That's very much some sad news. Let the dots begin. posted by Item at 7:47 PM on January 11, 2008
She had appeared in a show with Mae West when she was younger, and disliked the experience. Criswell, in the meanwhile, was close friends with Mae West, and she would often invite him over for home-cooked meals. If Criswell was with Vampira, he would demur, and Mae West would simply put the food in tin foil and have her driver deliver it. So Criswell and Vampira would watch television together and eat Mae West's food.
I love Hollywood stories like that. posted by Astro Zombie at 7:52 PM on January 11, 2008
...come a little bit closer posted by cazoo at 8:43 PM on January 11, 2008
I will take this occasion to further urge all y'all DC-area MeFites to join me for a presentation of one of Vampira's greatest roles. It really is the right thing to do. posted by MrMoonPie at 8:47 PM on January 11, 2008
.
Oh man, one of my older sisters used to LOVE her. She's a born again Christian now though so I'm not supposed to remember she used to idolize a vampiress. posted by miss lynnster at 8:48 PM on January 11, 2008
I always considered her black-listing as the height of McCarthy silliness. posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:56 PM on January 11, 2008
More proof of a godless world: Vampira dies yet Mickey Rooney continues to outlive everyone!
You go ghoul! posted by nickyskye at 9:39 PM on January 11, 2008
Hey
Black dress moves in a blue movie
Graverobbers from outer space
Your pulmonary trembles in your outstretched arm
Tremble so wicked
Two inch nails
Micro waist
With a pale white feline face
Inclination eyebrows to there
Mistress to the horror kid
Cemetery of the white love ghoul, well
Take off your shabby dress
Come and lay beside me
Come a little bit closer
Come a little bit closer
Come a little bit closer
Come a little bit closer to this
Vampira, Vampira, Vampira
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
it's already been said but it's the only correct response :
“The grief of his wife’s death became greater and greater agony. The home they had so long shared together became a tomb. A sweet memory of her joyous living. The sky, to which she had once looked, was now only a covering for her dead body. The ever-beautiful flowers she had planted with her own hand became nothing more than the lost roses of her cheeks. Confused by his great loss, the old man left that home, never to return again.”
"That's the fifth siren in the last hour."
"Oh, something's happened down at the cemetery."
—Plan 9 from Outer Space
Sorry to hear about the (final?) demise of Vampira. Thanks for that interview link, nicky; it's interesting how — starting at a very young age, apparently — she developed her image as a combination of the Dragon Lady from Terry and the Pirates, the wicked queen from Snow White, and Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard. Hard for us today to imagine the impact a 'creature' like that would have had on people back in the Eisenhower 1950s.
I finally watched Plan 9 online just last week (gotta do something to get through the winter), and found it bad, of course, but not that bad. I've seen worse, as they say. And the late, great Vampira truly was a glamour ghoul. posted by LeLiLo at 10:46 PM on January 11, 2008
She's not really dead, she's just got to hold a shawl in front of her face for the rest of her scenes. posted by Artw at 11:04 PM on January 11, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]
vampira is dead. long live vampira! posted by lapolla at 4:14 AM on January 12, 2008
The period I'm about to type is different. Here it is that small point of light left in the middle of the tube when you turn off an old black and white television, after you've snuck down to watch B-grade horror movies late at night. RIP
People with money who consider themselves fans of Vampira should seriously consider donating to Much Love Animal Rescue, or you can go to your own local animal adoption agency, be a new home for a little doggy, and think kindly of Ms Nurmi while you do it. However, I don't recommend naming the dog "Vampira" cuz that's just cruel and unusual.
Ms. Nurmi may have shuffled off this mortal coil, but she embodied a persona that's rather eternal. Vampiras never die... well, actually, Vampiras are already dead! I don't think 'undead' is particularly right. In light of zombie movies that has such bad connotations today. I like to think of Vampira as 'deadless' which may not be a word but I'm making it one.
"Funeral arrangements are pending due to a search for relatives, but a memorial service will be held in Los Angeles in the near future."
Pending? That's messed up right there.
Ms. Nurmi was a sweet lady with a big heart. She should get a decent send-off. They gave Ronald Reagan like a week of television coverage when he died, which I found to be offensive and superfluous and all kinds of negative things. When she wanted to be, Ms. Nurmi was loud and broad and she had a way of being both respectable and creepy. If anyone deserves an outlandish funeral procession and burial ritual, it's Vampira.
Ms Nurmi might get five seconds mention on ET but I doubt it. That's just wrong? Where's the cross-dressing community? Shouldn't they stand up in a moment like this? Shouldn't the Hell's Angels step in as her pallbearers?
I don't believe Cassandra Patterson plagiarized, but I would agree she owes a lot to Nurmi's portrayal of a timeless and ageless personification of ...whatever it is the Elviras and Morticias and Vampiras of this world personify. Patterson should be leading the charge of how to handle Ms. Nurmi's remains if there's no blood relative to step in. Last year, Peterson was looking for ladies to bear her torch for when it's her turn to go, but Elvira should settle accounts with her predecessor too. posted by ZachsMind at 8:04 PM on January 13, 2008
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posted by jfrancis at 7:45 PM on January 11, 2008