Dead and Kind of Famous
Is the breaking news of today breaking you? Are true crime podcasts making you feel like trash? Then come on down and listen to us talk about old news and dead people who were NOT murdered!! Oooo ethical AND intriguing... This is the podcast where two friends - one who's a nobody (Courtney Blomquist) and one who's kinda famous (Marissa Rivera) - dive into the life stories of dead folks who enjoyed a touch or two of fame in their time and now reside permanently in Hollywood Forever Cemetery. So if you need to escape the now for an hour and you want to show your respect for some amazing life stories that have perhaps been forgotten, hit that follow button. Because with your help, we can make sure that the stories of Hollywood's dead never die. And believe me - these stories are WAY too good to be forgotten.
Episodes
Today we bid adieu to Season 1! Join us as we visit the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to pay tribute to Season 1's final featured individuals (Tomata du Plenty and Maila Nurmi) and share some significant personal news as Courtney announces her upcoming move to Minnesota. To see our other grave offerings for Season 1, check out our instagram or substack!
In short order, we do all of the following in this episode:
• Rec...
Spoiler alert!!! - Tomata keeps doin' stuff in this episode. Our deep dive into his life reveals an artist who refused to be defined by any single medium, constantly evolving from drag performer to punk rock icon to folk artist without ever losing his authenticity.
When a broken leg temporarily halted Tomata's performance career in 1983, he discovered a children's paint kit in an alley and began creatin...
At the intersection of drag theater, punk rock innovation, and fearless artistic evolution stands David Xavier Harrigan - better known to those in-the-know as Tomato DePlenty.
From his early days with the revolutionary Cockettes (described by John Waters as "insane hippie drag queens" creating "complete sexual anarchy"), to founding Ze Whiz Kidz in Seattle, to pioneering synthesizer-based punk with...
Well, here it is. The final installment of our four part series on Maila Nurmi. Maila didn’t get all she deserved in her life and she never really reaped the benefits of her creations. But the life she lived was full of adventure, fascination, excitement and in many ways, love. In this particular episode, we explore her final romances, alleged marriages and marriages of convenience. We also dig into her lasting friend...
Just when Maila’s career was starting to run out of steam, some luck with Liberace kept her in the spotlight for a time. But this was quickly followed by bad decisions, bad boys and a very bad movie called Plan 9 from Outer Space. Pop in those ear buds, friend. You don’t want to miss this.
Links from the show:
https://youtu.be/alPPXVJA4Kw?si=K0PQr8H7zHZCKA1x
https://youtu.be/wtPgPYwtBhs
This podcast is all about making sure that the stories of Hollywood’s dead never die, and after this absolutely horrific week, we need to do just that in our own small way. Thank you to all of the firefighters, volunteers, loving citizens of Los Angeles, and people helping from afar. Humanity is the only thing that can save us in these dark times.
Below you’ll find the links to the Los Angeles Times article that ...
As we unravel the layers of Vampira's gothic charm, we celebrate her unique blend of dark humor and magnetic persona that captivated 1950s audiences. Picture her cruising Sunset Boulevard in full vampire regalia, her chilling scream echoing through the night—a scene that marked her groundbreaking show, Nightmare Attic. We reminisce about her vibrant friendships with Hollywood's misfits, including the infamou...
Get ready to unravel the journey of a remarkable woman who bucked the expectations of her time at every turn. Maila Nurmi (better known as Vampira) was really and truly the original mistress of the night.
As we take a look at her early years, we can see that dichotomy was always present for her. Her father was a teetotaler, while her mother was an alcoholic. She loved beauty, but she also gravitated towards d...
Did you know that Toto was a lil lady pup named Terry who used to pee on the rug? Well in this episode, Toto tells ALL. And she tells it in first person! Our main source for this episode was an adorable book called I, Toto, which was written by Willard Caroll after he discovered a scrapbook that shed light on Terry's life and featured her favorite cheddar biscuit recipes.
Happenstance led to Toto becom...
Today, we return to the complex story of Christopher Jones and explore his final "lost years" after he turned his back on Hollywood in the height of his fame. We unwind the tangled web of his life, from his alleged romance with Sharon Tate amidst Italian film sets, to his eerie ties with the infamous Cielo Drive.
As we reflect on Jones' troubled final years, we ponder the profound impact of p...
What if the ghost of James Dean haunted an actor's career? Christopher Jones, a man forever overshadowed by his uncanny resemblance to the rebel icon, lived a life that was as electrifying as it was cursed.
Jones's journey through the swinging '60s is a cocktail of passion and paranoia, particularly in his tumultuous relationship with Susan Strasberg.
Throughout the episode, we navig...
Have you ever strolled through a graveyard and felt a sudden wave of curiosity about the people resting beneath the headstones? Especially the one’s featuring a mysteriously unrecognizable yet glamorous headshot? If you’ve ever been to Los Angeles’s most iconic cemetery, Hollywood Forever, then you know the type. And on their new podcast, Dead and Kind of Famous, hosts Courtney Blomquist and Marissa Rivera will be foc...
Ever wondered what it takes to be dubbed a Hollywood bon vivant? Join us as we kick off "Dead and Kind of Famous" with the eccentric and flamboyant life of Baron Clement von Frankenstein. We'll take you through our amusing adventure in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where we use Find a Grave to track down the baron's final resting place. Marissa and Courtney share their first impressions of his ma...
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