Vanna White is best known as the hostess of WHEEL OF FORTUNE since 1982. She is considered a TV personality and even a film actress (!) who was actually a game show contestant prior to her breakthrough role spinning letters. She was born Vanna Marie Rosich. Her parents divorced while she was still an infant and she took the name of her new stepfather. White was a former real estate agent from North Myrtle Beach, SC. Before her appearance on everyone's TV in 1982, she was a contestant in the Miss Georgia 1978 pageant. Her first appearance on a game show was actually on the June 20th 1980 episode of THE PRICE IS RIGHT, in which she was one of the first four contestants but did not make it onto the stage. The footage has been reused in numerous broadcast specials. After the Wheel of Fortune hostess Susan Stafford left in October, 1982, Vanna was selected as one of 3 rotating substitute hostesses to share co-hosting duties, but by December 13th of 1982, she became the regular hostess. Her 1987 autobiography, VANNA SPEAKS! was a best-seller. Also in 1987, she was featured in a Playboy pictorial, which featured photos (taken by a then-boyfriend) before her days of Wheel of Fortune fame and featuring photos of her in various forms of see-through lingerie.