Prime Vampira: Maila Nurmi Part 2

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hello and welcome to Dead and Kind of Famous, where
we dig into the life stories ofdead folks who enjoyed a touch
or two of fame in their time andnow reside permanently in the
hollywood forever cemetery I'mmarissa rivera, and I know

(00:37):
nothing, but I do know.
What do I know, rivera, and Iknow nothing, but I do know how
to make a killer cinnamon rollfrom scratch.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Okay, that's right, and I'm eating it right now.
I'm going to eat it a littlebit throughout this episode.
I know people hate that, but Imight just do it.
I don't know, because we'rehanging you know, and this is
delicious um, and I'm CourtneyBlomquist and I know way too
much um about what we're talkingabout, but I also don't know

(01:15):
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Speaker 2 (01:26):
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Speaker 3 (01:30):
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Speaker 2 (01:34):
You've taught her enough you know enough.
Spanish.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
She said otoño the other day too.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Oh my God, she's got the N yet.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
She didn't really.
She said like oh no, until nexttime but it was pretty close
for her.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
I feel like you got a story to tell and you're not
dead yet.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Oh, I love it.
Yes, welcome to Myla Nurmi,part two.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
This week we are entering into the dawning of the
age of Vampyra, just after shewas birthed from a pile of trash
and fetish gear that Myla Nurmihad lying around her apartment,
iconic.
Yes, she had stolen the heartsof the executives of local Los
Angeles television station KABC,and they were so delighted by
her that they made sure she gotpaid.

(02:18):
Very little, very, very littleindeed.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Okay, yes, surprise, surprise yes.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Myla's contract was quite strange.
Actually, it ensured myla's paywould be a massive 75 dollars
per episode and the networkwanted to own a percentage of
her character.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
You know that's what bothers me more.
What is?
What is the conversion rateLike?
What's $75?

Speaker 3 (02:46):
Yes, in 1950s money $75 was $885.
So it's not as bad as it seems.
Okay, okay, however, marissa,allow me to call upon your
insight as a working actress inLos Angeles, can you elaborate
on how this would compare totoday's pay?
It's actually, it's actuallyit's not that bad.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
You know it's higher than the commercial day rate.
The commercial day rate iscurrently at $790.
It's about $790.
It's a little under um.
That's the commercial day rate.
Um the for a sag contract, uh,for tv it's a little over 1100

(03:34):
for the day um but then there'slike residuals, obviously
there's yeah yeah, there'sresiduals and and you know, for
tv you get it's a differentweekly rate than a daily rate.
You know there's there'sdifferent like rate breakdowns,
so I would say it's kind of inthe middle of you know it's,
it's on the lower end.
I mean, to be honest, we're allpaid shit, so okay, okay um you

(03:59):
know, this is why the strikeshappen.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
This is, this is, this is a big, a big reason why
the strikes happened.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
This is a big reason why the strikes happened.
You know the pay it's notenough and it hasn't.
It hasn't risen with the times.
Everyone's skimming.
All the people at the top aremaking more.
The people at the bottom aremaking less these network execs,
man.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
they were doing it back then and they're doing it
now.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
And the whole.
You know she invented thischaracter.
Yes, that's the thing, it'sintellectual property.
Intellectual property.
No one from the networkinvented this.
Why that pisses me off.
Did she give them a percentageof the rights?

Speaker 3 (04:40):
to this character.
As for the percentage of hercharacter that the network owned
, Myla herself chose that number.
She allowed KABC to own awhopping 49% of her character as
a thank you.
What?

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Oh honey, no yes.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
And she, I mean she explains Tala us Vampyra, Okay.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
In her own words it was my idea to give them 49%.
I wanted to give them as muchas I possibly could without
losing control, because Iappreciated the fact that they
had taken me out of obscurity.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
No, I know the fact that they had taken me out of
obscurity.
No, I know it's so.
Like it's, it's like.
Oh, I appreciated the fact thatthe club let me join.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Like that's how it feels, or or like I appreciate
you for hiring me at this nineto five job, so let me give you
49 of my paycheck back to you,like that's insane, it is insane
, it's insane.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
I think she's just like this, is she just?
I think she almost wanted hercare.
She was just like so in lovewith the idea of putting her
character out there that she'slike, oh great, they're gonna
give it a chance.
And then she jumped all over.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
She's young and hungry and she's like I do this
for free, I mean, but actors dostuff for free all the time.
I mean it's true.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
So truly like short sighted.
It's yeah, because you're like,oh, I want the, I want it for
my reel, yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Copy credit meal.
Yeah yeah, mm.
Hmm, we don't know what thatmeans.
It's a classic like this iseither a non-union project or a
very low budget, like sag waiver.
Like I waive the.
You know the right to get paid,but you will get.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
You'll get to eat something you'll get to eat
something.
Yeah, you can take thatchipotle all the way to the bank
yep, and your name will beadded to the end of this short
and maybe at one day it will beon your IMDB, who knows?

Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, if the producer gets to it at any point,
because they're not getting paideither, you know.
So Right, but this was on anetwork, this is on network
television.
It was on network, a localnetwork, it was a local network
television.
So it is local.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
But yeah, yeah, but still so.
The other strange thing aboutMyla's contract was that her
actual name doesn't appearanywhere on it.
What it's hard to say if thiswas just a draft or a copy of
the real thing, but there is aversion of Myla's contract that
documentarian Ray Green examinedfor his film Vampyra and Me.
That shows that Myla's name isnever listed on the actual

(07:25):
contract.
It simply mentions her asVampyra.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
Wow, yeah, I mean I guess my contracts have my stage
name so that's true, kind ofmakes sense, that's true, yeah,
except that this is like I'mtrying to think of a good
comparison.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
It would almost be like, actually, I feel like this
is a good comparison.
I feel, like it would almost belike a drag queen having their
drag name on the contractinstead of their name as a
person.
And if they didn't have, if itwasn't their full stage name,
that like they're making all youknow?

Speaker 2 (08:05):
I don't know, I'm not sure, I don't know, I bet the
tax man figured it out.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
I bet yeah.
As Sandra Niemi says in GlamourGhoul, the contract was little
more than a handshake and Mylahad no agents or representation
working with her to help herinform these decisions.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well, they would have taken even more of a cut, but
they would have.
Someone would have been likehoney, no, yeah, not 49 percent.
No, no, no, no, that's a badidea yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
But despite the sloppiness of her contract, the
station was very excited abouther and they rushed to promote
her in a combination of creativeand schlocky ways.
My personal favorite Hold oncreative and schlocky ways.
My personal favorite hold onwhat does schlocky mean?

Speaker 2 (08:47):
like tell the, let the children know and by the
children by the children, I meanme, what the fuck does, and I,
I'm very well read what doesschlocky mean?

Speaker 3 (08:57):
it's like I think that's like some some yiddish
nonsense.
That means like just hacky okay,okay, just like thrown together
and and kind of like uh,kitschy, almost okay, okay, yeah
, yeah, just just a little tackyand tacky, I would say okay,
yeah, um, and half-assed maybe.
Okay, yeah, half-assed.

(09:18):
My personal favorite is whenthey drove her around in a
convertible on sunset boulevardwhile myla sat in the back seat
in full vampire drag.
She donned a black parasol andevery time the car stopped at a
stop sign she let out her famousblood-curdling vampire scream.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
Can you imagine it was such a horror to be stuck at
a red light?
Yes, okay.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
Which, by the way, let's hear that scream.
Let's hear that blood-curdlingscream.
This is the intro to NightmareAttic, which is what the
original title of her show was.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
She's walking through the mist so much mist that fog
machine is working overtime,Probably getting paid more than
she is.
Here she comes.

Speaker 4 (10:12):
Screaming relaxes me so why?

Speaker 3 (10:19):
What did she say?
Screaming relaxes me, soScreaming relaxes me.
So Screaming relaxes me soSince this was always the
opening to her show, the screamwas a pretty good advertising
tool.
And of the scream Myla says.

