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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