The Life & Legacy of Punk Rock Horror Icon Vampira
This is the tale of Vampira—the original on-screen vamp queen and the inspiration for performers, artists, punk songs, and much more.
She’s arguably the original glamor ghoul and one of the most influential goth queens of pop culture out there. Her B-horror/sci-fi movie host show took the country by storm, and after its cancellation, the show became a thing of alternative legend. Now, on Halloween, this most sacred of spooky holidays, let’s take a moment to pay tribute to the original dark queen of TV, Vampira.
“Screaming relaxes me so!”
Meet Maila Nurmi
#MailaNurmi as a “cheesecake” model on the West Coast in her pre-#Vampira days. pic.twitter.com/gBjz0jxjZ5
— Hidden Hollywood (@RetroNancyDrew) July 18, 2020
Born to parents of Finnish descent, Maila Nurmi moved to Los Angeles in 1940 to be an actress. She later moved to New York City and began working on stage for a while. She was fired by Mae West from the cast of her play Catherine Was Great. West was concerned Nurmi was taking up too much of her spotlight.
She appeared in a Broadway show called Spook Scandals, a midnight horror show that gave her a chance to practice her iconic scream. After that and a few other Broadway runs, she took modeling jobs, posing in some cheesecake magazines.
Meet Vampira
In 1953, Nurmi went to the annual Bal Caribe Masquerade dressed as a character inspired by the character who would become known as Morticia Addams. The effect was striking and caught the attention of a TV producer, who pulled strings to find out more about the beautifully macabre woman lurking around the Masquerade.
As the character developed, Nurmi’s then-husband gave her the character name Vampira.
The Vampira Show premiered on May 1st, 1954. It began with the hostess floating down a dark, cobwebbed corridor with fog clinging to the floors. Once she arrived at the camera, she would let out a bloodcurdling scream.
She would then get settled, crack a few campy jokes, and then introduce (and poke fun at) the evening’s film—sometimes a B-horror flick, but mostly D-list sci-fi features.
Naturally, Hollywood was enamored with Vampire. Her piercing scream was thinly veiled eroticism; she was funny and subversive. We live to see it.
The Legacy of Vampira
Vampira would appear on several TV shows in comedy skits, with Nurmi playing Vampira, who sometimes would then play another character. She was also the real-life model for Disney’s character Maleficent in the animated feature Sleeping Beauty.
Vampira is also known for an appearance later in her career in the movie known today as the worst film ever made. Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space is, in fact, terrible—and because of that, has become a cult classic.
Maila Nurmi: Punk Rock Icon
Thanks to her roles on television and in one very famous terrible movie, Maila Nurmi’s gothic queen has become a cult icon. You can find her spirit haunting music by punk rock bands like The Misfits and The Damned. Without Vampira, there would also be no Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
Maila dabbled in making punk music herself, collaborating with the punk band Satan’s Cheerleaders on a few songs. Nurmi’s portrayal of Vampira has forever put its stamp on punk and horror culture. And we bless her dark heart for it.
If you love Vampira, you can stream the documentary ‘Vampira & Me’ on Shout Factory TV
