European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 11, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Vanna s wave of Fortune by Bob Thomas associated press Anna White turns cards on wheel of Fortune she Waves she giggles and says Bye Bye. She also eats Are Altos and wears designer dresses in Short Tho Blond goddess of game show Glitz can do a whole lol More than a Barbie doll and is almost As famous. When people Call tie a celebrity i find thai amazing. I Don 1 think of myself As a celebrity said while co Star with Host pal Saak of american to s most popular game show. Wheel of Fortune has been the no 1 syndicated program since 1934, with 38 million viewers daily watching Vanna White reveal letters in a word Puzzle for three contestants. She Days and smites widely while they spin the wheel cheering 1hom on 1o lag Money and a Chance to win fabulous prizes trips to san Francisco Ceramic pigs brass be is and Dinette sets. The big Winner of the Day can even try to win a car. Hwi Thyl wheel turn up with a losing spot or when a contestant names the wrong letter of the alphabet White turns her Toothy smile into a frown. But Sefca s realistic about her acting talents. I can t just go into the Lead of a feature film right now she said. People Aren t ready Tor that and i m not ready for that. People know me As a letter Turner and that s what i at 30. She is the most famous television prop in history. Her autobiography is on the boo stands. She is spokeswoman or a mattress company. She is preparing a video about How to eat sensibly she once thrived on junk food and was 25 pounds heavier. She appeared on Bob Hope s easier special on Abc to. Vanna White sings Vanna acts proclaimed the press release. However her singing of easter Parade was limited to a Lew bars with More experienced vocalists Lynda Carter. Gloria Lof ing and Stephanie Kramer. White has Laken some singing lessons and she used to tip sync the hymns in Church Back in North Myrtle Beach . Where she was once a cheerleader. White was interviewed Between taping sessions of Tho game show at Abc. The place was a restaurant in Burbank caiil., where she reported she once sought work As a waitress and was turned Down. I was living across the Street in an apartment with no bed. Steeping on recalled. I got a Job Down the Street wailing tables and tending bar at Luigi s. I worked there Lor a year and was Able to buy a her Luck changed alter Luigi s. She got modelling jobs and movie bit parts then auditioned with 200 aspirants a i years ago Lor wheel of Fortune the show s owner Merv Griffin picked her she said because i turned the letters belter than any of the the show a variation of Hangman a word game children play quickly ascended to ratings heaven. At first Vanna watching was a joke some viewers tuned in merely to see what sequined wonder she d Wear and just How Low her Decolle Tage would go. Soon though someone out there in game show land realized that while s popularity could be Slickly marketed. And faster than Vanna flips those vowels and consonants she became a Star. Her celebrity recently reached new Heights with a revealing photo spread in Playboy and her subsequent $5.2-million damage suit against the Magazine. I did the shooting to pay my rent when 1 was struggling sleeping on the floor she said. I had Loo much Pride o go to my father and ask him for rent Money. Many years later i become a famous person so the shots surface again. It s and like any other Star she s had to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous Fortune. For me the tabloids started heavily about a year ago. They Don t have a heart she said. Her Boyfriend soap opera actor John Gibson was killed in a plane crash last May and the tabloids stayed on the Story. They Don l let you mourn and Grieve while said. And they print headlines like Vanna brings Back Lover from the grave it s however Tho endless Vanna while jokes Don t seem to bother her. They re a compliment i laugh a them myself and i m not put Down by them at All she said. I Don t make fun of Rny Job but let s face it i turn letters on a game show. This is what i Vanna while the oho who turns the letters on wheel of lip Tutalo to soaps a reflection of society by Gregory Jensen United press International like countless millions of soap opera addicts around the world. Robert Alkins sees soaps As a kind of window on different he gels some unexpected views. It would appear that there in t a soap opera anywhere which does t concern itself with the family family affairs family tensions family problems he said. They re ail about the same echoed Dorothy Hobson. An Atkins associate who studied soap operas Lor Birmingham University in England. They re basically looking at the same problems Persona relationships emotional problems How to Cope with daily conclusions like these arose from perhaps the world s first International soap opera festival which Alkins organized last month at London s Commonwealth Institute where he is arts director. The Selling of a soap opera does t seem to mat Ler he said. In a working class Type of Community or an excessively Rich Sido of society like Dallas what matters is a fairly Clear set of social conventions and playing within the generally recognized rules of the but the game varies from country to country. Atkins believes that by studying the variations these immensely popular programs can reveal something about the societies which produce some unexpected confirmation came when a British to network suddenly switched a soap opera to a la a night Slot because h was too sexy to show while children might watch the soap called chateau Atlon is French a High society series which began like dynasty Wilh newspapers instead of shipping and then changed. Ii really in t like an american soap said a spokeswoman for Britain s Channel 4 network. There Are naked bodies and things writhing around in Beds and to obviously thought his would be no longer acceptable Lor Early evening this is a Case of a soap opera echoing a National stereotype French equals there Are Many other examples the Cockney image perpetuated by Britain s year old Easl Enders about the sleet traders Launderette owners and heavily accented residents of London s East Side Coronation Street. Tho oldest to soap of them All which has been running in Britain Lor 27 years and whose English northerners their lives entered on the Rover s return pub Are now seen by More than 250 million people in 17 counties Black Forest clinic and country doctor two West German soaps which seem to Cater to hypochondriac. Hero and in the United Stales Seid Atkins soap operas Are about Power sex violence struggling to gel the better of other in third world and developing countries the themes Are in general new values As against old Rural and traditional versus Urban and an example is wage headmaster a 9-year old nigerian series scripted in pidgin English. It is one of Nigeria s three Village based soaps a fourth is entered on a Lagos neighbourhood. One of Village headmaster s Long running polls focused on the pros and cons of collecting Money for a Village arts censer. This Atkins said raised the whole Mallei of protecting traditions introducing Western notions All of issues like these Are presented not a All in a simple monday May 11, 1987 Way in third world soaps Atkins said. There is an ability to see it Western versus traditional values As a Complex Issue and they present Bolh the positive and negative sides of each Way of life More or less impartially. Alkins said soap operas no matter what their origin Are Al Middle no beginning and no and essentially there is no denying their popularity. British newspapers give them More space than they do the Royal family. East Ender claims an audience of 23 million weekly in a country of 55 million even while other British soaps Emme Rdale farm Crossroads and others count Well Over 10 million viewers per episode. Allna a festival showed soaps Tram Canada Nigeria Hong Kong and Britain to Small audiences in five hour sessions. Experts Iron each country commented on the shows and in Hong Kong s Case translated their chinese. From Canada for example came episodes from he shoots. He scares described As sex and violence in a Montreal ice hockey team from the Slick Law based spree Legal and from danger Bay a wholesome drama entered on a Marine biologist and his they Are very very Milf event Atkins said. We did t gel any rounded picture of Canada from them but there were some conclusions. Canadians like to see themselves As a fair society. Family values Are very important. Landscape is terribly important the Brief festival also looked at two chinese language soaps trom Hong Kong Sel among the chinese Community and iwo other nigerian series. We really wanted to do some More research ourselves and broaden it considerably Alkins said i have no doubt that we will do it again probably next the stars and stripes Page 17
