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On Good Friday in 1953, at only 18 months old, 25 miles from the nearest hospital in Manhattan, Kansas, Cassandra Peterson reached for a pot on the stove and doused herself in boiling water. Third-degree burns covered 35% of her body, and the prognosis wasn't good. But she survived. Burned and scarred, the impact stayed with her and became an obstacle she was determined to overcome. Feeling like a misfit led to her love of horror. While her sisters played with Barbie dolls, Cassandra built model kits of Frankenstein and Dracula, and idolized Vincent Price.


Due to a complicated relationship with her mother, Cassandra left home at 14, and by age 17 she was performing at the famed Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas as the youngest showgirl in Vegas. Run-ins with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Tom Jones helped her grow up fast. Then a chance encounter with the "King," himself, Elvis Presley, changed the course of her life forever, and inspired her to travel to Europe where she worked in film and toured Italy as lead singer of an Italian pop band. She eventually made her way to Los Angeles, joining the famed improv group, The Groundlings, and honing her comedic skills alongside Phil Hartman and Paul "Pee-wee" Reubens.