Vanna White

Vanna White (born Vanna Marie Rosich on February 18, 1957) is a southern belle from North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and longtime hostess of TV's Wheel of Fortune. She was a struggling actress during the 1970s and in 1980 was a contestant on The Price is Right but never made it out of Contestants' Row. It seemed like her career was nothing but a dead end, until she learned that producers were holding auditions for the new letter turner on Wheel of Fortune by her friend Janet Jones (aka Mrs. Wayne Gretzky). The letter turning job was formerly occupied by Susan Stafford. On a whim Vanna tried out for that job thinking that she may or may not get it; on her audition, Vanna was a nervous wreck, quivering & shaking, but producer/creator Merv Griffin saw through the nervousness and hired her for the job partnering with current host Pat Sajak. Vanna's first show was on December 13, 1982. Her popularity heightened thanks to the nighttime version and she has stayed with the show ever since.

Most video games based off Wheel have her as host of the show instead of Pat Sajak. She has even played the game herself (for charity) twice.

Vanna White survived the devastating losses of her mother Joan Marie Rosich, and then boyfriend John Gibson. Was married for 11 years to restaurateur George Santo Pietro. From that marriage, Vanna is the mother of two children Nicholas & Giovanna (named after Vanna & George). Plus when not turning/touching letters on the puzzleboard, Vanna is also an expert crocheter, in fact she owns her own line of yarn called "Vanna's Choice". In the 80s & 90s Vanna was the spokeswoman for Sping Air mattress. And as if crocheting, mattress hocking & letter turning were not enough, Vanna also made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most frequent clapper on television, averaging 720 claps per show, and clapping more than 28,000 times a season. Another one of Vanna's trademarks on Wheel is her huge wardrobe and many hairstyles over the years.

Vanna has also made guest appearances on several TV shows, and at one time she starred in her own NBC TV movie called Goddess of Love where she played Venus, a Roman goddess of love struggling to survive in modern-day LA. The TV film was a target against critics, but it was loved by viewers who made it one of the most watched that night.

Show Hosted
Wheel of Fortune 1982-present

Show Appeared
The Price is Right

Link
Vanna's Bio at the Wheel of Fortune site

YouTube Video
Vanna's first introduction