Vanna White Biography

Game Show Host

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Name at birth: Vanna Marie Rosich

Vanna White and Pat Sajak are the long-running hosts of the TV game show Wheel of Fortune. A former model, White joined the show in 1982, turning letters on the game board while dressed in glittery evening gowns. Wheel of Fortune moved from daytime to evenings in 1983, making White and Sajak into sudden stars. By the turn of the century they had become one of TV's longest-running entertainment teams. She tried her hand at dramatic acting in the 1988 TV movie Goddess of Love and wrote a 1987 autobiography, Vanna Speaks.

Extra credit: According to her official bio from the show, "In 1992, White was recognized in The Guinness Book of World Records as "Television's Most Frequent Clapper." Averaging 720 claps per episode, she puts her hands together more than 28,000 times per season!"... Before White's arrival, Susan Stafford turned letters on Wheel of Fortune... White was married to businessman George Santo Pietro from 1990 until their divorce in 2002. They had two children: son Nicholas (b. 1994) and daughter Giovanna (b. 1997).

Other game show personalities of the 20th century include Charles Nelson Reilly, Brett Somers and Alex Trebek.