Vampira - Articles - Zimbio

R.I.P.: Vampira

Sun, 14 Jan 2008 03:01:00 GMT

posted by cfarnham
Hollywood has lost another legend. Maila Nurmi, who created the character, Vampira, passed away in her sleep at the age of 86.
more HERE and HERE
IMDB HERE

The Vampira I knew.

Thu, 25 Jan 2008 04:10:54 GMT

posted by WILLIAM-DAKOTA
I knew Maila for many years when I lived in Hollywood. During the fifties, she had been associated with James Dean. Her and Jack Simmons used to go to a night time restaurant called Googies. It was at Laurel Canyon and Sunset next to the famous Schwab's drugstore. Jimmy used to stop by for coffee. Jack Simmon's would later become Jimmy's roommate. Maila was married at this particular time and was appearing on TV as Vampira. After Jimmy died, she was interviewed by numerous magazines, and was mentioned as Jimmy's girlfriend. Not true, but it got her publciity that followed her through until her recent death.

I saw her on a re-run of the Hugh Hefner's Halloween party show. In a segment, she was interviewed. Suddenly she let out a shrill scream. It surprised me and cracked me up. I never knew she had it in her.

She was destitute for the latter part of her life. She would occasionally be signing at autograph parties at the Holiday Inn in North Hollywood. Eventually, she made enough money to have a variety of photos developed to sell.

She loved animals. She had cats and pigeons and birds and whatever she was able to get hold of. I don't know where she got the money to feed all of them. At one time she worked on Heliotrope at a restaurant, cleaning up after hours and she lived next door, in what looked like a converted garage.

I brought her to my apartment a few times and we watched movies. I also took her to a James Dean's fan's home to meet Barry Blakeley and his girl friend Beryl. Barry phoned to tell me she had passed away. I lost my mother around the same time. She too, was 86 years old.

There was a Dean convention, called DeanCon in North Hollywood. I took her there as well as a James Dean look-alike. Maila answered a lot of questions regarding her association with Jimmy. She enjoyed herself, having a lot of attention. Other than the Ed Wood's film, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, I don't believe she appeared in any other film. But, her role as Vampira, brought her many fans, who still remembered her, probably moreso, as Jimmy Dean's friend, than her role. Of course anyone who has read James Dean's biographies are aware of Vampira.

She was still star struck and would often mention some actor or actress she had run into. John Savage was one of her favorites. She was hard to keep up with because she couldn't afford a telephone. I know she had a website someone started for her. I believe it was called Vampira's Attic. Someone named Tomata Du Plenty, I believe, started it. He died at a young age. He had been a close friend and drove her to the autograph parties. She was fun and very friendly with me. I wrote an article on her for my newspaper, the Hollywood Star. As I age, most of the celebrities I knew from films, are passing away. Life can be so sad.

How Vampire Made a Recipe for Success

Mon, 6 May 2008 07:15:05 GMT

posted by TonyPapajohn

Here's one of my favorite examples of blending resources for success.

Unless you are a certain age and lived in Los Angeles in the 1950's or saw Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood,” you never heard of Vampira.

She was the voluptuous television late-night horror hostess who achieved cult immortality for her role in “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” arguably the worst movie ever made and still remembered.

TV Producers told Maila Nurmi, a stunning Finnish model and actress, to base her character on Charles Addams’ gothic matron later known as “Morticia.”

Nurmi wanted Vampira to be unique.

She actually devised a formula for her character.

She combined elements of:

Theda Bara.
Morticia.
Norma Desmond.
Tallulah Bankhead.
Marilyn Monroe.
Katherine Hepburn.
Bettie Davis.
Billie Burk.

Marlene Dietrich.

And she added her own idea of what a goulish pin-up would be like.

From this mix, Vampira emerged.

Nurmi used each element as an inspirational resource. What did it a matter than none her resources ever hosted a late-night horror movie?

Here's what this flight of imagination tells us.

If you lack some useful characteristic, find it somewhere and adapt it to your:

Personality.
Business.

Find a model or models with the qualities you admire and make your own formula.

What happens when you combine the:

Courage from one source?
Bearing of another?
Character of someone else?
Drive of yet another?
Coolness under pressure from yet another?

And suppose you blend this with your own distinctive personality?

What emerges is a newly-empowered and successful you ready to make money.

Here's what's really happening.

Each figure serves to draw out and strengthen your own:

Courage.
Bearing.
Character.
Drive.
Coolness under pressure.

Each figure is like a desk top icon. Click on it and you access the quality within yourself that he or she represents.

Trust your mind and it will turn this blend into money.

Welcome to our blog about Vampira

Wed, 12 Apr 2007 09:49:38 GMT

posted by The_Zimbio_Team
This is our group blog, which is unique because any Zimbio member can post an entry to it. Some members blog about recent news and trends related to the portal topic, others recount relevant personal stories. You can also comment on and rate existing blog entries, to voice your opinion and to help the community identify which members and entries on the portal are must-reads. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this portal? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your own blog entry!

Vampira Goes to the Big Sleep

Sun, 21 Jan 2008 21:25:00 GMT

posted by ReganLee
The actress that was "Vampira" has passed on. Read more on Adam Gorightly's Untamed Dimensions.