Comprehensive information and links about Vanna White

Vanna White (born February 18, 1957Vanna White is an American television personality who is best known as the hostess and puzzle board operator on the long-running game show , in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to a family of Croatian background. She later took the name of her stepfather, Herbert White, a former real estate agent in North Myrtle Beach.

White's first national television appearance came in a 1980 episode of , where she was one of the first four contestants to "come on down" but did not make it on stage (this clip would go on to be rebroadcast as part of that Susan Stafford vacated. Merv Griffin chose her over two other finalists, and her first episode as Pat Sajak's regular assistant aired December 13, 1982. She remained with the daytime version of was the highest-rated syndicated program, in large part because of "Vannamania". Her 1987 autobiography, pictorial. The spread comprised photos of White wearing see-through lingerie that were taken before . White was the subject of "Weird Al" Yankovic's 1988 song, "Stuck in a Closet With Vanna White". In 1989, she was in the NBC TV-movie, , in which she played Venus. The film was universally panned, and TV Guide said White's acting was "wheely" bad. She has also made cameo appearances on television shows such as recognized White as "television's most frequent clapper". White's role changed from "letter turner" to "letter toucher" when the manually-operated board was replaced with an electronic board in 1997.

After more than two decades, White is still a key part of the success of .

White divorced her husband of 11 years, George Santo Pietro, in November 2002, and maintained custody of their two young children, Nicholas and Giovanna. Because of her glamour, celebrity status and high visibility, Vanna White has been a tabloid favorite for many years. White is currently engaged to businessman Michael Kaye. No wedding date has been set yet.

Litigation

In 1993, White won a lawsuit[1] against Samsung Electronics over their use of a humorous ad featuring a robot turning letters on a game show; White claimed that this violated her personality rights under California law by "evoking" her image, even though it didn't actually use her name or likeness. This court decision has been widely criticized by people decrying the expansion of intellectual property rights, at the expense of the public domain and fair use, in recent years.