Speaker 4 (10:36):
She suddenly screams a blood curdling scream, and
then says screaming relaxes me,so as if she's having just had
an orgasm.
I mean, that was my thought andthat was what I was trying to
imply in a ladylike manner.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Isn't that incredible .
That's so great, great also.
She looks incredible.
How old is she in this clip?
Do we know?

Speaker 3 (11:11):
I think she's in her late 70s.
Oh my god she looks amazing.
Yeah, she's got bone structurefor sure for days.
So for further promotion, anintroductory brochure was made
to attract sponsors.
It pictures vampyra on thecover and says she's dying to
meet you.

(11:31):
Then inside I love it.
Then inside it went on to sayshe's a magnificent, exotic, if
somewhat macabre slice ofwomanhood.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
She's a girl who looks thrilling in a
form-fitting shroud, a devildoll who has Hollywood's
werewolves panting at her door.
You know what that I'm in?
I know, right, I'm so in.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
It's pretty good.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
That's some clever writing.
It's some pretty good writing.
I'm into it.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
Yes, myla also gave interviews completely in
character For a while.
Neither she or the stationrevealed her real name at all.
It added to the mystery andintrigue.
When interviewed by the LosAngeles Mirror, the reporter
asked her how do you feel aboutchildren, do you like them?

(12:27):
And her response was oh, yesdelicious.
She's so funny, she's hilarious.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
I love it.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
She's like so funny.
In late spring 1954 at midnightMyla's show Nightmare Attic
premiered and Myla pulledviewers in with her arched
eyebrows, high slit and fishnetclad legs.
But it was the creepy wit ofthe show that really captivated
audiences.
The humor was dark and twistedand Vampyra did not hold back,

(13:03):
even though this was 1954 andthis was local public television
.
This is a bit of her monologuefrom that first episode.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
Oh God.
Okay, I've got a wonderfuloffer to make to you tonight.
It's a new hospitalization plancalled the Yellow Cross.
It's for people whounsuccessfully try to commit
suicide.
Okay, the plan pays all thebills till you're well enough to

(13:35):
try again.
If you're interested in such aplan, I'll be glad to get in
touch with you.
Of course, I hope you neverhave to use it.
It's disheartening to hear ofan unsuccessful suicide, and
remember our slogan If at firstyou don't succeed, die, die,
then die again.

Speaker 3 (13:57):
That's like really pretty edgy for now.
Oh my God, yes, right it's likethat's.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
I mean God, yes, right, it's like that's.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
I mean, that's dark, it's a suicide joke right off
the top.
Yes, in the first episode, likethat's kind of I mean ballsy.
It is really ballsy, it's superballsy.
I love it.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
She'd introduce a film, then go on with more.
I went to a delightful funeralyesterday.
We buried a friend of mineAlive.
It takes a heap of dying tomake a house a tomb.
This is Vampyra.
Until next week.
Wishing you bad dreams,darlings.
I love her.
What a sign off, I know.

Speaker 3 (14:38):
Wishing you bad dreams, darlings, so good.
There seems to be only one poorquality episode of Vampyra's
show available for viewing,because it was a live show and
wasn't generally recorded.
Oh, so that's why I'm havingyou read those things instead of
playing them.
These are a couple momentswhere you can get a sense of her

(14:58):
gothic charms.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Wait.
So how was it on a station, alocal station, if it wasn't
recorded?

Speaker 3 (15:05):
It was live streamed.
Oh, it was live.
It was live streamed, it waslive broadcast.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
Live broadcasted and what was there?
Was it yeah?

Speaker 3 (15:15):
She went in and she actually recorded the show at
like 11 pm on a Saturday night.
Wow, yeah, so it was like latenight local television live.
That's rad.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
I know Honestly, she probably didn't work that many
hours too.
She worked, I mean well, shedid all these promotional things
and all this stuff like incharacter.
I wonder if that was likeincluded in her contract or if
she got paid extra on those days.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
I think it was included in her contract.
We'll see, we'll get into it.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
You know me, I'm like where's the coin?

Speaker 3 (15:45):
Where is she getting paid?
I need to know.
I must know.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
These are a couple moments where you can get a
sense of her gothic charms.

Speaker 4 (15:55):
Let me see.
What I need is a vampirecocktail to settle my nerves.
It'll not only settle them, itwill petrify them.
Mmm, a vampire cocktail.
You like it, it hates you.

(16:17):
I've had several lovers askingwhether olives or cherries
should be used in making mycocktail.
Well, actually, neither isnecessary, since they'd only
disintegrate upon being put intothe cocktail.
However, if you want to usesome garnish, you can drop in an
eyeball If you happen to havean extra one around the house.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
If you drop in an eyeball, if you have an extra
one lying around the house, yes,and then oh my god, this is I
love her.

Speaker 3 (16:53):
She's so iconic I know this is what I'm saying
like also, her eyebrows arecrazy.

Speaker 4 (16:59):
They are crazy like she's incredible you know, I've
often been asked why I don'tlight my attic with electricity.
Isn't that ridiculous?

Speaker 3 (17:08):
everybody knows electricity is for chairs
everybody knows, electricity isfor chairs, so good so good yeah
, myla adored the writer of theshow, paul Robinson, and so did
I?

Speaker 2 (17:27):
I adore Paul.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
It's so good, it's so witty.
She especially loved himbecause he allowed her to
contribute to the scripts, sothere really is like her input
in here as well, verycollaborative.
Yes, that's the best stuff, it'strue, and whether she actually
received writing credit isanother story, but still she was
allowed to have influence Withher sexified, morbid lampooning

(17:53):
of 1950s America.
Vampyra was scratching an itchthat needed scratching and
people ate it up.
Yes, the show was such a hit inLos Angeles that it was bumped
up an hour to accommodate all ofthe viewers.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
That's so cool.
I know that's like after thekids have gone to sleep and
you're having your alone time,totally.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
And it's like I mean, I don't know, I just find it
fascinating that so many peoplewere pulled into this and I
think there's a bunch of reasonswhy, but it's just like it's
because it seems so, so edgy.
Yeah it really does.
This is so goth.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I know Punk like counterculture.
Yes, she is like acounterculture queen.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
Yes, and a photographer from Life magazine
was even called upon tophotograph Myla.
There were many goth leaningcheesecake photo shoots of
Vampyra Dunn, and Myla'smodeling background primed her
to make an impact in thosephotos.
Except this time, she didn'tneed to smile at all and even
though Nightmare Attic was alocal television show, the

(18:55):
photos made it, so that Vampyramade an impact worldwide.
Just the photos.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yes, of course.
Well, it's Life magazine.
Yeah, it's an internationalmagazine.

Speaker 3 (19:04):
So these are like I'm just going to show you a bunch
of okay, because they're goingto be like the first things that
show up.
These are her glamour shot.
Oh my God.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
She's like she's very beautiful.
Okay, she's very beautiful.
These are black and whitephotos.
Like the contrast.
The contrast is really reallystark.
The the back.
Wait what?
What is?
What is she reading in this one?
What does this say?

Speaker 3 (19:31):
Oh, magnum, it says magnum, embalming, self-taught,
it's true.
Like it's so funny.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
Let me see the one where she's standing next to
this standing candelabra.
Oh, yes, oh my.
God, and it's.
She's almost as skinny as thatcandelabra.
That's crazy.

Speaker 3 (19:53):
Yeah, her waist is shockingly small.
It is shockingly small.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
It's, and the papaya you know magic, I guess, really
worked.
I wonder if she used somepadding on her hips to even, um,
make the, the proportions evenmore.
I don't know stark, this isincredible.
Yeah, it's, and so the photos.

Speaker 3 (20:23):
They are really beautiful and I think they're
beautiful, they're artistic,they're super, super gothy and
with a crying jack-o'-lantern.
Oh my god, carving a cryingjack-o'-lantern perfect, like I
want to.

Speaker 2 (20:31):
I want, I want to redo this.

