Morganna kisses act goodbye

Morganna kisses act goodbye

Former 'Bandit' enjoys the good life in retirement

Tuesday, July 10, 2001

By DAN RALEY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

"Morganna the Kissing Bandit," an Ohio woman who spent more than two decades running onto big-league fields and kissing unsuspecting ballplayers, including George Brett during the 1979 All-Star Game in the Kingdome, is retired and turning down all interview requests these days.

That doesn't mean she has gone completely underground.

After reading a P-I profile of herself on Friday, Morganna Roberts Cottrell left a message at the newspaper the next day, offering a few insights to her current existence.

She still keeps strange hours -- the call came in at 4 a.m., Seattle time.

She identified herself by saying, "This is Morganna, formerly the Kissing Bandit, which is sort of like being formerly known as Prince."

After mentioning that the P-I story made her sound more interesting than she really is, Morganna explained her reluctance to deal with reporters these days.

Earlier, she had turned down interview requests from Sports Illustrated and Playboy.

"I'm going to tell you something that I'm not telling anybody else, because nobody has heard from me since Dec. 12, 1999," she said.

"I just got sick of talking about myself and always being the center of attention. I loved it for the period of time I did it, don't get me wrong.

"But I just decided to quit being the Kissing Bandit on January 1st of the year 2000. I didn't pick up any new contracts that would take me past Dec. 12.

"For anybody who called and wanted me just for the weekend or whatever, I had to say, 'Sorry, Morganna has left the building.'"

Doubling as an exotic dancer when she wasn't being an outlandish baseball fan, Morganna offered no regrets over her kissing exploits, which took her to nearly every big-league ballpark, including the Kingdome a second time in 1986.

"I had a great time," she said. "All the fans were wonderful. All the players were wonderful. The road was wonderful. But I had just had enough."

Now 47, she lives with her husband, Bill Cottrell, and three dogs in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio.

She has a big house, complete with a creek and running trail.

"I'm living my dream life," she said.

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