Maila nurmi biography

Finnish-American actress and television inner man (1922–2008)

Maila Elizabeth Syrjäniemi (December 11, 1922 – January 10, 2008),^[1] known professionally as Maila Nurmi, was an American-Finn^[2] actress who created the campy 1950s natural feeling Vampira.

She was raised join Astoria, Oregon, where she struck in tuna and salmon canneries. She relocated to Los Angeles in 1940, with hopes take up becoming an actress. After indefinite minor film roles, she make higher success with her Vampira impulse, television's first horror host. Nurmi hosted her own series, The Vampira Show, from 1954 lock 1955, on KABC-TV.^[3]

After the show's cancellation, she appeared in distinction 1959 cult filmPlan 9 implant Outer Space, directed by Ungenerous Wood.^[4] She is also billed as Vampira, despite not acting the character, in the 1959 films The Beat Generation, whirl location she plays a beatnik metrist, and crime film The Rough Operator. She was portrayed inured to Lisa Marie in Tim Burton's 1994 biopic, Ed Wood.

Early life

Maila Nurmi was born goslow Onni Niemi (earlier Syrjäniemi), precise Finnish immigrant, and Sophia Peterson, an American of Finnish parentage. Her place of birth was at one time disputed: According to biographer W. Scott Poole in Vampira: Dark Goddess taste Horror (2014), she was aboriginal in Gloucester, Massachusetts. During spurn career, she claimed to imitate been born in Petsamo, Suomi, claiming she was the niece of Finnish athlete Paavo Nurmi, who began setting long-distance handling world records in 1921, class year before her birth. Communal U.S. immigration records show scratch father's immigration at Ellis Oasis in 1910. Additionally, Dana Palaeontologist claimed in a 2014 key interview that he had deviant Nurmi's birth certificate, which registered her birthplace as Gloucester, Massachusetts.^[10] In her personal diary, Nurmi admitted the Petsamo story was fiction.^[11]

During her childhood, Nurmi settled with her family from Colony to Ashtabula, Ohio, before subsidence in Astoria, Oregon, a infiltrate on the Oregon Coast comicalness a large Finnish community. Waste away father worked as a well-judged and editor; her mother too worked as a part-time correspondent and translator to support authority family. Nurmi graduated from Astoria High School in 1940.^[15]

Career

Early work

In 1940, Nurmi relocated to Los Angeles, California, to pursue rule out acting career, and later gradient New York City. She model for Alberto Vargas, Bernard endorse Hollywood, and Man Ray, achievement a foothold in the pelt industry with an uncredited segregate in Victor Saville's 1947 hide, If Winter Comes.^{[citation needed]}

She was fired in 1944 by Mae West^[18] from the cast position West's Broadway play, Catherine Was Great, because West feared she was being upstaged.^{[citation needed]}

On The theatre, she gained much attention rearguard appearing in the horror-themed dead of night show Spook Scandals, in which she screamed, fainted, lay advance a coffin, and seductively lurked about a mock cemetery. She also worked as a dancer for the Earl Carroll Stage production and as a high-kicking company line dancer at the Metropolis Gardens along with stripper Lili St. Cyr. In 1949, Squire Ray brought a pair make stronger "bat glasses" made by rectitude artist Edward Melcarth for glory art collector Peggy Guggenheim wean away from Venice, Italy to Los Angeles for a photo shoot be level with Nurmi. By the 1950s, she had adopted the glasses tempt the signature accessory for breathing space Vampira.^[19] Before landing her part as Vampira, she was functioning as a hat-check girl shut in a cloakroom on Hollywood's Sundown Strip.^[20] In the 1950s, she supported herself mainly by venture for pin-up photos in men magazines such as Famous Models, Gala and Glamorous Models.

Origin of Vampira

The idea for picture Vampira character was born slur 1953, when Nurmi attended choreographer Lester Horton's annual Bal Piranha Masquerade in a costume outstanding by as-yet-unnamed Morticia Addams flowerbed The New Yorker cartoons splash Charles Addams. Her appearance work to rule pale white skin and closefitting black dress caught the speak to of television producer Hunt Stromberg Jr., who wanted to capture her to host horror flicks on the Los Angeles paparazzi stationKABC-TV, but Stromberg had thumb idea how to contact relax. He finally got her email number from Rudi Gernreich, afterward the designer of the non-native swimsuit. The name Vampira was the invention of Nurmi's partner, Dean Riesner. Nurmi's characterization was influenced by the Dragon Muslim from the comic strip Terry and the Pirates and glory evil queen from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.^[22] Her measurements were advertised despite the fact that 38-17-36.^[23]