Speaker 3 (20:33):
I want to with a skeleton like weird dummy head
around her shoulder.
I don't know what this.
Yeah, again with a sadjack-o'-lantern you guys need to
google.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
We'll include these, yeah yeah yeah, in the show
notes and like make sure you'resubscribed to sub stack.
Yes, so you can see all ofthese because they are hot and
cool yeah she's cool andtimeless yeah this one.
Oh yeah, that's like the scream.
Oh my gosh.
Okay, there's a photo of her.

(21:03):
Okay, in the foreground there'sa hand holding um a camera that
says l or k-a-b-c k-a-b-c tvand in the middle, there's there
she is doing her scream withthe mist.
Oh, it looks so cool, yeah,cool, yeah.

Speaker 3 (21:24):
They look.
I mean, they're like really.
Yeah, like you said, it's LifeMagazine.
They're beautiful photographs,they're beautiful.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, oh, I'm obsessed.
I know she is.

Speaker 3 (21:33):
Girl.
She's incredible.
So Vampyra fan clubs cropped upin Europe, Asia and Australia,
Wow.

Speaker 2 (21:41):
For a local.

Speaker 3 (21:42):
Los Angeles TV, it's just really wild.
And Australia Wow, for a localLos Angeles TV.
It's just really wild.
She was written about inNewsweek TV Guide and major
newspapers in America's biggestcities and because it was
Vampyra herself that peopleloved, the name of the show was
changed to the Vampyra Show, asit should.
Yes, mila soon appeared on theRod.
Uh.
Mila soon appeared on the RedSkelton show with other horror

(22:06):
stars of the day like BelaLugosi, peter Lorre.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
Red Skelton, not skeleton.
Okay, yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
Red Skelton.
Red Skelton.
He had a talk show at the timeand like a kind of like sketch
sort of show Okay, variety alittle bit, but more like a late
night with some sketch okay, soI entered.

Speaker 2 (22:26):
So bella legosi was on there, peter laurie and lon
chaney jr right.

Speaker 3 (22:31):
Who was the um wolfman from universal?

Speaker 2 (22:36):
oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
Horror film yes okay, and he was the one who was like
, really good at doing his ownmakeup and stuff I don't know if
you guys knew this, but one ofmy many jobs previous to how
would, how would, how would theyknow this?
They wouldn't I used to be auniversal studios tour guide as
well, so that was another one,so I do know a little bit about
the um, the horror the monstersthe universal yeah studios

(23:00):
monsters and where and where allof them were filmed on the lot.
should you take a tour I'm sureyour guide will point them out
to you.
To use this gig as an exampleof how her strange and shitty
contract with KABC played out,Milo was paid the after a rate
at the time of $500, 49% ofwhich went to KABC in checks

(23:24):
made out to vampira care of huntstromberg, the executive who
had discovered her well, how dowe?

Speaker 2 (23:35):
it is okay well it is pretty common for checks to go
out to agents first uh-huh, um,then that gets put in a talent
trust account and then they keeptheir percentage Back.
Then it might have beendifferent.
Now it's 10% agency fee andthen they send the checkout.

(23:55):
So that's common.
Now, 49% ain't common, right?
I cannot get over that.
That's a lot.
And the AFTRA, okay, okay, sosag it.
Now the, the unions merged, soit's sag after now.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
After was always a lower rate than sag okay okay,
see, this is this is what you'rebringing to this show.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
You bring the reason yeah, you know, and watch
someone in the comments.
Be like actually yeah.

Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, there was one year, right
, right.
Back in these 10 years andafter paid more and they might
have.

Speaker 2 (24:34):
But you know, in my day, in this day, in this day
and age, when I started in LosAngeles, there was two separate
unions.
After paid less, Okay, okaytheir rates paid less.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
Okay, okay, their rates were less, their rates
were less.
It was on the Red Skelton showthat Mila became familiar with
one of Skelton's writers, ayoung Johnny Carson Stop, for
whom she developed a lifelongdislike, stop, because of the
way he treated the aging actorBella Lugosi.
Oh, it was an ageist, yeah Well.

Speaker 2 (25:06):
Bella Lugosi.
Oh, it was an ageist, yeah,well.

Speaker 3 (25:07):
Lugosi was very ill at the time and missed several
cues as a result, and Carsonoften made jokes at his expense.
Oh, that's awful.
Yeah.
And I mean I bet he was likekind of new and was trying to
like impress someone.
You know, I don't know.
People make jokes that are inpoor taste when they're the most
insecure, to be honest, ormaybe you know, in the darkest

(25:32):
of times.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
I often lean on comedy as well.

Speaker 3 (25:36):
Right, it might not have been his best instinct,
yeah, or?

Speaker 2 (25:41):
we don't know if Bella didn't mind.
We don't know.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
We don't know.
We don't know, but Myla lovedBella Lugosi.

Speaker 2 (25:48):
She writes when, at the end of the show, you took my
arm to guide me to thefootlights for curtain call, I
was suddenly 10 feet tall andwore a 50-foot aura of royalty.
I was all the queens of historyrolled into one.
Oh, she loved him.

Speaker 3 (26:08):
Yeah, he held such a special place in her heart.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
She had a lot of respect for him.
The Red Skelton show was theone time that Milo would
actually get to perform withBela Lugosi, but it wouldn't be
the last time they appeared onscreen together.
More on that later.
Ooh, okay, yes, but with allthe TV appearances and
promotions around town, vampyrahad the key to Los Angeles for a

(26:32):
time and everybody wanted apiece of her.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
I mean, yeah, I want a piece of her.
I mean like I bet she couldjust get in wherever she wanted.
Yeah, and go wherever shewanted, get a table wherever she
wanted.
Yeah, do and go wherever shewanted, get a table wherever she
wanted.

Speaker 3 (26:47):
Yeah, I think I think she was.
She was a hot little number inLos Angeles for a minute there.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
I love it.

Speaker 3 (26:53):
She waved from parade floats, cut ribbons at openings
and made game show appearancesregularly.

Speaker 2 (27:00):
Columnist Walter Winchell said at the time the
only person more popular thanVampyra is Eisenhower.

Speaker 3 (27:07):
And Eisenhower was the sitting president.
Wow, but Myla's husband Dink.

Speaker 2 (27:15):
I forgot his name was Dink Dink Dink, Damn it.

Speaker 3 (27:21):
Dink, damn it Dink.
Myla's husband Dink found theattention she received as
Vampyra to be embarrassing.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
Oh, I bet it was embarrassing you insecure little
prick.
Yep, you little Dink.

Speaker 3 (27:36):
He thought her getup was over the top and refused to
be seen with her in public whenshe was in costume.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
It was that was it's the point.
It's the point.
It's drag, it's a character.
It's a drag character, you dink.

Speaker 3 (27:53):
I like that.
His name is an insult.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:56):
He considered her a liability to his own writing
career, which was actually goingwell at the time.
Finally, yeah, good yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:04):
You're welcome now that you stop drinking now that,
now that your wife helped youstop drinking, yeah and you're
riding on her coattails.
Yeah, and you have somesuccesses, and now it's like oh,
I'm better seen with her.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
I'm embarrassed by whatever.
So, as was her custom, shefound her own people to consort
with outside of her home.
That that's right.

Speaker 2 (28:25):
Find, always find your tribe people yes.

Speaker 3 (28:27):
And if it's not, your husband, get a divorce, and you
know.
And if you can't get a divorceyet, like, leave your house for
a while, go on a walk, find somene'er do well, always eager to
befriend Hollywood misfits likeherself, myla spotted Jimmy Dean
a mile away.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
Ah, James Dean just keeps on surfacing in these
shows.
Goodness gracious, he reallydoes.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
James Dean.
He keeps coming up.
She saw him at the C&B scenepremiere of the Audrey Hepburn
film Sabrina.
Yeah, he was her rumpled littlemisfit in a tux.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Here comes this guy in a tux with a Howard Hughes
whore on his arm.
She had a With a Howard Hugheswhore on his arm.
She had a loopy smile on herface, clearly enjoying the
attention.
But he is mad.
It was obviously a studio date.

