Who was crowned the winner of the 2007 reality series The Search For The Next Elvira? Elvira performer Cassandra Peterson had an interesting life prior to her first appearance as the horror icon. She was a Las Vegas showgirl in the early 1970s, which landed her a small role in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever and she briefly dated Elvis. She later moved to Rome and became a singer in a rock band and also spent time as a stand-up comedian. She later became host of Elvira's Movie Macabre, a television show that aired b-movies that she would also comment on in funny ways.
Peterson developed the Elvira character herself, which combined a vampy look with a dry, sarcastic wit with lots of double entendres. Elvira proved to be hugely popular and evolved from cult horror movie host to pop culture favorite. Elvira has appeared in shows like CHiPs, Nash Bridges and even video games like Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare. The character has two movies also with 1988's Elvira: Mistress of the Dark and 2001's Elvira's Haunted Hills.
Cassandra Peterson has also appeared in films outside of the Elvira character, including Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold and Pee-wee's Big Adventure. In 2007 she took part in FOX reality series The Search For The Next Elvira, where she and a panel of judges try to find the next big horror host. Some of the other judges include Kane Hodder - best known for playing Jason Voorhees from Friday The 13th Part VII to Jason X - and Rick Baker, the renowned special effects make-up artist behind An American Werewolf In London.
Unlike other reality shows of the era that took themselves quite serious, The Search For The Next Elvira was quite campy and fluffy. The show put its thirteen contestants through any number of bizarre trials, with writer April Wahlin ultimately crowned the winner. The series didn't receive great reviews when it aired, with fans being confused about its premise. They didn't know if it was a reality show where Peterson was looking for a talented new host or if she was retiring from Elvira and looking for a replacement. The latter is something fans definitely didn't want since Peterson is as closely tied to the part as Robert Englund is to A Nightmare On Elm Street's Freddy.
This wasn't the case, however, with The Search For The Next Elvira really supposed to provide the winner with the chance to pick up work Peterson was too busy to handle. April Wahlin later revealed in an interview with Terror From Beyond The Dave that despite winning the extra work never really materialized. Cassandra Peterson is still performing as Elvira, to the delight of her many fans.