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, she 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, had her popularity heightened thanks to the nighttime version and has stayed with the show ever since.

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. Vanna is the mother of two children Nicholas & Giovanna (named after Vanna & George). Plus when not turning/touching letters, Vanna is also an expert crocheter, in fact she owns her own line of yarn called "Vanna's Choice". And as if crocheting & 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.

Shows Hosted
Wheel of Fortune (2)

Links
Vanna's Bio at the Wheel of Fortune site

YouTube Video
Vanna's first introduction