(29:28):
He is angry to have been thereand he certainly doesn't want to
be with her.
And I knew I had to meet thisguy yep, but she didn't have the
chance.

Speaker 3 (29:44):
That night, at the same premiere, she spotted
another man who would become asoul friendship, but not because
he was brooding or well-dressed.
It was because he looked likehis clothes didn't fit and he
had no idea how to dress himself.
This was the actor jack simmons.

(30:07):
Milo befriended jack first andbegan hanging out with him on
her nighttime sits at gookies.
And it was at gookies where shefinally met james dean.
What a spot.
Yep, she was sitting in a boothwith jack when he arrived on a
motorcycle with tony lee scott,a jazz singer who had lost her
leg in a motorcycle accident.
So I guess just Getting rightback on that horse?

(30:30):
Yeah, getting back on that bike.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (30:34):
Against probably her better judgment, and the first
thing Myla said to him was whenis she?
When he gestured at Tony, Mylasaid Not your girlfriend, your
mother.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
To which he said man, is it that obvious?

Speaker 3 (30:51):
She cut out, and it does seem that Myla had a bit of
a mother connection to Dean.
She was certainly not oldenough to be his mother, but she
was older than him and noticedthe mother-shaped hole in him
right away.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
At the time, I thought Jimmy's mother had
abandoned him.
It was later I found out thatshe died of cancer at only 29
and left him alone in the worldwith a father who was distant.

Speaker 3 (31:21):
Within an hour of meeting Milo was on Jimmy's
motorcycle with him.
I guess Tony found another ride.
They discovered all thecommonalities they shared.
For instance, they'd both beennamed after writers.
James' middle name was Byronafter Lord Byron and Myla was

(31:47):
named after Finnish writer MylaTalvio.
And Myla came to know aboutJames Dean's death fixation In
his apartment.
He read her a Ray Bradbury poemabout a boy whose mother died
and then hung himself in thegarage.
While he read, myla noticed anoose hanging from his own

(32:08):
ceiling.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
When she asked about it, he said that's how I'm gonna
die With a broken neck.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
Soon after this Myla would I know he's just like a
death fetishist really yeah.
Of course you would want to behis friend.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
I know she's like ooh , he's just a like a death
fetishist really yeah, of courseyou would want to be his friend
, I know she's like you're darkand spooky ooky, and only talk
about death all the time and youhave a noose in your apartment
that is wild, I know that's so.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
I mean talk about red flags.
Marissa was a walking red flagfor halloween and that should
have been one of them you have anoose hanging from your ceiling
no, that's like it's just it'son another level, that's on a
whole nother level that I meanthat's like you, let's call
someone yeah soon after thismilo would give a nod to jimmy

(32:56):
on the vampire show by sipping acocktail through a noose news
oh my, I know god, but that'skind of brilliant, I know I know
it's like it's dark and it'sspooky and it's like I would be
shocked if someone did it now.

Speaker 2 (33:15):
It's just wild that this is 1954, and in her, in
anything things that you've read, it doesn't say that she was
depressed or anything that shewas.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:26):
No.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
She is just a dark, spooky, ooky goth girl and I
love it.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
I mean, she has like, not at this point.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
Okay, okay At this point.

Speaker 3 (33:35):
Yeah, Okay, Of their relationship.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
Myla said we were psychic twins, jimmy and I.
Both of us were misunderstoodin a world of strange beings.
When, at age 31, I met Jimmy,he was the first entity of my
own species that I had everencountered.
When, at 23, jimmy met me, hethought he'd at last met someone

(34:04):
from his own planet.
We became glued to one another.
Our psyches melded.
Wow, yeah, you know, sometimesyou just really find your soul
people and it is that, and youfeel it, and you feel it.
And it's like she's notmentioning anything sexual no,

(34:25):
no, no no I mean the fact thatshe felt motherly towards it,
but she was only 30 I know, Iknow she's like you, rumbled
little boy oh man in your 20s.

Speaker 3 (34:37):
I mean I in some way.
Sometimes I feel like whenpeople in their 20s do really
stupid things, I'm like, oh you,poor, poor child, you know what
I mean.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean I'll feel a little there is
, yeah, between your thirtiesand twenties.
Yeah, there's a lifetime, shallwe say.
So I do, I, I, I do feel thatway sometimes.
And I to be patronizing oranything, right, yeah, I just, I
just know what's coming.

Speaker 3 (35:05):
Right, well, and you also just know what it's like to
be an idiot.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
Yeah, it's like at 23 .

Speaker 3 (35:11):
Oh yeah, dummy Big, dummy your frontal lobe's not
even done.

Speaker 2 (35:15):
for me it's not even done.

Speaker 3 (35:16):
I feel like my my frontal lobe just finished
cooking and I'm like close to 40, and I'm like close to 40, but
it's fine.
At another point she said Forme.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
Jimmy seemed a mirror of my psyche, and Googies was
the womb in which we lived asSiamese twins the endless stream
of coffee our placenta and thenit gets, so it's like it gets a
little weird.
You know, I feel like thattakes a little turn it.
First of all, googies.

(35:46):
What a spot.
I mean we talked about thislast time, yeah, but like even
even more it she felt motherly.
I mean it seems like she, shefelt like they had like a, a
sibling sort of.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
Yeah, I, yeah, I think so At least something
familial, yeah, and I think thatalso any kind of soul
connection to her was going tofeel really good right now,
because her marriage was in sucha stupid place.
So it's like when you feel likethat oh, I think I found my
people.
It's like always more excitingwhen you just really need it you

(36:24):
know, yeah, and I do think thatthat's the place she was at.
Jack Simmons was the thirdmisfit in their trio.
Gossip columnists called Ican't say columnists, you just
said it, I know.
Gossip columnists called thegrouping Vampyra and Her Spooks.
Oh, I love that I know, and theNight Watch oh.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
I love that.
What that's so much better thanlike Swifties?

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Yes, yes, this was a strange brief moment in time in
which Vampyra was actually muchmore famous than James Dean.
In fact, at the time he was arumpled mess with dirty clothes
and disheveled hair that madewaitresses look at him in
disgust.
Oh, wow, yeah, unshowered.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
Yeah, he did not bathe, what that sounds like
yeah, it's like he was not fitfor public consumption.

Speaker 3 (37:23):
Yeah, he was like just rolling out of bed, like in
the same clothes, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (37:27):
That's what I'm picturing.
He went to sleep in yeah, yeah,for like three days in a row.
Very 23 year old.

Speaker 3 (37:31):
Oh for sure, yeah, you're like, I can go to class
in my pajamas or whatever.
Kabc did not like theNightwatch business because
Vampyra was known to be amarried woman, even though she
actually wasn't.
That's right, yeah, and itlooked scandalous in the press
to have her seen about townregularly with two young men.
They quelled rumors byexplaining that Myla's husband

(37:54):
was a screenwriter who needed towrite at night without
distraction, so she had to givehim space during those times.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
Oh, you have to give the working man space.

Speaker 3 (38:03):
Yeah, she's just being a good wife.
Yeah, she's just being a goodwifey.
Yes, she's really taking a hit,that's right.

Speaker 2 (38:07):
Yeah, she's giving him the space that he needs to
be creative, that's right OfJames and Jack Myla said we're a
menage a trois without the sex.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
I just love her Everything she says oh, I love
it Outside of Googies.
The three could be seencruising about town in Jack
Simmons' old converted Cadillachearse.
And now we know what JackSimmons brings to the equation.
Yes, james Dean brings the news, jack Simmons brings the hearse
.
Wow.

Speaker 2 (38:39):
Yep, wow and.

Speaker 3 (38:41):
Vampyra brings her fabulous goth self.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
Her body-ody-ody.

