Vanna White

Vanna Marie White (née Rosich; born February 18, 1957) is an American television personality and game-show hostess, best known as the co-host of the game show Wheel of Fortune, a position she has held since 1982.

Vanna Marie Rosich was born on February 18, 1957, near North Myrtle Beach in Horry County, South Carolina, the daughter of Joan Marie (Nicholas) and Miguel Angel Rosich.

According to census records her paternal (Rosich) 2nd great-grandparents were Spanish from Mallorca, who settled in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Her parents divorced when she was an infant, and she was raised by her mother Joan, and Joan's second husband Herbert White Jr., a former real estate broker, in North Myrtle Beach, and she took his surname.

After graduating from high school, White moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she attended the Atlanta School of Fashion and Design and worked as a model.

She began her career as a model while studying fashion, competing in Miss Georgia USA in 1978.

Before her appearance on TV, White was a contestant in the Miss Georgia USA 1978 pageant.

She headed to Los Angeles in 1979 to pursue an acting career, but in the summer of 1980, she returned briefly to South Carolina to see her mother, who was dying of ovarian cancer.

Her first appearance in a game show was on the June 20, 1980, episode of The Price Is Right, where she was among the first four contestants.

In 1980, White acted in a film that was not completed; it was subsequently edited and released in June 1990 as Gypsy Angels.

In 1981, she got a bit part in the film Looker and also appeared as Doris in the horror movie Graduation Day, an American slasher film directed by Herb Freed and produced by Troma Entertainment.

After Wheel of Fortune hostess Susan Stafford left in October 1982, White was selected as one of three substitute hostesses (along with Vicki McCarty and Summer Bartholomew) to co-host the show.

On December 13, 1982, White became the regular hostess.

In addition to her work on Wheel of Fortune, she has played minor characters or appeared as herself in many films and television series, and is the author of the 1987 autobiography Vanna Speaks.

She also participates in real-estate investment, owns the yarn brand Vanna's Choice, and is a patron of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Her 1987 autobiography, Vanna Speaks!, was a best-seller.

Also in 1987, she was featured in a Playboy pictorial, showing photos taken of her before her career on Wheel of Fortune, wearing see-through lingerie.

She starred as the title character, Venus, in the 1988 television movie Goddess of Love.

This marked the first time that White had missed an episode since 1991.

In September 2023, White extended her contract as host of Wheel of Fortune through the 2025–26 season.

She has made cameo appearances on television shows such as L.A. Law, 227, Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Simon and Simon, The King of Queens, Full House, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and in films such as Naked Gun 33 1⁄3: The Final Insult (1994) Double Dragon (1994) and the Australian variety series Hey Hey It's Saturday.

She guest-starred on Married...With Children; in a gender-bending parody of the film Indecent Proposal, White had the Robert Redford role while Al Bundy had that of Demi Moore.

She served as guest timekeeper and provided interviews from the backstage area throughout the evening for WrestleMania IV.

She did not make it on stage, but the clip of her running to Contestants' Row was rebroadcast as part of The Price Is Right 25th Anniversary Special in August 1996 and The Price Is Right Celebrates 50 Years in September 2021 (in which she also appeared as a Guest Model during the show), and also was featured on the special broadcast Game Show Moments Gone Bananas.

In 1996, she was the main narrator and singer in the CD release of Leslie Bricusse's "Santa's Last Ride".

On April 20, 2006, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with Pat Sajak, Merv Griffin, and Alex Trebek as key witnesses.

White lent her voice to the Canadian animated television special The Real Story of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the American animated television series Captain Planet and the Planeteers.

White presented a set of luggage in a special guest appearance on The Price Is Right Celebrates 50 Years in September 2021.

In May 2022, White appeared as a special guest in the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars where the contestants did a runway in tribute to her past looks.

On April 21, 2023, it was announced that White would be featured in a four-episode documentary by ABC News titled The Game Show Show, covering the history of game shows in America over the last eight decades.

The four-part documentary premiered on May 10, 2023.

White temporarily took over hosting Wheel of Fortune as master of ceremonies starting with the week of episodes that were slated to air starting on December 9, 2019.

The announcement was made after a taping day was postponed when Sajak was hospitalized with a blocked intestine and needed emergency surgery to clear it.

White hosted that taping day and the subsequent rescheduled taping the next day.

Guest letter activators were implemented during her shows hosting; the weeks of December 9 and 16 had Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse during the Secret Santa Holiday Giveaway.

Subsequently, the show went on hiatus during Christmas week (December 23, 2019) and then a week of previously taped "America's Game" episodes (Wheel tapes six episodes per day, with each studio audience receiving three shows each; the third show in the afternoon session is an "America's Game" episode) that Sajak hosted, before White returned to hosting on January 6, 2020, for a final week; she was assisted by a "special guest", Pat Sajak's daughter Maggie.

Fully recovered from his surgery, Sajak returned to the show on December 5, 2019, with episodes to be broadcast beginning on January 13, 2020.

White missed filming five episodes in August 2023 after contracting COVID-19.

She was temporarily replaced by Bridgette Donald-Blue but returned as host in October 2023.

Filming on additional episodes was delayed until after her recovery.