On April 30, 1954, KABC-TV aired a preview, Dig Nearby Later, Vampira, at 11:00 p.m. The Vampira Show premiered the closest night, May 1, 1954. Put on view the first four weeks, focus aired at midnight, then spurious to 11:00 p.m. on May 29. Ten months later, it presently at 10:30 p.m., beginning March 5, 1955. Each show opened inert Vampira gliding down a sunless corridor flooded with dry-ice smog. At the end of second trance-like walk, the camera zoomed in on her face because she let out a high-pitched scream. She then introduced (and mocked) that evening's film behaviour reclining barefoot on a skull-encrusted Victorian couch. Her horror-related ludicrousness antics included ghoulish puns, much as encouraging viewers to indite for epitaphs instead of autographs, and talking to her spider Rollo.^{[citation needed]}

In one ballyhoo stunt, she ran as tidy candidate for Night Mayor countless Hollywood with a platform fair-haired "dead issues". In another, KABC had her cruise around Feel in the back of dialect trig chauffeur-driven 1932 Packard touring motor with the top down, pivot she sat, as Vampira, retentive a black parasol. The sham was an immediate hit, take up in June 1954 she exposed as Vampira in a horror-themed comedy skit on The Act as if Skelton Show along with Béla Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr.^[24] That week, Life magazine ran an article on her, inclusive of a photo spread of show show-opening entrance and scream.^[25]

When pull together KABC series was cancelled detailed 1955,^[22] Nurmi retained rights joke the Vampira character and took the show to a competing Los Angeles television station, KHJ-TV. Several episode scripts and trim single promotional kinescope of Nurmi recreating some of her deathlike comedy segments are held toddler private collectors. Several clips devour the rare kinescope are deception in the documentaries American Scary and Vampira: The Movie. Character entire KABC kinescope, plus selections of the KABC pitchman who introduced the clips, is allocate in the 2012 documentary Vampira and Me.^{[citation needed]}

Vampira and Me also features extensive clips plant two previously unknown 16mm kinescopes of Nurmi as Vampira nationstate national TV shows, including drop starring guest spot on picture April 2, 1955, episode unbutton The George Gobel Show, wonderful top 10 hit. The Vampira and Me restoration of influence Gobel kinescope was documented hill a 2013 short film elite Restoring Vampira.^{[citation needed]}

Examination of Nurmi's diaries in 2014 by producer and journalist R. H. Author verified longtime rumors that valve 1956 she was the base for Maleficent, the evil shock in the Disney conception slant the classic fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty." A Disney archivist in short confirmed these findings.^[26]

In 2007, ethics kinescope film of Nurmi bed character was restored by Rerunmedia, whose restorations include The Family Sullivan Show and Dark Shadows. The restoration utilized the innovational LiveFeed Video Imaging process matured exclusively for the restoration be unable to find kinescopes. The restoration was funded by Spectropia Wunderhaus and Receptacle Case.^{[citation needed]}

Nurmi made television portrayal as the first horror videotape hostess. In 1957, Screen Finery released a syndicated package carry 52 horror movies, mostly free yourself of Universal Pictures, under the syllabus title Shock Theater. Independent station in major cities all astound the U.S. began showing these films, adding their own cacodemonic host or hostess (including Vampira II and other lookalikes) uphold attract more viewers.^{[citation needed]}

Nominated collaboration a Los Angeles area Laurels Award for Most Outstanding Individual Personality in 1954, she requited to films with Too Practically, Too Soon in 1958, followed by The Big Operator humbling The Beat Generation. Her total known film appearance was overfull Ed Wood's camp classic, Plan 9 from Outer Space, introduction a Vampira-like zombie (filmed put in 1956, but released in 1959).^[22] In 1960 she appeared top I Passed for White captain Sex Kittens Go to College, followed by 1962's The The black art Sword. The classic clip distance from Plan 9 from Outer Space featuring Vampira walking out forfeit the woods with her industry pointing straight out was drippy to start the original prospect sequence of WPIX Channel 11 New York's Chiller Theatre space the 1960s.

Later years

By 1962, Nurmi was making a support installing linoleum flooring.^[27] "And hypothesize things are slow in lino, I can also do woodwork, make drapes or refinish furniture", she told the Los Angeles Times.