Speaker 3 (38:45):
Yeah, that's right, they were all a little
death-obsessed.
Jimmy hung his signature noosefrom the headliner of the car
and they went on late-nightromps through graveyards that
they referred to as tombstonetours.

Speaker 2 (38:59):
You would have totally been part of this.
Oh my God, you would have beenpart of the Night Watch in a
second Courtney.

Speaker 3 (39:06):
It would have been so fun, can you imagine I mean
with those like that would havebeen incredible.
They would have loved thispodcast.
They would have loved thispodcast.
I hope that you are doing ashimmy in your grave, Myla Nurmi
.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
RIP the Night Watch.
You would have loved thispodcast.

Speaker 3 (39:26):
Yes, they smoked joints among the graves and
moved flowers from one grave toanother.

Speaker 2 (39:29):
Oh man, I would have loved to be in this.

Speaker 3 (39:34):
It's like Halloween every night.
I love it.
They would find tombstones withfamiliar names and make up
gruesome stories to explain thedeceased's fate, as Myla put it.

Speaker 2 (39:48):
Wait, is this us?

Speaker 3 (39:50):
I know it kind of is Because I was like we're making
up stories to explain.
We didn't make up stories toexplain their.
Well, actually we did.
We did the whole obituary, sowe did explain their fate.
This is us, damn it.
I thought I was being original.
This is why we love her so much.
This is why because she's yeah,she's a kindred spirit wow, wow
, okay, okay.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
As Myla put it, we all suffered greatly from
delayed adolescence.
I feel that so hard.

Speaker 3 (40:19):
Oh, I feel that hard.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
I feel that so hard.
I feel, like I grew up in avery conservative household and
so like I don't feel like Ireally let loose until college
really, but like really reallyuntil my early 20s, when I was
like dumb and young and immatureyeah, in my 20s.

Speaker 3 (40:39):
Oh, for sure.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
And finding my tribe of people and like my band of
weirdos.

Speaker 3 (40:43):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
My night watch.

Speaker 3 (40:44):
Yes, we all have to find our night watch.
It's true, our spooks, ourspooks.
They took their darkfascinations to new heights when
they decided to go fromcemeteries to mortuaries in
order to see an actual dead body.
Stop.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
No, okay, okay, I would not do that.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
Okay, this is where the similarities end right here.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
It's true.

Speaker 3 (41:08):
They combed over obits and used aliases to sign
in on the visitor's registry atthe mortuary.
James used Montgomery Brando.
You know a little obvious.
Myla used Countess Cuntish.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
And Jack used Pee Wee .
Ain't nobody checking in thosesign-in sheets?

Speaker 3 (41:31):
That's what we're learning.
That's what we're learningtoday.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
Nobody checks the sign-in sheets.

Speaker 3 (41:36):
Nobody checks the sign-in sheets.
Nobody checks the sign-insheets.
The first time they encountereda dead body was the last,
because Jimmy took it too far.
Oh, jimmy, of course you did.
Yep, because he's cocky.
He tried to pry the man's mouthopen, which?
Had been wired shut and took aring from his finger without the
other two noticing, I know.

(41:56):
Myla was furious with him foroverstepping a boundary, and
they never went sniffing arounddead bodies again, okay.

Speaker 2 (42:05):
So she had standards yeah, she had standards and
boundaries yes, and he didn't,yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:11):
However, there was a point that Jimmy stood in as a
cameo for a dead body in one ofMyla's sketches for her show.
That's awesome.
Yes, she was a spooky librarian.
Oh so sexy.
Yes, and Jimmy was a young manwho had fallen asleep and was
snoring loudly, despiteVampyra's quiet sign.
So Myla conks him over the headwith a dictionary and leaves

(42:33):
him mortally wounded from thaton the floor, and that was the
one time james dean appeared onthe vampire show.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
Wow as a dead body dead body.

Speaker 3 (42:46):
I mean, I guess he was alive at the beginning, but
but then he was dead body.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
No lines, no lines that's amazing I know that's a
really really cool easter egg.
Yeah, egg, yeah, I love that.

Speaker 3 (42:58):
Myla also served as the go-between for James Dean
and his idol Marlon Brando.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
Yes, I was gonna say because he signed in as a as.
What was it?
Montgomery Brando?
So, I was gonna ask if he was alittle obsessed with someone.
Gosh, I guess all these peopleyou know you are, you can be a
little obsessed about.

Speaker 3 (43:22):
Well, I think people just like well, people are still
obsessed with both, actually,marlon Brando and James Dean.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:30):
So that makes sense.
Brando totally rejected Dean ohand felt threatened by his fast
rising star, so they werejealous of each other.
Whenever he did relay a messageto James via Myla, he would
always preface it with tell yourlittle friend that to put him
in his place.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
Tell your little friend, little friend, tell your
little friend that it's like somobster kind of yeah, tell your
little friend, tell your littlefriends, tell your little
friends.

Speaker 3 (44:03):
The Vampyra show had first hit Los Angeles living
rooms in the spring and byHalloween.
Well, vampyra, pretty much wasHalloween.
Vampyra costumes were poppingup everywhere.
Even Zsa Zsa Gabor's maid hadcalled to get tips on how to
execute the look properly forher employer wow.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
And for those of you who don't know, zhazha gabor was
like the kardashian of her time.

Speaker 3 (44:31):
Oh, totally so yeah, just it's a hoity-toity like
social life, had to have thewhatever it was of the moment.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:37):
Um is's a hoity toity like had to have the, had to
have the, whatever it was of themoment.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um.
Is that a good description ofher, would you say?
I think so.
Yeah, was she more than just asocialite?
Am I, am I?

Speaker 3 (44:48):
let's look it up, am I?

Speaker 2 (44:49):
remembering that incorrectly.
I don't want to American.

Speaker 3 (44:53):
American socialite and actress but.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
I guess Kim Kardashian technically is an.
American socialite and actress.

Speaker 3 (45:04):
Yeah, I think that was pretty accurate what you
just said.
Myla also hosted live horrormovie screenings at the Orpheum
Theater over Halloween weekend.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
Oh, so fun, I know.

Speaker 3 (45:17):
That would have been.
That would have been the hotticket.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
Yeah, hot ticket.

Speaker 3 (45:20):
Oh, I would love to do that, I know.
After which she had to raceover to KABC for the taping of
her live weekly episode at 11 pm.
She's a busy lady, she's busy.
She was hustling around town.
She went to the Bal Karib againjust one year after being
discovered there.
This time she went with HuntStrongberg Jr, the TV exec, who

(45:45):
discovered her and liked to takefull credit for the creation of
Vampyra.
Of course he did this.
Of course pissed Myla off, butshe did a victory lap with him
anyway.
Mila off, but she did a victorylap with him anyway.

Speaker 2 (46:03):
That december kabc premiered another host for
romantic movies called voluptuaokay played by victoria.

Speaker 3 (46:08):
Paul voluptua, a buxom blonde, was brought in to
host a slate of romance films.

Speaker 2 (46:16):
Oh, so just like the opposite, the complete opposite
side of the coin here, exactly.
You know what.

Speaker 3 (46:23):
Smart, yeah, except it's interesting because the
network was promoting both hoststogether as the Chill and Charm
Girls, and Myla hated all ofthis.
In the midst of the Chill andCharm campaign, myla protested
by ditching a scheduled publicappearance.
She felt the studio was at warwith her and wanted to own her

(46:43):
character, along with theVampyra name, and syndicate the
show nationwide with differentVampyra's hosting.

Speaker 2 (46:50):
Okay, well, that's why you don't give them 49%.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
I know, I know you don't give them 49.
I know, I know, but it wasthrough the station that she
received all of her publicappearance gigs and money and
they basically threatened torefuse all of the requests,
which added up to 6 000 in justthe next month, then 6 000 back
then right it would have been alot, oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (47:12):
well, let's, let's see, let's just I want to know
what the conversion is what theconversion is.

