Month: January 2008
Marx Best of the West
Boy, did the tv commercial below bring back some great memories. When I was a kid growing up in the 60’s, I loved my action figures. My favorites were General Custer, Johnny West and Chief Cherokee all from Marx’s Best of the West Series. Hard to believe how many hours I spent playing with them… and my guess is kids today would enjoy them if we could pry them away from their video games.
RIP: Maila "Vampira" Nurmi
Maila Nurmi, better known as Vampira, passed away yesterday at the age of 86. Although few would recognize Ms. Nurmi’s name, almost everyone knows her “Vampira” character. Maila Nurmi was born in Finland, but moved to the US with her family while still in her teens. Maila dreamed of stardom on the silver screen and headed for Hollywood. Although romantically linked to Marlon Brando, Orson Welles and even James Dean, it was a masquerade ball in 1954 that led to her pop culture iconic status. Maila attended dressed as Mortica Addams [from Charles Addams New Yorker cartoons which later became the basis for the popular Addams Family tv series]. Maila won the contest by beating out nearly 2,000 other contestants.
Maila made such an impact that several months later she was offered the role as host of KABC’s late Saturday night horror movies. With a few costume modifications and new name, Vampira was born! Maila and the show were an instant hit and provided the framework for all of the horror hosts that would follow. Vampira was profiled in Life and Newsweek [within a month of each other] and Maila began guesting on nationally syndicated shows. She was even nominated as the “Most Outstanding Female Personality of 1954” by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.Judging by her impact on popular culture, you’d probably think that Vampira’s horror host role lasted years, immediately led to movies, comics, and more — but you’d be wrong. Despite the show being a smash hit,.it lasted just over a year. Some say that Maila was difficult to work with, while others say that the FCC and network blackballed her due to her on-air comments and double entendres.
Maila did make appearances in a few movies after her tv show was cancelled; most notably Ed Wood’s infamous “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” Maila left show business in the early 60’s, but her spirit lived on through the antics of dozens of other horror hosts such as Zacherley, Sammy Terry, and even Elvira [who was later unsuccessfully sued by Maila]. With the growth of the goth movement, the “popularity” of “Plan 9” and Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood” film, Maila enjoyed renewed popularity in her later years.
It appears that Maila died leaving behind no family members. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her friends and many fans.
Most People Have Fled for Their Lives
George Romero, The King of Zombies, is back with a look at his new movie, Diary of the Dead.
Merv Still Funny
Merv Griffin died nearly five months ago… yet he made me laugh today. That’s more than I can say for a lot of comedians still alive.
Monster Revealed?
Movieweb is running what they claim to be is a photo of the monster from Cloverfield monster… sort of. Check it out by clicking HERE.
Mannix
I haven’t seen this show in probably close to 40 years, but when I was a kid, Mannix was pretty cool. From the looks of the trailer, he’d still be.
Fight Matrix
This one goes out to Jazzman. – Craig
Can You Name This Song?
I have to be honest. It wasn’t until about halfway through that I figured out what he was singing. Maybe you can do better.
One For the Ages
One of the benefits of cleaning is finding things you haven’t seen in a while. That’s the case with the drawing above. It was penciled and inked by the great Neal Adams. I had a stat made of it and my best bud, John Beatty colored the stat. This was done in the early 80’s. Over twenty years later and I’m still diggin’ it.David Blaine Street Magic Trio
I first discovered these guys doing a David Blaine Street Magician skit about a year ago. I didn’t link to the first one or the second one because of some profanity. The third one was just released and I decided to post all of them with this warning: If you click on the links in this post you will hear some profanity during some really funny skits. You have been warned! Click at your own risk…
Matt Hughes: Legacy?
We may have seen the last of Matt Hughes as far as MMA fighting goes. Still there are other options that would keep him active in the sport. Hughes would make an excellent commentator. He has already written one well-received book.
But if Matt Hughes decides to retire totally from the limelight, how will he be remembered? I think Dave Doyle sums it up perfectly HERE.
