When Vampira Sued Elvira: Inside the Horror Hostess Feud
In the ’80s, Elvira was everywhere, from Coors beer ads to her famous Halloween shows at Knott’s Berry Farm in California to licensing her own pinball games and starring in her own feature film, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.
Though she was widely beloved by the public, one person had a major problem with the black-beehive-wearing goth queen: actress Maila Nurmi, who had created the 1950s horror hostess character Vampira. Nurmi claimed that Elvira had stolen the character of Vampira — a claim that she took all the way to court, and beyond.
“The character she is playing is 75-80% Vampira — some parts are missing, some things have been added,” Nurmi told The Los Angeles Times in 1987. “They’ve taken a large part of Vampira and added these lowly commodities and given it a wider common denominator, but in so doing this, destroyed the character. I resent their taking my product and doing that to it.”
Who was Vampira, and why was she so mad at America’s favorite undead valley girl? Read on for the hair-raising details.
Who Was Vampira?
Finnish American actress Nurmi was born in 1922 and moved to Los Angeles in the ’40s to pursue a modeling and film career; she also spent some time on Broadway and as a chorus dancer in New York City. After a local film producer saw Nurmi dressed up as Morticia Addams at a Halloween party, he contacted her about hosting a local horror show. Her series, The Vampira Show, debuted in 1954 on Los Angeles-area local television.
Each week on The Vampira Show, Nurmi (in full gothic finery) would present a horror movie, while also cracking jokes and participating in skits. She was also famous for the ear-piercing shriek she delivered in the opening to each week’s show. It is believed to have been the first horror movie broadcast show ever, making her the first horror host of all time.
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The Vampira Show only lasted for one year — it was pulled from the schedule after Nurmi refused to sell the rights for the character to ABC. Since it was presented live, no recordings of the show were ever made or preserved.
Nurmi appeared in character during Liberace’s stage show in Vegas in 1956 and played a similar character to Vampira in Ed Wood’s 1957 film Plan 9 From Outer Space. She then phased out the character, looking for other film roles and eventually transitioning into a life outside the film industry. By the ’70s, she was reputed to have fallen on hard times.
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Vampira and the Birth of Elvira
In 1981, Vampira — then in her late 50s — was approached to reboot The Vampira Show on her original Los Angeles channel. Since Nurmi was considered too old to host the show herself, new actresses were considered for the role of Vampira. Actress and comedian Cassandra Peterson — better known today as Elvira — had developed a valley girl character while working with Los Angeles improv troupe the Groundlings. She performed her audition with this character and got the role.
According to Peterson’s memoir, Yours Cruelly, Elvira, she had no knowledge of Vampira prior to this show, since the show only aired in Los Angeles, while Peterson was raised in Kansas. At a meeting with producers and Nurmi herself, she was shown pictures of the original Vampira character and told the character she’d be playing was Vampira’s daughter. According to Peterson, Nurmi was given an executive producer position on the show; according to Nurmi, she severed ties with the show after she realized the producer deal would require her to give up rights to the Vampira character.
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Peterson’s original idea for the character’s visual style was an innocent damsel in a torn nightgown who’d been the victim of a vampire. The more wholesome look utilized Peterson’s natural long red hair. But when producers asked for a more gothic look, she and her friend/designer Robert Redding took inspiration from traditional Japanese stage makeup techniques and 1950s girl group star Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes, who was famous for her black beehive hairdo.
However, the first day of shooting, Peterson recalled, was almost the last. “Just as we were about to begin, Walter Baker burst in. ‘STOP THE SHOW!’ he commanded. ‘Maila Nurmi’s attorney just called. We can’t use the name Vampira!'” The crew decided they needed a new name immediately. They went with the similar Elvira, renaming the show Elvira’s Movie Macabre, with the first episode airing in September 1981.
As Peterson recalled it, Nurmi was displeased that the station had chosen a comedian, rather than a more serious actress, to portray her classic character. Nurmi had wanted Vampira to be played by Tony-winning musical theater actress Lola Falana. “Thus began,” Peterson writes, “Vampira’s long, one-sided feud with Elvira.”
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Vampira vs. Elvira in Court
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Elvira’s Movie Macabre picked up steam in the following year, gathering viewers and celebrity guests including Vincent Price. But in 1982, Nurmi sued Peterson for stealing her character. According to Peterson’s memoir, Nurmi had found her attorney by placing an ad in the local paper that read: “Vampira to sue Elvira — interested attorneys please inquire below.”
When the day in court came, Nurmi did not show up, and the judge ruled in Peterson’s favor, essentially saying that having a similar look didn’t count as copyright infringement.
Vampira vs. Elvira Outside Court
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However, just because the feud had been resolved from a legal standpoint doesn’t mean that it actually ended. Nurmi still often went to the media with complaints about Elvira and Peterson.
Nurmi was also still interested in legal action against Elvira, at one point claiming she had sued the actress eight times. And, according to Peterson, Nurmi got involved in some extra-legal methods of score-settling, as well. “[Nurmi] continued to haunt me for years,” Peterson wrote, “sometimes sending tough-looking punks to my various appearances to heckle and threaten me, and once even shove me.” She also claimed that Nurmi sent nude modeling photos that Peterson had done in her youth to a children’s TV producer who had been interested in doing an Elvira cartoon. The cartoon deal, unsurprisingly, fell through.
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In a 2005 interview, Nurmi was still upset about the situation, saying, “They eventually called me in to sign a contract and she was there. They had hired her without asking me. … It’s Vampira altogether. She did the whole thing with the Rocky Horror people. She was in 51 markets at one time with 350 kinds of merchandise; milked my cupboard bare. I could have made a million from that.”
In the same interview, Nurmi went on to seemingly accuse Peterson of being in league with the devil and claimed, “I wouldn’t do [the show] because I didn’t want Vampira to be anything but perfect. I certainly didn’t want her to be portrayed as a slut. Angelina Jolie would be a good Vampira.”
Peterson, now 73 years old, still periodically dons the black wig and returns for a handful of appearances at Knott’s Berry Farm this Halloween. Nurmi died in 2008, ending the feud. But it was a feud Peterson never really wanted to be a part of. As she told The Los Angeles Times in 1987, “I’d like her to be friendly with me. I don’t know why she has such hostility toward me.”
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