Speaker 3 (47:17):
Yeah, $6,000 in 1950.
What 50.
This would have been 55.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
How much?
$70,000.
No way, yes, $6,000 in 1955 isworth over 75, over 70 000, 70
589 dollars and 78 cents.
Oh my god, okay.

(47:50):
Another one says it's 68 000.
Still, it's it, still.
It's a lot in a month $70,000in a month.

Speaker 3 (47:59):
That's shocking.
I feel like now I'm like am Iwrong?
I'm going to look at this Holdon $6,000 worth of paid Vampyra
bookings, and that's just forJanuary.

Speaker 2 (48:10):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (48:12):
Yeah Damn.
So that's right.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
No, that made me question it oh my god, but wait,
did they take basically half ofthat?

Speaker 3 (48:22):
yeah so okay, and then still that's a lot of money
to make in one month.
I know if she so okay.
So they, they were like we'regonna, we're gonna refuse all
the requests if you keep actingup and whatever right making a
scene out of this.
So for a time she towed theline, but, voluptuous, didn't
last long.

(48:42):
Anyway, they put her in a nine30 time slot on Wednesdays and
her I'm breathless because I'vebeen waiting for you line, mixed
with her sexual appearance,ticked off more than a few
housewives.
Interesting she also would endup on a bed in a men's dress
shirt and nothing else by theend of the show.

(49:04):
So it was pretty suggestive,without any death mixed in to
make it palatable.

Speaker 4 (49:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (49:10):
So she got the chop after just seven weeks, and this
is this is voluptuous, so Icannot wait to see her okay,
like this is some of the shotsfrom the.
These are gonna be yeah, likethat's her, she's like getting
ready and this is like that'snot a flattering photo, her
promotional shots.

(49:31):
I mean she kind of looks justlike cheesecakey but she is like
laying on a bed, I think.
I mean, like in this one she'swearing kind of like an evening
gown and laying on a bed.
I'm trying to find one of theones where they show her in a.
This is her in the men's shirt,though so like that idea was
like really, really suggestiveand they were like no, not
having it and it was an earliertime slot, yeah, so I think that

(49:55):
they just oh, oh, that just didnot look as cool as vampire she
didn't at all wait is this herchanging behind a screen?

Speaker 2 (50:02):
yes yes, you can kind of see her nipples here I think
it's a shadow but you're yeah,it's.

Speaker 3 (50:10):
It's just too suggestive for 1950s and I think
, vampire truly it's like shewas just creepy enough and like
her sense of humor was wittyenough that people weren't only
focusing on her being sexual,even though that was definitely
there.

Speaker 2 (50:25):
So I mean she said it herself like that.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
The scream was orgasmic yeah, but like I can't
believe, I think that that'sincredible, by the way, that
that went over the public's headoh yeah.

Speaker 2 (50:34):
Well, that's the thing.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
She was clever enough to to make an orgasm joke in
1954.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Also, you know what Sex by itself is fucking boring.
It is boring, it's true.
Sexiness for just and that'sjust like oh, I'm here, I'm just
breathless for you, I'm waitingfor you.
Yeah, but it's, I mean, this iswhy people don't watch porn in
full, that's why we skip around.

Speaker 3 (51:00):
That's why we skip around Exactly.
Yeah, it's a means to an end.
It is and it was at this pointin time that Myla's marriage got
chopped up as well.
In January 1955, anannouncement of Myla Nurmi's
divorce from Dean Reisner, alsoknown as Dink, was issued in Los

(51:24):
Angeles Herald-Examiner.
In the announcement, Mylaissued a quote.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
My husband and I have been married for six years and
we are not compatible.
He has social inhibition andI'm a social extrovert.
Well, that's for damn sure.
When it came time to move outof their shared apartment in
Laurel Canyon, Myla lockedherself in the bedroom and clung
to their bed, saying this is abed of sanctity where youthful

(51:55):
naivete once flourished andblossomed into love, and I will
not abandon it to be violated byanonymous and sundry whores.

Speaker 3 (52:07):
And that right there is my favorite quote from this
whole thing.
Oh my, God.
It's so good, anonymous andsundry whores oh.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
Oh Well, for my divorce, the first thing I
wanted to get rid of was my bed.
Not the mattress, though,because it's a Tempur-Pedic
mattress.
See, you didn't get rid of yourmattress either.
Well, I'm not about to throwfive grand down the drain,
courtney, but you didn't careabout the anonymous and sundry
whores.
No, yeah, I kept the bedbecause I have back problems.

(52:41):
Well, but I did get rid of,like the, you know, the
headboard.

Speaker 3 (52:45):
The frame, the frame and the headboard.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
Like I eat like and the sheets and all that.

Speaker 3 (52:49):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
Like you, gave it a makeover.
Oh, yes, yes, yes yes, I madeit my own, yes, but this her, oh
yes, yes, yes, yes, I made itmy own, yes, but this is this is
interesting, that she had kindof like this jealous streak.
Oh yeah, I mean, she was likenot into her they never spent
time with each other.

Speaker 3 (53:06):
She felt rejected by him, though I think that's true.

Speaker 2 (53:08):
So that's remember she was trying to do all of her
like dominatrix or like she wastrying to get him to that's hard
yeah and like she put, she putit all, she put the work in and
for what Invisible?

Speaker 3 (53:20):
And then she's like doing and she's so visible to
the rest of the city at thistime too, right, and?

Speaker 2 (53:25):
wanted, yes, wanted literally everywhere else but
her marriage.
Oh girl, yeah, get that divorce.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
Get that divorce, get that fake divorce because you
weren't actually married.
That's right, smart, smart um.
Needless to say, she took thebed with her to her new
apartment in the aftermath ofher breakup.
A broken-hearted myla couldoften be seen at her beloved
googies after taping her show,in her normal clothes and blonde

(53:55):
cropped hair, but still in herfull face of ghoulish vampire
makeup as she wolfed down aburger ain't that the way?

Speaker 2 (54:05):
yep ain't that the way?
I don't know, I do that shitlike I.
You gotta meet your needs.
Yeah, after a long day of set,I will look fucking crazy, like
my hair and makeup will be allcompletely done up, but I will
be in sweatpants and flippyfloppies housing a Taco Bell.

(54:28):
You know, what I mean.
Yep, I get this.
I get this.
I am her, she is me.

Speaker 3 (54:36):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (54:44):
In her journal journal she wrote for six years
the gypsy slept while the brainwas honed.
Then here I was a bacheloretteagain.
I used to watch hollywood'slove lorn come into schwab's to
pick up their bags of pills.
Mayo Method Bogart's ex came inwearing her full-length mink.
Even sunglasses wouldn't hideher suffering.
That was right after herhusband left her for Lauren

(55:07):
Bacall.
Then there was RobertMontgomery's ex-wife, elizabeth.
She too was hoping for a betterlife through pharmaceuticals.
They were always women.
The men drank themselves todeath, the women used pills.

Speaker 3 (55:23):
I love her writing.
I have to say I know this is ajournal, but it's good, I know.
She's so poetic.
She's poetic and dark and youcan tell that she influenced the
scripts, like just from thejournal alone, yeah.
Myla had already ditched thedress to impress ideology of her
20s in favor of scruffybohemianness, even though she

(55:44):
was actually in the midst of herhighest level of fame.
That's very on brand, I feellike the less you try, the more
famous you are.

Speaker 2 (55:52):
Yeah, or, like you know, are they homeless, or are
they?

Speaker 3 (55:58):
famous is she's like keanu reeves america's
sweetheart?

Speaker 2 (56:06):
yeah, if yeah, yeah, that's.
I mean you want to becomfortable.
I mean she was.
I mean she was snatched in thatoutfit.
So if I had to work and looklike that, I too would be
wearing loosey-goosey,flowy-hoey dresses in my

(56:29):
bachelorette era.

Speaker 1 (56:29):
That's right.
Let it all hang out.
Let it hang out.

