Greetings,
my
friends!
Can
your
heart
stand
the
true
story
of
Maila
Nurmi?
The
first
ever
TV
horror
hostess
crossed
over
peacefully
in
her
sleep
on
10
January
2008,
to
join
the
world
of
shadows.
She
was
86.
"Vampira"
had
a
tremendous
impact
on
popular
culture
even
though
"The
Vampira
Show"
was
local
to
LA,
aired
54
years
ago,
shot
live,
and
no
complete
shows
exist
outside
of
a
few
kinescope
clips.
It's
fitting
somehow
that
she
is
immortalized
in
my
favorite
film,
and
the
favorite
film
of
most
other
horror
hosts
I
know,
including
Elvira.
I
hosted
"Plan
Nine
From
Outer
Space"
on
my
most
recent
episode
of
my
syndicated
movie
program
"Cinema
Insomnia"
(free
to
watch
on
BitTorrent.com),
Vampira
was
one
of
my
heroes,
and
this
is
why
I've
been
asked
to
say
a
few
words
about
the
lovely
and
mysterious
Vampira.
I
had
seen
her
influences
and
imitations
first,
the
"TV
version"
of
Morticia
Addams
as
a
kid
and
Elvira
as
a
teen.
I'd
seen
cartoons
in
Playboy
and
Mad
that
were
parodies
of
her.
Sacramento
horror
host
Bob
Wilkins
was
the
reason
I
wanted
to
be
a
horror
host
and
HE
gave
me
my
taste
for
movies
of
the
"so
bad
they're
good"
category
-
BUT
when
I
saw
Vampira
in
"Plan
9
from
Outer
Space",
my
brain
went
-
Aha!
This
is
the
character
that
everyone
is
referencing!
I
wanted
to
have
an
iconic
impact
like
that.
Her
work
as
a
re-animated
corpse
in
the
film
is
like
that
of
a
silent
film
star...using
her
eyes,
fingers
and
posture
to
tell
the
story.
When
I
got
my
chance
to
work
in
TV
I
heard
"The
Vampira
Show"
story
from
anyone
from
LA
who
was
old
enough
to
remember
her.
She
would
start
the
show
in
a
candle
lit
abyss.
She
emerged
from
the
smoke
and
fog,
walked
right
up
to
the
camera
and
let
out
a
horrified
scream!
She
then
lay
back
on
a
Victorian
lounge
decorated
with
skulls
and
talked
in
a
slow
seductive
voice.
Every
man
who
watched
was
under
her
spell
from
beginning
to
end.
They
were
watching
for
her,
NOT
the
movies...
She
was
very
feisty
and
outspoken
when
she
was
interviewed
by
the
makers
of
the
horror
host
documentary
"American
Scary"(2006),
a
film
that
I
was
a
researcher
for
and
appeared
in
as
Mr.
Lobo.
She
was
quick
to
say
who
she
liked
and
didn't
like
in
the
business.
She
was
also
very
frank
on
how
she
used
sex
as
her
weapon,
stating
the
long
fingers
and
cigarette
holder
were
consciously
used
as
"phallic
symbols".
I'm
sure
she
was
as
feisty
back
in
her
day.
Before
she
was
The
Mother
of
All
Horror
Hosts,
Finnish
immigrant,
Maila
Nurmi
started
as
a
Hollywood
pin-up
model.
She
posed
for
Vargas,
was
plastered
all
over
dozens
of
men's
mags
and
was
even
a
showgirl
for
Mae
West
until
she
was
fired
for
upstaging
her.
She
did
bit
parts
in
films
and
one
night
at
a
high
profile
Hollywood
costume
party,
dressed
as
Morticia
from
the
"The
Addams
Family"
cartoons
in
the
New
Yorker,
she
caught
the
eye
of
a
producer
at
KABC-TV.
The
station
bought
a
package
of
old
horror
movies
and
hired
Maila
on
the
spot
to
host
the
films
live
and
in
costume,
hoping
to
lure
viewers
to
the
new
concept
of
"late
night"
TV.
There
were,
of
course,
concerns
about
copying
the
"Morticia"
character
too
closely.
Maila's
husband,
Dean
Riesner,
a
screenwriter
(Rawhide)
came
up
the
name
"Vampira."
Maila
added
other
cultural
influences
to
her
character:
Hairstyle
and
cigarette
holder
of
"The
Dragon
Lady"
from
the
comic
"Terry
and
the
Pirates",
make
up
and
eyebrows
of
"Wicked
Queen"
from
"Snow
White",
the
voice
of
Gloria
Swanson's
as
"Norma
Desmond"
from
the
film
"Sunset
Blvd",
and
the
cinched
waist,
cleavage
and
inhumanly
long
fingernails
of
the
dominatrix
types
in
fetish
and
pin-up
magazines.
Maila's
in
the
Guinness
Book
Of
World
Records
for
her
17
inch
waist!
Ironically,
10
years
later,
the
more
popularized
version
of
the
character
Morticia
from
the
Addams
Family
in
the
TV
series
was
based
more
on
Maila
Nurmi's
Vampira
than
Charles
Addams'
Morticia.
She
became
an
immediate
national
icon
and
exploded
like
an
A-Bomb
in
the
"bland
is
beautiful"
decade
of
the
50's,
even
though
"The
Vampira
Show"
was
only
on
local
in
LA.
She
tapped
into
the
"sense
of
wonder"
that
is
especially
strong
when
we
are
coming
of
age
and
had
a
rabid
fan
base.
Within
weeks
she
graced
the
pages
of
popular
national
magazines
like
LIFE
and
was
voted
by
the
NATAS
as
the
Most
Outstanding
Female
Personality
of
1954.
The
TV
men
saw
all
the
Hoopla
and
got
greedy.
When
Maila
refused
to
sign
the
rights
to
the
character's
name
and
likeness
over
to
the
TV
Station,
she
was
fired
and
possibly
blacklisted.
Ed
Wood,
infamous
director
of
"Plan
9
From
Outer
Space"
(and
the
subject
of
Tim
Burton’s
1994
Bio-pic)
decided
to
hire
her
after
reading
in
the
paper
that
Channel
7
has
fired
her
for
"suspected
communist
leanings".
25
years
later
Cassandra
Petersen
became
"Elvira:
Mistress
Of
The
Dark"
a
horror
host
extremely
influenced
by
"The
Vampira
Show".
Cassandra
retained
the
rights
to
"Elvira",
was
able
to
go
national,
get
spooky
rich,
and
become
synonymous
with
Halloween.
Maila
claimed
there
were
150
similarities
and
unsuccessfully
sued
Cassandra
for
stealing
her
act.
I
don't
think
Elvira's
success
somehow
betrays
Vampira.
It
just
proves
how
strong
Vampira's
influence
was,
is,
and
will
always
be
on
generations
after
generations
of
horror
hosts
and
horror
fans.
Unpleasant
dreams,
Darlings!
-
Mr.
Lobo
(reprinted
with
permission)
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