Yvette Van Voorhees | |
---|---|
Born | 1953 Seattle, WA, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Education | West Seattle High School, University of Washington |
Occupation(s) | Actress, Dancer, Cheerleader |
Relatives |
|
Yvette Van Voorhees is a former American actress, dancer, cheerleader and beauty queen, best known for her role as a Muse in the 1980 film Xanadu. She also appeared in the Broadway production of Evita [1] during its original run. Before her career in entertainment, Yvette was a successful cheerleader, being part of the inaugural Sea Gals cheerleading squad for the Seattle Seahawks in 1976, and later a Los Angeles Rams cheerleader. As a beauty pageant participant, she held the Miss Washington World title in 1973.
Donna Yvette Van Voorhees was born in 1953 and grew up in West Seattle, the daughter of John (d.2007) and Audrey (d.2019) Van Voorhees, long-time West Seattle residents. John, a World War II veteran, had a career in broadcasting and was instrumental in establishing Washington's first FM radio station. Audrey was an artist and a dedicated member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Yvette has a brother, Robert.
Van Voorhees attended West Seattle High School. She participated in various local pageants, and became the West Seattle HiYu Queen's first princess in 1972. She joined the University of Washington and became part of the 14 member varsity yell squad, being selected from over 65 contestants in a two-day competition. [2]
Having been successful in the West Seattle HiYu pageant, Voorhees entered the Miss Washington World pageant, part of the Miss World competition. [3] Initially, she was the runner-up to Lexie Brockway who herself would go on to be runner-up in the Miss World USA competition to Marjorie Wallace. When Wallace won the Miss World crown in 1973, protocol meant that Lexie Brockway became Miss World USA and in so doing relinquished her Washington crown to Van Voorhees who therefore became Miss Washington World.
Having been a cheerleader at the University of Washington. Voorhees became a cheerleader for the Seattle SuperSonics basketball team. She then went on to try out for the newly created Sea Gals cheerleading squad for the Seattle Seahawks in 1976 and became a member of that inaugural squad of 21 women led by director Holly Lemke. Van Voorhees was the first hopeful to perform at the try outs at Mercer Island and her performance was described as "downright spectacular". [4] The Sea Gals made their first appearance during the Seahawks' first ever game against the St Louis Cardinals on September 12, 1976. [5] She later became a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Rams [6] when she was based in Los Angeles.
Having moved to Los Angeles, Van Voorhees worked as a dancer at Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Revue [6] and appeared in various television shows including Benson , It's a Living and Good Morning America . [6] She additionally featured in commercials for Pond's and Datsun and was in the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera's performance of Guys and Dolls. [6] Her most prominent role was as a featured performer in the film Xanadu, where she played one of the immortal muses, sisters to the muse played by Olivia Newton-John. Following Xanadu, Van Voorhees appeared a number of times on the Los Angeles stage such as in the musical ‘’Walls’’ at the Huntington Hartford Theater in 1983. [7] However, Van Voorhees did not remain active in the industry long-term.
Van Voorhees married Larry Chambers and resides in Seattle once more. Van Voorhees identifies as Native American. [8]
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as part of a conference realignment. The club entered the NFL as an expansion team in 1976 in the NFC. From 1977 to 2001, Seattle was assigned to the American Football Conference (AFC) West. They have played their home games at Lumen Field in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood since 2002, having previously played home games in the Kingdome (1976–1999) and Husky Stadium.
Xanadu is a 1980 American musical fantasy film written by Richard Christian Danus and Marc Reid Rubel and directed by Robert Greenwald. The film stars Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, and Gene Kelly in his final film role. It features music by Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra, Cliff Richard and the Tubes. The title is a reference to the nightclub in the film, which takes its name from Xanadu, the summer capital of Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty in China. The city appears in Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an 1816 poem quoted in the film.
Bring It On is a 2000 American teen comedy film directed by Peyton Reed and written by Jessica Bendinger. The film stars Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford and Gabrielle Union. The plot of the film centers around two high school cheerleading teams' preparation for a national competition.
West Seattle High School is a comprehensive public high school in Seattle's West Seattle neighborhood that serves grades nine through twelve as part of the Seattle Public Schools.
Julie Lynne Hayek is an American actress, model, charity worker and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1983.