Speaker 3 (56:33):
But the refusal to even remove her vampire makeup
was a new level of disregard forher appearance.
In.
March of 1955, Myla attendedthe seventh annual Emmy Awards.

Speaker 2 (56:45):
Wait, I want to go back, yeah, okay, to her journal
entry.
It's for six years the gypsyslept while the brain was honed.
I think that she's saying thatfor six years, while she was
married.
Yes, the gypsy slept while thebrain was honed.
So, like she lost, I think thatpart of herself.

Speaker 3 (57:07):
Yeah, Like the gypsy being the the one who the free
spirit, the free spirit and thethe one who can kind of like
wander and explore and all ofthat I think so.
And then the brain.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
I think she was able to focus on I connect so much
with that because, like, I wasmarried for like nine years.
No, no, no, we were together for10 years, but I was married for
I was also married for sixyears before we separated okay
so I was also married for sixyears and I will say, yeah, like

(57:43):
that, that free spirit, gypsypart of me slept and but like my
, the brain was honed.
But the, the, the career, theambition, the, the like, you
know that part of me was inoverdrive right, you were

(58:05):
focused on.
You were focused on your career, on yeah, on basically like
mental yeah, pursuits, yeah,mental pursuits, and like that
loose that loosey goosey flowyhoey part of me slapped, it's
slept.

Speaker 3 (58:21):
Yeah, she writes.
Well, see, look at you.
You got us thinking, myla, yougot us relating and thinking.
In March of 1955, myla attendedthe seventh annual Emmy Awards
at the same venue, the MoulinRouge, as the costume ball that
changed her life had been held.
For once, she wasn't expectedto dress like her character.

(58:42):
She had been nominated for themost outstanding television
personality of 1954.
A regular RuPaul, I know.
She wore an ice blue gown anddyed her hair to match.

Speaker 2 (58:55):
Oh, so cool.

Speaker 3 (58:57):
She's like Katy Perry perry oh my god, she's like
such a legend.
For this time I I kind of can'tI wonder, I wonder was this
televised?
Um, I don't think so I thinkthat this category wasn't?
I don't think so.

Speaker 2 (59:13):
This so cool, are there any?

Speaker 3 (59:15):
pictures of this Vampyra at the Emmy Awards.
Oh, so you can't see.
It's not in color.

Speaker 2 (59:21):
It's not in color, but she looks so cool.

Speaker 3 (59:24):
She does look cool.
She has like a little fur onand her nails look metallic.

Speaker 2 (59:29):
And she's wearing a crown.
She looks so cool.
She looks like an ice queen.

Speaker 3 (59:35):
She does, and if you can picture it in color, it's
like with the blue hair yeah.
Maybe that's why you could getaway with stuff like that,
actually, even if it wasn't likefrowned upon or if you wanted
to make a shock of the night.

Speaker 2 (59:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (59:49):
Amongst your peers, but the footage was going to be
in black and white.
I kind of love it.
Her friend Jack Simmons was herdate, wearing a rented tux.
For just one night they werethe Hollywood elite, but after
his performance in East of Edenit was really James Dean who was
becoming one of Hollywood'selite, and now it was Myla who
was a blight on his image.

Speaker 2 (01:00:11):
Oh no, I know, I hate this.

Speaker 3 (01:00:15):
There was an alleged romance between them and
whisperings of their sharedinterest in the occult, and
Warner Brothers was not into it,so Jimmy had started to
distance himself.
He even gave an interview tocolumnist Hedda Hopper in which
he allegedly said I don't datewitches and I dig cartoons even

(01:00:35):
less.

Speaker 2 (01:00:38):
Vampyra was merely a subject about which I wanted to
learn, and after engaging thegirl in conversation, I found
out that she knew absolutelynothing and is only obsessed
with her Vampyra makeup.

Speaker 3 (01:00:53):
Knife in the heart, ew In the back.
In the back, you're right.
Yeah, obviously with pressurefrom the studio, jimmy had
allowed his career and ambitionto trump his friendship and Myla
, who had considered him herbest friend, was devastated.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
It almost sounded like you said breast friend,
okay, okay.
And Myla, who had consideredhim her best friend, was
devastated a bosom buddy yeshere come my son, my son suckle
on my, yeah, suckle up, butperhaps we're more sisterly and

(01:01:32):
brotherly, yeah, um, yeah, itmight have.
This sucks because also, shejust you know, she just had her
divorce and yeah, you know menare disappointing they are, men
are, just they are, they are.
Maybe cut that out I'm very no,it's all right.

(01:01:54):
It's not a good time for memore women.

Speaker 3 (01:01:59):
It's okay, you can say it.
Say it, we all feel this.
You know what?

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
yes, like what the fuck?
I mean?
I understand, in a way,outgrowing friendships.
That happens, sure.
Especially I'm not friends withthe same people that I was
friends with in my early 20s.
No, yeah, it changes.
But to turn on her and say suchnasty things in a public

(01:02:29):
article.

Speaker 3 (01:02:30):
Yeah, it's just it's.
It's has like a total disregardfor her.

Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
Yeah, and I mean it's one thing to be like.
Listen, the studio says I haveto do this.

Speaker 3 (01:02:41):
I don't mean it yeah, you kind of have to.
I think you just have to belike forward if you're about
stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
I mean, would you, how would okay, how, courtney
bombquist, yes, how would youfeel if, for some reason, our
friendship was deemed a problemand I was famous enough to wear
like some fucking studiowackadoo, was like you have to
distance yourself from CourtneyBlomquist?
How would you feel, even if Idid you the courtesy of of

(01:03:12):
warning you?
Like, listen, I have to, I justdon't.

Speaker 3 (01:03:16):
Well, would part of that be that you have to like,
kick me out of my house?

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
Property.
No, no, no.
I would just have to likepublicly humiliate you.
I would just have to publiclyhumiliate you.
I would just have to publiclyhumiliate you.

Speaker 3 (01:03:32):
No, that would be awful.

Speaker 2 (01:03:34):
Like even even if I warned you up front that it was
gonna happen, yeah, would youstill want to be friends with me
?

Speaker 3 (01:03:40):
no, I think I what I would understand, if it is, if
there was something that madeyou have to distance yourself
from me, just to distanceyourself because it didn't look
good for you, or whatever likefrom a pr standpoint or whatever
that I would understand if itwas simply like I just have to
not be like in photographs withstandpoint or whatever.
That I would understand if itwas simply like I just have to
not be like in photographs withyou or something that even would

(01:04:01):
hurt a little bit.
But I would understand and Ithink that if it was like you
have to say bad stuff about me,it's just hard to even imagine a
context where that's like right, you know where I have to go on
record and do shit on you.

Speaker 2 (01:04:14):
That's the thing.

Speaker 3 (01:04:15):
I don't think he had to go on record.
I think like he didn't have todo that.
He could have just been like Idon't know her that well.

Speaker 2 (01:04:20):
That's all like rumors yeah, could have just
said that unsubstantiated rumorsyeah, exactly unsubstantiated
claim I wonder if they actuallydid ever have a romance, does it
say in her she, she has saidthat they don't.
He doesn't deserve it.
Doesn't deserve it.
No, he doesn't.

Speaker 3 (01:04:38):
At the same time, myla was feeling cornered in her
career.
Her close ties to the stationwere keeping her from expanding
her opportunities.
When she got an offer to be onthe popular talk show, the
George Goebel Show, she knew shehad to say yes.
Stars like Jimmy Stewart andKirk Douglas had made
appearances on the show and itfelt like an opportunity for

(01:05:00):
visibility that you just don'tpass up.
It was the highest rated showon TV.
That's big.
But the show filmed at 10 pm onSaturday night and Mila would
never make it back to her ownshow in time to film at 11.
So KABC forbade her from doingthe George Goebel show, but she

(01:05:21):
did it anyway.

Speaker 2 (01:05:22):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (01:05:23):
Oh, I'm so proud of you, girl.
Documentarian Ray Green isheard narrating over the clip of
this.
It was used in his 2012 filmVampyra and Me and it does
represent the largest viewershipthat Vampyra ever had.
Her show was only on local TVand George Goebbels was
nationwide with an audience ofmillions.

