Susan Stafford

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.