The star behind the 80s comedy-horror film “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark” has officially come out as part of the LGBTQ community, according to her latest memoir.
Cassandra Peterson, 70, who is better known for playing the dark and spooky hostess, Elvira, opened up about her 19-year relationship with Teresa “T” Wierson in her book, “Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark,” which debuted late this month. Peterson formed a romantic relationship with Wierson after her divorce from her then-manager and ex-husband, Mark Pierson. The high-femme queen of Halloween said she is excited to share this part of her identity with the world.
“I’m happy and relieved to finally allow our secret to see the light of day,” writes Peterson, according to Entertainment Weekly.
For years, Peterson and Wierson, who is also her assistant, worried that coming out would hurt her brand.
“Would my fans hate me for not being what they expected me to be?” she writes in the memoir. “I’m very aware that there will be some who will be disappointed and maybe even angry, but I have to live with myself, and at this point in my life, I’ve got to be truthful about who I am.”
The actress met her partner in the early 2000s at the Golds Gym of Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, reports the Advocate. At first sight, Peterson admits she assumed her love interest, Wierson, was a boy from her masculine gender expression.
“Often, when I was doing my pre workout warm-up on the treadmill, I couldn’t help noticing one particular trainer — tan, tattooed, and muscular — stalking across the gym floor, knit cap pulled so low over his long brown hair that it nearly covered his eyes,” she writes in the book, according to the Advocate. “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.”
However, Peterson quickly realized that she was crushing on a woman — and has never looked back.
“For the first time in my life,” Peterson writes in the book. “I’m with someone who makes me feel safe, blessed, and truly loved.”
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