Susan Stafford(I)
- Actress
- Producer
Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Susan grew up in Missouri, started winning
beauty contests as a teenager in Kansas City where her modeling career
began. Susan moved to California and enjoyed success in co-starring
roles in major television series and a couple of motion pictures. Susan
is best known as the original hostess on "Wheel of Fortune" from 1975 -
1982. She is the first woman ever nominated for an Emmy on a game show,
the first woman to get a microphone and first woman to make her own
clothing deal on a game show. After a trip to India working with
Mother Teresa's nuns, Susan was compelled
to do more with her life than "turn letters". She left the show and
worked for a year as a chaplain intern at a cancer research hospital in
Houston and co-hosted documentaries about leprosy with former Surgeon
General C. Everett Koop and
Merlin Olsen. Susan earned a B.A. in
Nutrition and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She has a
degree in Theology from Logos International. Susan served on the
Emergency Response Team with "Media Fellowship International" following
the school shootings at both Columbine and Virginia Tech, counseling
with survivors, family members and the television crews. Susan worked
with "Friends of the United Nations" and received the World Unity Award
for Humanitarian Service along with
Edward James Olmos and
Martin Luther King III. She
started the Susan Stafford Foundation to deal with patient advocacy,
human trafficking and ecology issues. Quite remarkable for someone who
most people remember wearing beautiful gowns and clapping for
contestants on
Wheel of Fortune (1975)
where people said they felt her love through the TV screen.