Shauna Gambill is an American model and beauty queen who won Miss Teen USA 1994 and also competed in the Miss USA 1998 and Miss World 1998 pageants.
National Football League Cheerleading or simply NFL Cheerleading, is a group of professional cheerleading organizations in the United States. 24 of the 32 NFL teams include a cheerleading squad in their franchise. In 1954, the Baltimore Colts became the first NFL team to have cheerleaders. They were part of Baltimore's Marching Colts.
The Seahawks Dancers, formerly known as the Sea Gals, are the official cheerleading squad of the NFL team Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks Dancers perform a variety of dance routines during home games. Previously, a select performance team called the Sea Gals Show Group traveled to perform in parades, events overseas and at home with the USO. They also participated in events with other NFL Cheerleaders around the world.
Susan Buckner was an American actress, dancer and beauty pageant winner.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league with teams in the United States and Canada. Nearly every team, with one exception, has a squad of dancers for cheerleading that are usually involved in dancing, charity work, fundraisers, and modeling. However, the #MeToo Movement has resulted in many NBA teams replacing their all-girl dance teams with family-friendly hype teams in recent years.
Amber Leigh Lancaster is an American model, actress and interior designer. She is best known for playing Jenny Swanson on MTVs The Hard Times of RJ Berger, as well as being a model on The Price Is Right.
The Chicago Honey Bears were a cheerleading squad for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The group performed at Bears games at Soldier Field. After Super Bowl XX, the squad was disbanded, and currently, the Bears are one of the eight NFL teams that do not have cheerleaders, along with the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, New York Jets, Los Angeles Chargers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Baltimore Ravens Cheerleaders are a cheerleading and dance squad for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. Along with the Seattle Seahawks Dancers, the Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders and the Washington Commanders' Command Force, the Ravens squad is a co-ed squad, with the female cheerleaders doing various dance moves, and the males working on stunts, as in traditional cheerleading. The group was founded in 1998, and currently consists of 48 members. The squad performs at the Ravens home stadium M&T Bank Stadium. The squad's director is Tina Galdieri, who cheered at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, as well as the World League of American Football's Barcelona Dragons, and also led the University of Maryland's cheerleading squad to a national championship in 1999. The squad also has a "Lil Ravens" summer program, and unlike the other squads, boys also are permitted to join. The group makes various appearances at parties and corporate functions throughout the year. The female members of the squad also has a swimsuit calendar, with their 2012 calendar taking place in the Bahamas. The squad currently has 31 female members.
Laura Lynette Vikmanis is an American dietitian, personal trainer, and dancer who was a professional cheerleader for the Cincinnati Ben–Gals, the cheerleading squad of the Cincinnati Bengals. She was the oldest cheerleader in National Football League history, at 40 years of age when she joined in 2009. She is also a co-author of the book It's Not About the Pom-Poms.
Elyse Umemoto, is an American dance team manager and former Miss Washington in the Miss America circuit. She is known for finishing third place at Miss America 2008, and for competing on the reality competition show Survivor, following her stint as Miss Washington.
Kay Teer Crawford (1914-2001) was an American choreographer known as the "mother of drill team".
Karen Link is an NFL Cheerleader for the New England Patriots. She was born and raised in Terryville, Connecticut, and attended Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts, where she graduated with a degree in communications. Link won the title of Miss Connecticut's Outstanding Teen in 2007 and went on to compete in Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant. Her competition talent was a Spanish-influenced tap dance.
Miss World USA 1974 was the 13th edition of the Miss World USA pageant and it was held in Binghamton, New York and was won by Terry Ann Browning of Florida. She was crowned by outgoing titleholder, Lexie H. Brockway of Washington. Browning went on to represent the United States at the Miss World 1974 Pageant in London later that year. She finished as 4th Runner-Up at Miss World.
Miss World USA 1973 was the 12th edition of the Miss World USA pageant. It was held in Binghamton, New York and was won by Marjorie Wallace of Indiana. She was crowned by outgoing titleholder, Lynda Jean Córdoba Carter of Arizona. Wallace went on to represent the United States at the Miss World 1973 Pageant in London later that year, where she ended up winning Miss World. Due to protocol, the 1st runner-up, Lexie Brockway, replaced Wallace as Miss World USA after Wallace won Miss World 1973.