* December 11, 1922 – † January 10, 2008
The television and film character known as Vampira was invented and portrayed by Maila Nurmi. She was the first horror host with The Vampira Show, from 1954 to 1955. She would present and comment on vintage horror films, a format that would be repeated by dozens of personalities for decades to come. Suzanne Waldron aka “Tarantula Ghoul” and Elvira by Cassandra Peterson are just two examples.
Maila Nurmi grew up in Astoria, Oregon until moving to Los Angeles in 1940 to become an actress. With only small roles to her credit, her true claim to fame was the Vampira role. The character also appeared in Plan 9 from Outer Space, the cult horror film by Ed Wood in 1959. The Misfits arranged a meeting with Vampira in Los Angeles to promote their Walk Among Us album at Vinyl Fetish records in LA (April 17, 1982). The album featured a tribute to her influence on their horror-image with the song titled Vampira.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maila_Nurmi
Fan made video of Vampira from the Misfits using Vampira footage, with lyrics: