Early Life
Born Elizabeth Jean Peters in East Canton, Ohio, she was the daughter of Elizabeth and Gerald Peters, a laundry manager. Raised on a small farm in Canton, Peters attended East Canton High School and the University of Michigan and later Ohio State University, where she studied to become a teacher and majored in literature. While studying for a teaching degree at Ohio State, she entered the Miss Ohio State Pageant in the fall of 1945. From the twelve finalists, Peters won. Sponsored by photographer Paul Robinson of the "House of Portraits", her grand prize was a screen test with 20th Century-Fox. As her agent, Robinson accompanied her to Hollywood, and helped her secure a seven-year contract with Fox. She dropped out of college to become an actress, a decision she later regretted. In the late 1940s, she returned to college, in between filming, to obtain a diploma.
It was announced that in her first film I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947), she would ironically play an "ugly duckling", supported by "artificial freckles and hornrimmed glasses". She eventually withdrew from the film. Furthermore, she was tested in 1946 for a farm girl role in Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948), but it was eventually decided she was not suitable.
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