Vampira (Maila Nurmi) was the absolute ghoulish queen of all the horror hosts. The premier of The Vampira Show was the 1st of May 1954, on Los Angeles's KABC-TV. Originally shown at midnight.
Her look is said to have been originally based on Morticia Addams, Vampira soon became a cult figure in her own right. The Finnish born actress would open each show by gliding down a corridor filled with candelabras and dry-ice in a zombie like trance, before the camera zoomed in on her and she let out a piercing scream.
In the now long running tradition of the horror host, she would make fun of the B-movie of the night, and make irreverent 'ghoulish' puns.
The character of Vampira has become a cult figure world-wide for her brief appearance in the Ed Wood film Plan 9 From Outer Space. (Often credited as the worst movie ever made.)
Weird Fact: Vampira had worked with Bela Lugosi on the Red Skelton show in 1954. 5 years before the making of Plan 9, in which stock footage originally filmed by Wood of a then dead Lugosi was used.
In the now long running tradition of the horror host, she would make fun of the B-movie of the night, and make irreverent 'ghoulish' puns.
The character of Vampira has become a cult figure world-wide for her brief appearance in the Ed Wood film Plan 9 From Outer Space. (Often credited as the worst movie ever made.)
Weird Fact: Vampira had worked with Bela Lugosi on the Red Skelton show in 1954. 5 years before the making of Plan 9, in which stock footage originally filmed by Wood of a then dead Lugosi was used.
