Elleda Wilson: Happy birthday, Vampira

Dec. 15—Maila Elizabeth Niemi, aka Maila Nurmi, aka TV hostess Vampira (in 1954), may have been born Dec. 11, 1922 in Finland, and raised in Gloucester, Massachusetts, but she was still an Astoria girl who graduated from Astoria High School. She's pictured in a screen shot from her appearance in the wretched 1957 film, "Plan 9 from Outer Space," starring Bela Lugosi.

Her niece, Sandra Niemi, wrote Vampira's biography, "Glamor Ghoul," about her aunt's complicated life. James Dean was Vampira's best friend, she had encounters with Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley, and an affair with Orson Welles produced a son, who was given up for adoption as an infant. He didn't know who his parents were until after their deaths.

In Vampira's later years, a failed 1988 lawsuit against Cassandra Peterson for copyright infringement for Peterson's Elvira character briefly put her back in the entertainment news, then she faded from sight. However, she's still remembered by many who commemorated what would have been her 100th birthday.

She died Jan. 10, 2008 in Los Angeles. Now Maila/Vampira is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. "I'm thrilled with where she is," her niece told audiofemme.com