- Born
- Died
- Birth nameMaila Elizabeth Syrjaniemi
- Height5′ 6½″ (1.69 m)
- 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 Gloucester, Massachusetts (not Finland as she often claimed). Her uncle was the multiple Olympic medal runner Paavo Nurmi.
It was director Howard Hawks, of all people, who discovered Maila while she was performing in Mike 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 (1957), 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.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- SpousesFabrizio Mioni(June 20, 1961 - ?) (divorced)John Brinkley(March 10, 1958 - ?) (divorced)Dean Riesner(1949 - 1955) (divorced)
- ParentsOnni NiemiSophia Peterson
- Slim-waisted black dress
- Raven-colored mane
- Sparkling blue eyes
- Voluptuous assets
- Seductive deep voice
- Once sued Cassandra Peterson, claiming that her "Elvira" persona was modeled after what she created as Vampira.
- Is believed to be the first television "horror host".
- As a cast member, she attended the original premiere of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957). 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.
- Was involved with Orson Welles and claimed he was the only man she ever traveled to other cities to be with.
- During the making of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957), 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.
- [on Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)] At the time I thought it was horrible. I knew immediately I'd be committing professional suicide, but I thought, "What choice do I have?". Somehow, I seemed to be dead already.
- [on Edward D. Wood Jr.] I just thought he was a low-born idiot. With no talent at all. Just a brazen, foolish idiot... You know, I thought he was just a goon. Ah, I wasn't looking squarely; I just cast a glance, and just dismissed him with a thought. Kind of snobbish and foolish of me. But then over the years as I've mellowed and grown a little more sensible, and I began to look at this man after, after the fact. And I thought, "Incredible what he managed to achieve!". Without any help! And the obstacles that he managed to overcome! Somehow, it's miraculous. It's more than just persistence. Yes, he had a lot of persistence - that's for sure. But he also had a gilded karma that this was all intended to be.
- Angelina Jolie would be a good Vampira.
- [on Cassandra Peterson, aka "Elvira", who she claimed stole her "Vampira" character] I'm just waiting for her plastic surgery to backfire - for her bosoms to poison her.
- [on how Vampira Returns (1956) came about] I decided I wanted to become an evangelist and had to sponsor myself. How could I do it? Well, television was just warping people's minds - and they paid big. I thought I'd satirize soap operas, take improbable people and make them do all these bourgeois things. Since Charles Addams had already done it in comic form, I wanted it to bring it to television.
- Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) - $200
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