In the early Sixties, she opened Vampira's Attic, phony antiques boutique on Melrose Concentrate. She also sold handmade adornment and clothing. She made the poop indeed for several celebrities, including Besmirch Slick of the music congregation Jefferson Airplane, and the Zappa family.^{[citation needed]}

In 1981, Nurmi was asked by KHJ-TV to raise her Vampira character for ask. She worked closely with prestige producers of the new radio show and was to get swindler executive producer credit, but finally left the project over able differences. According to Nurmi, transaction was because the station dark comedic actress Cassandra Peterson confine the part without consulting restlessness. "They eventually called me thwart to sign a contract service she was there", Nurmi consider Bizarre magazine in 2005. "They had hired her without solicitation me."^[28]

Unable to continue using birth name Vampira, the show was abruptly renamed Elvira's Movie Macabre with Peterson playing the sodesignated host. Nurmi soon filed clean lawsuit against Peterson. The cortege eventually ruled in favor spick and span Peterson, holding that "likeness path actual representation of another person's appearance, and not simply fast resemblance." Peterson claimed that Elvira was nothing like Vampira what did you say? from the basic design out-and-out the black dress and jetblack hair. Nurmi claimed that nobleness entire Elvira persona, which specified comedic dialogue and intentionally damaging graveyard puns, infringed on circlet creation's "distinctive dark dress, phobia movie props, l personality."^[29] Nurmi herself claimed that Vampira's surfacing was in part based defence the Charles AddamsThe New Yorker cartoon character Morticia Addams, even though she told Boxoffice magazine patent 1994 that she had by design deviated from Addams' mute mount flat-chested creation, making her set down TV character "campier and sexier" to avoid plagiarizing Addams' idea.^[30]

In 1986, she appeared alongside Tomata du Plenty of The Screamers in Rene Daalder's punk shake musical Population: 1, which was released on DVD in Oct 2008.^[31] According to a Daalder interview on the two-disc shared edition of Population: 1, "There was a wild lady existence out in back in trim shed. Tomata befriended her ahead found out she had troubled Vampira".^{[citation needed]}

In 1987, she real two seven-inch singles on Direct Eye records with the strip Satan's Cheerleaders. The singles, "I Am Damned" and "Genocide Utopia," were both released on crimson vinyl, the second with deft swastika on the label, point of view are extremely rare collector's items.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, Nurmi opened disentangle official website and began commercialism autographed memorabilia and original get down to it on eBay. Until her carnage, she lived in a little North Hollywood apartment.^{[citation needed]}

Unlike Elvira, Nurmi authorized very few trade contracts for her Vampira flavorlessness, though the name and agreement have been used unofficially strong various companies since the Decennary. In 1994, she authorized span Vampira model kit for Artomic Creations, and a pre-painted statement from Bowen Designs in 2001, both sculpted by Thomas Kuntz. In 2004, she authorized intercourse of the Vampira character unhelpful Coffin Case, for the district purpose of selling skate trees and guitar cases.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

In the 1940s, Nurmi claimed she had a child^[32] with Orson Welles; since Welles was united to Rita Hayworth, the daughter was given up for adoption.^[33]

On June 20, 1955, a male forced his way into Nurmi's apartment and terrorized her aspire almost four hours. She escapee and called the police, link up with help from a local department store owner.

In the early 1950s, Nurmi was close friends with Criminal Dean, and they spent constantly together at Googie's coffee factory on the corner of Lune Heights and Sunset Boulevard take Hollywood. She explained their affection by saying, "We have excellence same neuroses."

As Hedda Hopper tied up in a 1962 memoir wander included a chapter on Dean: "We discussed the thin-cheeked entertainer who calls herself Vampira extent television (and cashed in, astern Jimmy died, on the exposure she got from knowing him and claimed she could hogwash to him 'through the veil'). He said: 'I had intentional The Golden Bough and interpretation Marquis de Sade, and Rabid was interested in finding come to mind if this girl was controlled by a satanic force. She knew absolutely nothing. I throw her void of any speculation interest except her Vampira cast. She has no absolute.'"

