Maila Nurmi, 1950’s late night TV horror hostess and B-movie star, passed away in Los Angeles on Thursday, January 10th at the age of 86. According to Nurmi’s website the cause was cardiac arrest.
Nurmi was born Maila Syrjäniemi in Finland, but immigrated to the United States as a child. She was discovered by Howard Hawks. Nurmi is best known for playing Vampira, the glamorously spooky hostess of “The Vampira Show”. The character was originally created by Nurmi for a masquerade contest and was based on a character in Charles Addam’s (of Addams Family fame) New Yorker cartoons. She won the contest and caught the eye of a local television station representative, who then put her under contract for KABC-TV. As Vampira, Nurmi would introduce the schlock-horror movies run by Hollywood’s Channel 7 after hours. During segments, she would wander. With her rib-cracking slim waist dresses and highly arched eyebrows, Nurmi brought sex appeal to late night graveyard TV programming.
“The Vampira Show” was a hit, bringing Nurmi national attention and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Female Personality in 1955. Ed Wood was a fan and included Vampira in his notoriously bad film Plan Nine From Outer Space. Nurmi spoke about her experiences on the film in the 2001 documentary Shlock! The Secret History of American Movies.
Unfortunately, Nurmi never escaped the shadow of her Vampira character. Though she appeared in several more (terrible) films, her acting career was essentially over by 1960. She spent her later years selling clothes out of a boutique in Los Angeles and advocating for animal rights.
The cause of her death is listed on her website as cardiac arrest. According to Metroblogging Los Angeles, friends of the late actress are lobbying for a plot for Nurmi in Hollywood Forever Cemetery, a veritable burial ground for the Hollywood stars of old. It would be a fitting final place for the original Queen of the Damned. Funeral arrangements are still pending, but a memorial service will be held in Los Angeles all. For more details, visit Vampira’s Attic.
