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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.