Maila Nurmi
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- "Vampira" redirects here. For other uses, see Vampira (disambiguation)
Maila Nurmi (born Maila Syrjäniemi, December 21, 1921 in Petsamo, Finland — now Pechenga, Russia) created the well-remembered 1950s character of Vampira. Her portrayal of this character as a television horror host and in films was influential over decades that followed.
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[edit] Early life
Born Maila Syrjäniemi, she is the niece of famed Finnish athlete Paavo Nurmi who began setting long-distance running world records in 1921, the year of her birth. She moved to the United States with her family when she was two years old and grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio, the largest Finnish-American community in Ohio. Arriving in Los Angeles at age 17, she modeled for Alberto Vargas, Bernard of Hollywood and Man Ray, gaining a foothold in the film industry with an uncredited role in Victor Saville's If Winter Comes (1947).
[edit] Origin of Vampira
The idea for the Vampira character was born in 1953 when Nurmi attended choreographer Lester Horton's annual Bal Caribe Masquerade in a costume inspired by a character in The New Yorker cartoons of Charles Addams. Her appearance with pale white skin and tight black dress caught the attention of television producer Hunt Stromberg, Jr., who wanted to hire her to host horror movies on the Los Angeles television station KABC-TV, but Stromberg had no idea how to contact her. He finally got her phone number from Rudi Gernreich, later famed as the designer of the topless swimsuit. The name Vampira was the invention of Nurmi's husband, Dean Riesner (1918-2002), screenwriter of Dirty Harry, Charley Varrick, Play Misty For Me and numerous other movies and TV episodes.
On Friday night, April 30, 1954, KABC-TV aired a preview, Dig Me Later, Vampira, at 11:00 p.m. The Vampira Show premiered on the following night, May 1, 1954. For the first four weeks, the show aired at midnight, and it moved to 11:00 p.m. on May 29. Ten months later, the series aired at 10:30pm, beginning March 5, 1955. As Vampira, Nurmi introduced films while wandering through a hallway of mist and cobwebs. Her horror-related comedy antics included talking to her pet spider Rollo and encouraging viewers to write for epitaphs instead of autographs. When the series was cancelled in 1955, she retained rights to the character of Vampira.
She was acquainted with Marilyn Monroe when she was still called Norma Jean, and she comforted Elvis Presley after he was booed during his performance at the Las Vegas Frontier Hotel in 1956. During the early 1950s, she was close friends with James Dean, and they hung out together at Schwab's coffee shop on the corner of Crescent Heights and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Vampira's explanation for their friendship: "We have the same neuroses." Dean commented, "I have a fairly adequate knowledge of satanic forces, and I was interested to find out if this girl was obsessed with such a force."
Nominated for an Emmy Award as "Most Outstanding Female Personality" in 1954, she returned to films with Too Much, Too Soon (1958), The Big Operator (1959), The Beat Generation (1959) and Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959). In the following decade, she appeared in I Passed for White (1960), Sex Kittens Go to College (1960) and The Magic Sword (1962).
[edit] Later life
In the 1980s, when horror hostess Elvira became popular, Nurmi attempted to sue Elvira's producer/manager, Mark Pierson. In 1994, Maila Nurmi was portrayed by actress-model Lisa Marie in Tim Burton's Ed Wood, and she was the subject of a Finnish documentary, About Death, Sex and Taxes (1995) by Mika J. Ripatti. Her last film role was in I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998). Today, Nurmi lives with her pets in a small North Hollywood apartment. In recent years she was the inspiration for the song "Vampira" by the horror punk rockers The Misfits.
Kevin Sean Michaels' documentary Vampira: The Movie (2007) includes interviews with Maila Nurmi, Forrest J. Ackerman, Sid Haig, Cassandra Peterson, Julie Strain, Kevin Eastman, Debbie Rochon, Zacherley, Lloyd Kaufman of Troma, Bill Moseley, Count Smokula and horror historian David J. Skal.
[edit] Awards
She was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall Of Fame at The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.
[edit] References in popular culture
London Punk pioneers, The Damned paid homage to Vampira on the track "Plan 9 Channel 7" on their 1979 album "Machine Gun etiquette."
New Jersey horror-punk legends The Misfits included the song "Vampira" on their 1982 album "Walk Among Us" which was a tribute to Vampira
The Devin Townsend Band had two songs, "Vampolka" and "Vampira", on the album "Synchestra". "Vampira" was the first single off the album, and made into a music video.
