Elvira, left, is the alter ego of Cassandra Peterson, right.
As if we didn’t already love Elvira enough, now we find out she’s one of us!
The Mistress of the Dark — aka Cassandra Peterson — revealed in her new memoir which was just released today, that she has been in a relationship for the last 19 years with a woman named Teresa “T” Wierson.
In the memoir, titled Yours Cruelly, Elvira, Peterson explains how she met Wierson at the gym where Wierson worked as a trainer, and that she had at first mistaken the “tan, tattooed and muscular” trainer for a man: “Dark and brooding, he gave off such intense energy that when he crossed the enormous gym floor, the waters parted and people stopped in their tracks to stare.”
The two became friends, and, when Peterson’s 25-year marriage to her manager, Mark Pierson, ended, Wierson moved in with Peterson. They were still just friends until one night — nearly 20 years ago now — when, Peterson said, as they were leaving a movie together she got the urge to kiss Wierson.
Peterson explained that she and Wierson have kept their relationship secret all these years because they felt doing so was necessary to protect the Elvira brand. Peterson was worried she would be abandoned by her fans for “not being what they expected.”
Now Peterson — just turned 70 on Sept. 17 — is comfortable enough to say that she is with someone who makes her feel “safe, blessed, and truly loved.”
— Tammye Nash
It’ s wonderful to know that the actress who gave life to a character that inspired so many drag queens my age is part of the community.
The revelation took a long time to come out, but I understand her concerns. The important thing is that we gain a lot in lesbian representativeness.