This famous southerner was born with stars in her eyes in Conway, South Carolina, Feb. 18th, 1957. After high school graduation she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to attend fashion school. By 1979, the twenty-two year old part-time model was pursuing an acting career in Los Angeles when her mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Putting her career on hold, she moved back to South Carolina to lend her full support.

After her mother’s death, Vanna Marie returned to Hollywood with a new determination. She took every bit part and minor job that came her way, even making her first national television appearance as a contestant on The Price is Right. The girl destined to become a first name sensation got to “come on down” – but she didn’t make it up to the stage. Two years later, the personable beauty beat out hundreds of hopefuls to secure a job as the new letter turner on an established game show called "Wheel of Fortune". No one could’ve foreseen the phenomenon that became known as Vannamania. She clapped, she smiled, she chatted with her co-host, she turned the letters, and in the process Vanna Marie Rosich became a star. She has gone on to parlay the role into a number of successful endeavors including commercial endorsements, a nutritional video, and her own line of clothes.

Each week, Vanna White, American Icon, receives thousands of pieces of fan mail. She also endures the stabs of critics who have called her both a non-speaking clotheshorse and a poorly talented actress. In today’s southern quote, we hear the gracious wit that allows this South Carolina native to balance her enormous popularity with her fans with the never-ending barrage of ugly jokes from her skeptics. For Vanna White says,

“It's not the most intellectual job in the world, but I do have to know the letters" – Vanna White

~Shellie

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If you've stumbled onto my porch through an Internet search, I'd like to invite you to join us at All Things Southern where we celebrate the charm and heritage of the South. While you're there you can subscribe to my FREE weekly emag, find a list of the stations carrying the “All Things Southern Radio Show”, listen to an audio clip, watch my latest TV porch chat, shop online, register for my monthly give-a-way…and much more! Oh, and I'll be there if you want to chat. See 'ya there! ~Shellie



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