Maila Nurmi | TV's 'Vampira,' 85
Maila Nurmi, 85, whose "Vampira" TV persona pioneered the spooky-yet-sexy Goth aesthetic, died Jan. 10 at her Hollywood home.
Ms. Nurmi created her Vampira character - reminiscent of Charles Addams' spooky New Yorker cartoons - to host horror-movie broadcasts on KABC-TV in Los Angeles in 1954. With darkly mascaraed eyes and blood-red lipstick, she appeared each week in her revealing black dress and slinky fishnets to introduce such films as
Devil Bat's Daughter.
The Vampira Show
was canceled after about a year, but Ms. Nurmi remained a cult figure among B-movie buffs
.
In 1989, she lost a lawsuit contending Cassandra Peterson's late-night hostess Elvira pirated her character.
- AP