Post by Kaz ~:~ on Dec 10, 2016 12:39:49 GMT -6
Maila Nurmi (Vampira) Biography
Date of Birth 11 December 1922, Petsamo, Finland
Date of Death 10 January 2008, Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth Name Maila Elizabeth Syrjaniemi
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Bio:
The original glamour ghoul herself, "Vampira", of late night 1950s television, was actually born Maila Syrjäniemi (later changed to the easier surname Nurmi) on December 11, 1922 in Petsamo, Finland. Her uncle was the multiple Olympic medal runner Paavo Nurmi. Maila arrived in the United States with her family as a baby and lived a rather nomadic existence at first as her father was a writer who lectured on temperance.
It was director Howard Hawks, of all people, who discovered Maila while she was performing in Michael Todd's Grand Guignol midnight show "Spook Scandals". Hawks escorted the lovely blonde beauty to Hollywood with the hopes of grooming her into the next Lauren Bacall. Cast in the film version of the Russian novel "Dreadful Hollow", the project was put on hold so many times that Maila walked out of her contract in frustration. She became a cheesecake model and an Earl Carroll dancer for several years in his revues, sharing a chorus line at one time with future burlesque stripper Lili St. Cyr.
Married at the time to child actor-turned-screenwriter Dean Riesner, she came up with the idea of "Vampira" at a masquerade contest where she based her costume on Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons. Heavily painted up with long fingernails, a mane of raven-colored hair, and slim-waisted black attire, the Morticia gimmick won the best costume award that night... and more. She caught the attention of local television and was placed under contract to Channel 7 in Hollywood to see if she could encourage late night viewers to stay up and watch its regular programming of cheapjack horror schlock. The macabre madam was a genuine hit (for one season, at least, in 1954-55), adding a sexy nuance and silly double entendres to her campy horror set.
She earned an Emmy Award nomination in 1954 for "Most Outstanding Female Personality". Fan clubs sprouted up all over the world. She appeared in "Life", "TV Guide" and "Newsweek" magazine articles, and could be seen around and about town and in Las Vegas judging contests and making variety special appearances. Songs were written about the "Queen of Horror". She even appeared with arms outstretched and ghoulishly attired in the worst cinematic failure of all time, Edward D. Wood Jr.'s Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), as Bela Lugosi's zombie-like mate, for which she is infamously associated. Lugosi actually was a huge fan of hers and had always wanted to work with her. Wood shot some footage of her years later as a tribute to Lugosi (he died in 1956 during filming) and added it before the film's release.
By the late 1950s, Maila's extended "15 minutes" of fame was over. With her career at stake (pun intended), she stretched things out with haphazard appearances in abysmal movies [The Beat Generation (1959); Sex Kittens Go to College (1960)] before closing the lid permanently on "Vampira". In later years, Maila divorced her writer/husband and became passionately involved in animal protection rights. A painter on the sly, she created some "Vampira" portraits that became a collector's item. Living very modestly in Southern California, she appeared in a small gag cameo in the film I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998). Malia Nurmi died at age 85 of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2008.
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Spouses
Fabrizio Mioni (20 June 1961 - ?) (divorced)
John Brinkley (10 March 1958 - ?) (divorced)
Dean Riesner (1949 - 1955) (divorced)
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Trade Mark
Slim-waisted black dress
Raven-colored mane
Sparkling blue eyes
Voluptuous assets
Seductive deep voice
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Once sued Cassandra Peterson, claiming that her "Elvira" persona was modeled after what she created as Vampira.
Niece of Paavo Nurmi, legendary long-distance runner known as "The Flying Finn".
Was fired by Mae West from the cast of West's 1944 Broadway play "Catherine Was Great", because West feared that she was being upstaged.
Once worked with famous stripper Lili St. Cyr.
Is believed to be the first television "horror host".
In 1958, singer Bobby Bare recorded a rock 'n' roll song about her entitled "Vampira".
In 1982, the horror punk band The Misfits recorded a song about her entitled "Vampira".
Was close friends with Hollywood artist and movie extra, Kenneth Kendall.
Was involved with Orson Welles and claimed he was the only man she ever traveled to other cities to be with.
Posthumously inducted into the Horror Host Hall of Fame in 2011, as her character Vampira.
Following her death, she was interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
As a cast member, she attended the original premiere of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959). She did not get a chance to actually sit down and see the film. She claimed that she did not actually see the entire film until 1980.
During the making of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), she would put on her Vampira makeup and costume at home and then take a bus to the Quality Studios soundstage where her scenes were filmed.
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Films / TV
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2000 No Way In (Short)
Woman at Bar (as Vampira)
1998 I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
Woman in Hotel Lobby
1996 Dry (Short)
Vanha nainen (as Vampira)
1995 Horror Kung-Fu Theatre (TV Series)
- Honorary Cast Members of HKFT (1995) ... Vampira
1986 Population: 1
Mother (uncredited)
1962 The Magic Sword
The Hag / Sorceress
1960 Sex Kittens Go to College
Etta Toodie (as Vampira)
1960 I Passed for White
Girl Poet (uncredited)
1959 The Big Operator
Gina (as Vampira)
1959 Plan 9 from Outer Space
Vampire Girl (as Vampira)
1959 The Beat Generation
The Poetess (as Vampira)
1958 Too Much, Too Soon
Minor Role (uncredited)
1957 Playhouse 90 (TV Series)
- The Jet-Propelled Couch (1957) ... Vampira (as Vampira)
1956 Vampira Returns (TV Series)
1954 The Vampira Show (TV Series)
- Dangerous Intruder (1954) ... Vampira (as Vampira)
- Rogue's Tavern (1954) ... Vampira (as Vampira)
- Fear (1954) ... Vampira (as Vampira)
- The Man with Two Lives (1954) ... Vampira (as Vampira)
- Strange Mr. Gregory (1954) ... Vampira (as Vampira)
1954 The Red Skelton Hour (TV Series)
- Dial 'B' for Brush (1954) ... Vampira (as Vampira)
1952 My Hero (TV Series)
- Lady Mortician (1952) ... Letitia (as Vampira)
1948 Romance on the High Seas
Ship Passenger (uncredited)
1947 If Winter Comes
Guest (uncredited)