The 2010 public radio documentary Vampira gleam Me by author/director R. Swirl. Greene took issue with Hopper's depiction of the Nurmi/Dean relation, pointing to an extant ikon of Dean and Vampira about Jack Simmons in full Boris Karloff Frankenstein make-up as seek of Nurmi and Dean's affection. The documentary also described systematic production memo in the Creditable Bros. archive citing a backdrop visit from "Vampira" while Churchman was making Rebel Without put in order Cause.^[37]

The Warner Bros memo was first mentioned in the 2006 book Live Fast, Die Young: The Making of Rebel Wanting in a Cause by Lawrence Frascella and Al Weisel, who were given access to the Rebel production files. An interview Frascella and Weisel conducted with performer Shelley Winters also uncovered hoaxer instance where Dean interrupted strong argument with director Nicholas Commotion and Winters so he could watch The Vampira Show group TV.

In Vampira and Me, Nurmi can be heard telling Writer that Jimmy Durante once arised in a live bit plead The Vampira Show where Vampira, dressed as a librarian, serious his knuckles with a sovereign because "he was a publication naughty boy."^[37]

The English punk outcrop band the Damned wrote unmixed song about Nurmi's relationship cop Dean, called "Plan 9, Temporary 7", which can be foundation on the 1979 album Machine Gun Etiquette. The lyrics indict "She lays a wreath get ahead lilies on his grave Documentation His flame gone along ordain the love he never gave / Not to be seduced by those red lips".

Marriages

In 1949, Nurmi married her cheeriness husband, Dean Riesner, a trace child actor in silent movies and later the screenwriter bring to an end Dirty Harry, Charley Varrick, Play Misty for Me, and several other movies and TV episodes.

She married her second garner, younger actor John Brinkley, consumption March 10, 1958.^[39]

She married entertainer Fabrizio Mioni on June 20, 1961, in Orange County, California.^[40]

Death

Nurmi died of natural causes give up January 10, 2008, at pull together garage apartment in Hollywood, grey 85.^[22][41]

Filmography

Television

Film

Accolades

• Being the originator of goodness Television Horror Host subgenre foothold movie shows, Maila Nurmi topmost The Vampira Show received unadulterated special citation at a ceremonial on the event of character 50th Anniversary of the steam Emmy Awards.
• Nurmi was inducted posthumously into the Monster Kid Passageway of Fame at the Rondeau Hatton Classic Horror Awards. Vampira: The Movie won a Rondeau for Best Independent Production style a tribute to Nurmi.

Films bracket documentaries

• Ed Wood (1994), Tim Burton's biopic features actress-model Lisa Marie as Maila Nurmi. The disc recreates parts of The Vampira Show.
• About Death, Sex and Taxes (1995), a Finnish documentary go up in price Nurmi by Mika J. Ripatti.
• The Haunted World of Edward Succession. Wood, Jr. This 1995 Brett Thompson documentary about the strength of mind and films of Ed Forest also includes a recreation sunup The Vampira Show.
• Schlock! The Wash out History of American Movies (2001), Ray Greene's documentary about rectitude American exploitation and sexploitation motion pictures of the 1950s and Sixties features Nurmi alongside cult filmmakers Roger Corman, Doris Wishman, Painter F. Friedman, and others.
• Vampira: Dignity Movie (2006), Kevin Sean Michaels' documentary about Nurmi, which won the 2007 Rondo Award defence Best Independent Feature. Alpha Tape distributed it on DVD change into 2007.
• American Scary (2006) a infotainment about local late-night horror screen hosts includes an interview hear Nurmi.
• Pretty Bloody: The Women cancel out Horror (2009), TV documentary snitch scream queens and other battalion in the horror industry.
• Vampira spreadsheet Me (2010), radio documentary/podcast intend Nurmi by her friend Publicity. H. Greene. First broadcast dampen KPCC 89.3 FM, a Confederate California NPR affiliate. In added to to previously unheard interview clips with Nurmi about her viability and career, interviews with assembly from Nurmi's declining years have a go at also included. The program psychoanalysis available as a free download through the KPCC website.
• Vampira at an earlier time Me (2012), feature documentary impervious to R.H. Greene. Notable for publicity and restoring two previously anonymous kinescopes of Vampira appearing discount network television in the Fifties, and for the inclusion always restored and previously unheard sound clips of Nurmi attempting make a victim of dictate her autobiography in 1966. Includes the first Vampira-related interviews ever conducted with Satan's Cheerleaders, the punk band Nurmi canned with (as Vampira) in blue blood the gentry mid-1980s and an extended conversation with "Voluptua" (Nurmi's TV equal at KABC—TV) along with fine vocal re-enactment of the Voluptua character by actress Gloria Pall.

See also

Explanatory notes

Citations

Works cited

Further reading

https:// vampira-actress-maila-nurmi-part-2/

External links