The Top 5 Iconic Women in comic book culture today

Part 1


5 - Maila Nurmi  a.k.a “Vampira”

Maila Nurmi

Nurmi Came up with her Character after attended choreographer Lester Horton's annual Bal Caribe Masquerade in a costume inspired by Morticia Addams from the cartoons of Charles Addams. Her appearance with pale white skin and tight black dress caught the attention of television producer Hunt Stromberg, Jr., who wanted to hire her to host horror movies on the Los Angeles television station KABC-TV, but Stromberg had no idea how to contact her. He finally got her phone number from Rudi Gernreich, later the designer of the topless swimsuit.

 The name Vampira was the invention of Nurmi's husband, Dean Riesner.



1922 -2008

Her best known film appearance was in Ed Wood's camp classic, Plan 9 from Outer Space, as a Vampira-like zombie (filmed in 1956, but released in 1959). In 1960 she appeared in I Passed for White and Sex Kittens Go to College, followed by 1962's The Magic Sword. The classic clip from Plan 9 from Outer Space featuring Vampira walking out of the woods with her hands pointing straight out was used to start the original opening sequence of WPIX Channel 11 New York's Chiller Theatre in the 1960s.

In 1958, singer Bobby Bare recorded a song about Nurmi's character titled "Vampira."

• London Punk pioneers The Damned paid homage to Vampira with the track "Plan 9 Channel 7" on their 1979 album Machine Gun Etiquette. A video of this song was made by The Damned's record label, which featured Damned singer David Vanian's then wife Lori as Vampira.

 

• The New Jersey horror-punk group The Misfits also recorded an original song named after and based on Nurmi's character. Versions of the song date to 1979, but it was not released until 1982 on their first full-length LP Walk Among Us.

 

• The Devin Townsend Band had two songs, "Vampolka" and "Vampira", on the album Synchestra. "Vampira", the first single from the album, was made into a music video.

 

• The Greg Kihn novel Horror Show has a character called Devilla, based on Vampira.

In 2001, Nurmi opened an official website and began selling autographed memorabilia and original pieces of art on eBay. Until her death, Nurmi lived in a small North Hollywood apartment.

 

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