in 1953 after Nurmi attended a Hollywood masquerade ball dressed as the ghoul of Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons.
"I bound my bosoms so that I was flat-chested," Nurmi said, "and I got a wig, and painted my body a kind of a mauve white pancake with a little lavender powder so that I looked as though I'd been entombed."
...
creating Vampira, Nurmi said she went beyond the Addams cartoon, developing an alter ego influenced by beatnik culture and her experiences as a child of the Depression.
Vampira wore a low-cut, tattered black dress that showed off her impossibly small waist (courtesy of a waist cincher) and displayed more cleavage than was common for the day. With her long nails and dark, dramatically arched eyebrows, watching Vampira was "a release for people."
"The times . . . were so conservative and so constrained," Nurmi said in a video interview posted on her website. "There was so much repression, and people needed to identify with something explosive, something outlandish and truthful."
this is sad. i liked vampira, and all of the 1950's kitsch she represented. she was one of the pioneers along with people like ed wood. without their cheesy camp, there would likely have been no russ meyers or john waters.
Jan 16, 08 12:23 pm ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
RIP Vampira
Maila Nurmi, who was the fabulous TV horror film hostess Vampira from the 1950s has finally become a real vampire.
LAtimes obit
in 1953 after Nurmi attended a Hollywood masquerade ball dressed as the ghoul of Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons.
"I bound my bosoms so that I was flat-chested," Nurmi said, "and I got a wig, and painted my body a kind of a mauve white pancake with a little lavender powder so that I looked as though I'd been entombed."
...
creating Vampira, Nurmi said she went beyond the Addams cartoon, developing an alter ego influenced by beatnik culture and her experiences as a child of the Depression.
Vampira wore a low-cut, tattered black dress that showed off her impossibly small waist (courtesy of a waist cincher) and displayed more cleavage than was common for the day. With her long nails and dark, dramatically arched eyebrows, watching Vampira was "a release for people."
"The times . . . were so conservative and so constrained," Nurmi said in a video interview posted on her website. "There was so much repression, and people needed to identify with something explosive, something outlandish and truthful."
this is sad. i liked vampira, and all of the 1950's kitsch she represented. she was one of the pioneers along with people like ed wood. without their cheesy camp, there would likely have been no russ meyers or john waters.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.