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Vanna White guest starred on MWC as Coco/Helen Granowinner, an old girlfriend of Al's, in the Season 7 finale episode "The Proposition". | ||||
| General Information | ||||
| Born: | February 18, 1957 | |||
| Birthplace: | North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S. | |||
| Vital information | ||||
| Occupation: | Hostess, Actress, Activist | |||
| Years active: | 1980-present | |||
| Family/Personal Information | ||||
| Known for: | Co-hosting Wheel of Fortune | |||
| Series involvement | ||||
| Character/Appearance on MWC: | Coco/Helen Granowinner | |||
| Series inolved with: | Married... with Children | |||
| Episodes involved with: |
"The Proposition" (Season 7 finale) | |||
Vanna White (born Vanna Marie Rosich on February 18, 1957) appeared on Married... with Children as Coco/Helen Granowinner, an old high school girlfriend of Al Bundy's who makes a romantic "proposition" to him in the Season 7 finale episode "The Proposition". Vanna is the longtime hostess of TV's Wheel of Fortune
Vanna has also made guest appearances on several other 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 programs that night.
Life and Career[]
Born in 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.
In 1987, she was featured on the cover of the May issue of Playboy magazine, along with several images of her in sheer lingerie. In a 2017 interview, she regretted the decision to pose nude and noted that they were not intended to be used in Playboy. The images were originally shot in 1982 by photographer David Gurian, who was not affiliated with the magazine, when she was new to Hollywood and did not want to resort to asking her father for money. Once her fame grew, Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner acquired the negatives from Gurian for $75,000. Although Hefner and White were friends and she politely asked him not publish them, he proceeded to do so, causing her to sever ties with him. This lead to a lawsuit, with White claiming that publishing the photos would ruin her "modest, wholesome, attractive and innocent all-American girl” image, while Playboy noted that she had actually brought them the images, as she wanted to pose for the magazine before landing the job at Wheel of Fortune. They also noted that they even delayed the publication of the image, as she was releasing a book titled Vanna Speaks and pointed out that her fame would grow even more with with her pictorial. She eventually apologized for the images, but was grateful that she had the support of people around her and was able to learn from it. She also regretted the way things ended with Hefner, after he passed away and they were still not on speaking terms. [1][2][3][4]
Although Vanna is best known for turning the letters on Wheel of Fortune, there have been times she has been featured as the main host. Earlier video game versions of "Wheel" featured her as the main host, as she consented to be licensed (Sajak has consented to be licensed for more recent versions, and as such both him and Vanna have been featured). Occasionally she has swapped roles with Pat Sajak, where he will turn the letters while she officiates by the "Big Wheel". This has often been featured when there is a "Battle of the Sexes" week in which all contestants are male or female, eventually squaring off to see which sex won more. One episode broadcast on April Fool's Day featured Vanna as a contestant, with Alex Trebek as the host of Wheel of Fortune, whereas Pat Sajak hosted Jeopardy. Vanna handed over all her winnings from that episode to charity.
Family life/Personal[]
Vanna 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 Spring Air mattress. Although likely unintentional, 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. In 1993 she sued Samsonite over a TV commercial that featured a gynoid hosting Wheel of Fortune in 2023, suggesting that Samsonite products can outlast people. Because the robot had a big blonde bouffant and turned letters, it was implied to be an unauthorized spoof of Vanna's role. The courts ruled in favor of Vanna White, determining Samsonite intentionally used her image without permission.
