllis and Dale Peterson. She has a daughter with her former husband, musician Mark Pierson, who was her personal manager.
Cassandra’s paternal grandfather was August Robert Peterson (the son of August Frederick Peterson/Carlsson and Bettie Ostrand). Cassandra’s grandfather August was born in Kansas, to Swedish parents. Cassandra’s great-grandfather August was the son of Carl Persson and Brita Lisken Jaensdotter.
Cassandra’s paternal grandmother was Ivah Amanda Singer (the daughter of John Martin Singer and Anna L. Held). Ivah was born in Randolph, Kansas. John was the son of Franz B. Singer and Victoria Eva Stoehr, who were German emigrants, from Württemberg. Anna was the daughter of Jacob Gaboren Held, a German emigrant, from Bavaria; and of Amanda Jane Reddick, who was approximately of three quarters German and one quarter Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, ancestry, with some distant English.
Cassandra’s maternal grandfather was Herbert Arthur Schmidt (the son of John Schmidt and Catherine Trudnowski). Herbert was born in Nebraska, to German parents. John was the son Phillip Schmidt and Elizabetha Flieshouer. Catherine was the daughter of Anton Trudnowski and Mary Schultz. She likely had some degree of Polish ancestry.
Cassandra’s maternal grandmother was Ethel Augusta Dooley (the daughter of Jacob Dooley and Hannah Christine Danielson). Ethel was born in Ceresco, Nebraska. Jacob was the son of Jacob Dooley, whose mother was of German descent; and of Margaret Wakefield, who was of British descent. Hannah was a Swedish immigrant, and was the daughter of Johannes Gustave Danielson and Christina Andersdotter.