Vanna White - Televion Personality, Timeline and Family

Vanna was born on 18 February 1957 in Conway, South California to Miguel Angel Rosich and Joan Marie. Miguel was of Puerto Rican descent. He abandoned the family while Vanna was just few months old and so she was mostly brought up by her mother.

Later, her mother married Herbert Stackley White. The family then moved to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where Herbert worked as a real estate agent. Subsequently, Vanna was adopted by her stepfather and became Vanna White.

As a child, Vanna had no idea about becoming a television star nor did she watch television shows that regularly. Things changed when she had to undergo appendectomy at the age of 11. While recuperating, she began to pass her time watching television series.

One day as she was watching ‘The Rat Patrol’ she came to know that the part of Sgt Sam Troy was being played by her uncle Christopher George. She was elated at the discovery and decided that if his uncle could be on TV so could she.

After graduating from high school, Vanna Joined Atlanta School of Fashion in Atlanta, Georgia. During that period, she supported herself by taking up modeling assignments.

In 1979, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. She took up a number of jobs to sustain herself. However, she returned home for a brief period and stayed back to take care of her ailing mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer, until her death, in 1980.

After her mother’s death Vanna White returned to Los Angeles and continued with her waitress’ job. Meanwhile she managed to get small roles in films like ‘Gypsy Angels’ (1980), ‘Looker’ (1981) and ‘Graduation Day’ (1981).

In 1982, Vanna appeared in one episode of the TV series ‘Star of the Family’. Later in November she auditioned for ‘The Wheel of Fortune’ and was chosen out of 200 applicants to join the game show as a co-host and a letter turner.

Vanna first joined the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ on 13 December 1982. Since then, she has been acting as the show’s day time hostess. She also acts as the co-host with Pat Sajak in its evening version. She has not yet thought about retiring

In September 1983, a syndicated version of ‘The Wheel of Fortune’ was debuted and with it the popularity of Vanna White began to increase. By 1986, the show began to attract 30 million viewers and grossed $100 million and by 1999, the number of viewers reached 40 million.

In May 1987, Vanna published her biography, ‘Vanna Speaks’. Thanks to her huge popularity, the book became a best seller.

In 1988, Vanna appeared in ‘Goddess of Love’ in the role of Venus. It was a television film aired on NBC. However, she could not attract positive reviews. This is also the year, when she appeared as the guest time keeper at WrestleMania IV.

During the first half of 1990s, Vanna lent her voice to two animated TV series. One was a Canadian animated television special called, ‘The Real Story of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ (1992). The other was ‘Captain Planet and the Planeteers’, an American animated TV series, which ran from 1990 to 1992.

In 1994, she made cameo appearance in ‘Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult’, which was the last episode of the ‘Naked Gun’ film series. Then in 1996, she appeared as the main narrator and singer in the CD release of ‘Santa's Last Ride’.

In addition, she has made cameo appearances in several shows like ‘L.A. Law’, ‘227’, ‘Super Mario Bros. Super Show’, ‘Simon and Simon’, ‘The King of Queens’, and ‘Full House’. She also appeared as guest-star on ‘Married...With Children’.

Vanna White first appeared on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ on 13December 1982. Since then she has been hosting the show regularly. The show has provided her both with fortune and fame. Even today, she remains television’s favorite lady.

Each year Vanna donates a percentage of proceeds from the sale of her Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Yarn to St. Jude’s Research Hospital.

In 1980, Vanna White started dating John Gibson, a dancer turned actor. Very soon their relationship turned intimate. Unfortunately, John died in an air crash in 1986. It was such a huge blow to Vanna that she had to take some time off from the show.

Vanna married George San Pietro, a restaurant owner, on 31 December 1990. The couple divorced twelve years later in November 2002. She has two children named Nicholas (born in 1994) and Giovanna (born in 1997) from this marriage.

In 2004, Vanna got engaged to Michael Kaye, an important business person in southern California. However, they never married and the engagement was called off in 2008.

At one point of time Vanna became so popular that the word ‘Vannamania’ was coined to express the admiration she received from her millions of fans.

As of 2015, Vanna White has a net worth of $30 million.

In 1992, Vanna White was mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records as the ‘television’s most frequent clapper’. It has been figured that she claps around 600 times per show.