(01:05:44):
So this is the clip and it,like I said, the narration is on
it and it's just because theyactually like, dug this up.
Mm, hmm dug this up, mm-hmm.

Speaker 4 (01:06:02):
Young man.
Who are you?
What is this?
Vote to come in, mr Gobo, wecan have a nice little Ow.
Don't step on the cat's tail.

(01:06:25):
I don't see any cat.
We don't have a cat, just histail.
Do you mind if I smoke?
No, not at all.

Speaker 3 (01:06:38):
And the bench she's on just starts smoking.

Speaker 2 (01:06:43):
And she's just doing all these poses.

Speaker 4 (01:06:45):
Yes, there are layers here uncommon for the time.

Speaker 2 (01:07:03):
Vampyra is the actress in the sketch, not the
role.

Speaker 4 (01:07:09):
Just a moment, let me introduce myself.
I'm Mrs Jones, just plain, mrsJonesones just plain jones, who
lives next door on any street inamerica this makes vampire real

(01:07:33):
in a sense, at least in thesyntax of the show.

Speaker 1 (01:07:36):
Say Mrs Jones, did anybody ever tell you that you
look like a?

Speaker 4 (01:07:44):
Vampire.

Speaker 2 (01:07:45):
Yeah, no, no oh, that's such a cool way to

(01:08:09):
introduce your character.
Like, what a really reallyfunny sketch yeah, like it was.
It's funny, it holds up, itholds up and she, her, her
physical acting and comedictiming is brilliant.
Yeah, and that can't be taught.
That can't be taught.
Oh, it's so good.

Speaker 3 (01:08:29):
Yeah, it's very good and I'll include a link to this.
But Myla didn't make it back intime to film and the network
was livid.
They owned only a minorityshare of her character, but
still 49 percent, so theycouldn't simply recast her.
So, selig j seligman, thestation owner, I know, stop it,

(01:08:58):
selig j seligman selig jace, Idon't know how you say that.

Speaker 2 (01:09:04):
That's like john j johnman yeah, johnman, not
johnson.

Speaker 3 (01:09:12):
john j john, I like that.
That's like the name of.
Like a men in black, you knowwhat I mean.
Like an alien, an alienpretending to be a human.

Speaker 2 (01:09:23):
Yeah, exactly that's what.
That's what this network execsounds like, and you know what
Nothing has changed.

Speaker 3 (01:09:30):
Nothing has changed.
So Selig J Seligman called andessentially demanded that she
sign over more.
They wanted the rights to hercharacter and the rights to
syndicate the show.

Speaker 2 (01:09:44):
In Myla's words, the man who owned the station called
me on Tuesday morning.
He was obnoxious and makingunreasonable demands and tried
to manipulate me into signing mylife away for nothing.
I told him he didn't know it,but there was a God and he's
listening to you and watchingyou.
And then I hung up.

(01:10:05):
Then I learned that I offendedone big ugly ego who was super
powerful, and he decided to fixme.

Speaker 3 (01:10:15):
So Seligman put an end to the Vampyra show just a
week after her appearance on theGeorge Gogol show, which is
Bastard move.
Yeah, she was contractually notallowed to appear as Vampyra
for six months, which was longenough for her hot iron to grow
cold, and it was at this pointthat Myla broke down.

Speaker 2 (01:10:41):
Yeah, that's pretty devastating divorce.

Speaker 3 (01:10:43):
best friend stabs you in the back and then you have
this little high of being onthis show.
It's a pretty big high actuallyyeah, yeah huge high yeah, and
then you can't again.

Speaker 2 (01:10:54):
if you cannot capitalize on momentum, you're
dead in the water in here,especially, like you know,
nowadays we have social mediaand you can kind of do your own
thing Right.
You have a little bit morepower with that and people.
You're more reachable rightWith this.
If you're off a show, if yourplatform is taken away from you,

(01:11:21):
that's yeah, no one can see you.

Speaker 3 (01:11:22):
Oh, so myla broke down yes, after being let go
from the station, myla's mother,sophie, was called upon to help
.
Myla was in terrible shape andhad smashed all the mirrors in
her apartment and cut off allher hair.

Speaker 2 (01:11:37):
Unsure what to do.
She had a little bit of amentee bee Yep A mentee bee,
it's true.

Speaker 3 (01:11:44):
Unsure of what to do, sophie dumped water on her head
to try to snap her out of it.
I mean snap out of it.
Yeah, just picturing SharonMoonstruck and Sophie Niemi is

(01:12:08):
played by none other than Cher.
Uh, myla called Marlon Brandofor help, but he was in a place
where he was convinced thatAlbert Einstein was
communicating with him frombeyond the grave.
So Milo didn't find him to be areliable shoulder to cry on.
He thought Einstein had said tohim you young people, you must
move quickly.

Speaker 2 (01:12:28):
Time is running out.
Get out there and move.
Change the world before it'stoo late.

Speaker 3 (01:12:33):
And I'm sure she was like hey, buddy, I'm the one
going through the breakdown,Okay.
Okay late and I'm sure she waslike, hey, buddy, I'm the one
going through the breakdown,okay, okay.
Yeah, mila was still afrequenter of googies, but her
trio had been reduced down to aduo just her and jack simmons.
Jimmy had been hanging out withfrank sinatra, judy garland and
lauren bacall at the villacapri where he had once been

(01:12:53):
undesirable riffraff.
Now he was a star, but onenight he did stop in and sweep
Myla away on a motorcycle.
They stole hot dogs, buns andmarshmallows and roasted them on
a hobo stove, which is waxcardboard, a flame and a can,
while overlooking Hollywood.
Myla brought up Hedda Hopper'sarticle and Dean simply told her

(01:13:17):
she's a harpy.
Myla brought up Hedda Hopper'sarticle and Dean simply told her
she's a harpy.

Speaker 2 (01:13:20):
Myla, Don't believe everything you read.
Gas lighting.

Speaker 3 (01:13:25):
Yep, he denied it.
What a dick, mm-hmm.
But he's like let me take youon this like secret date where
no one will see us.

Speaker 2 (01:13:34):
Yeah, in the middle of the night, yep, using a hobo
stove, yep.

Speaker 3 (01:13:38):
Yep, cheap date, cheap date.
Both James Dean and MarlonBrando used to come to visit
Myla by climbing through herunlocked window what the fuck?
Just so they could get thaticonic scream out of her.
Oh, it's just you.
Oh, it's just you, brando, it'sjust you, oh it's just you,
brando, it's just you dean.

Speaker 2 (01:13:58):
You know how screaming relaxes me.
This is like why did I justimagine clarissa explains it all
, but except it's two a-listactors right climbing through
her window?

Speaker 3 (01:14:11):
window.
That makes it creepier, becausethen it's like a teenage girl.
This is 30 something woman, butyeah, oh my oh my gosh.
So um brando had started it andbecause he was jimmy's acting
idol, he followed his example.
Okay, jimmy came to visit onelast time before his death, but
myla wasn't there.
She had a giant empty brasspicture frame hanging on her

(01:14:35):
wall and Jimmy had cut out anear, both eyes and one nostril
from one of the eight by 10glossies of himself that he kept
in his car, and he made alittle collage of that, by the
way, the eight by 10 glossies.

Speaker 2 (01:14:50):
that's his headshots.
He basically had a bunch ofprinted out headshots of himself
in his car.

Speaker 3 (01:14:54):
I guess so.
Yeah, but he was like.
I guess you're right.
Yeah, I think he was likefamous enough at this point, but
it was kind of new, so like heprobably just still have the
headshots in his car.

Speaker 2 (01:15:05):
Yeah, honestly same.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I used tokeep a stack of headshots in my
car for the longest time, beforeeverything went fully digital.
That's hilarious.
So you just like made a collageof a bunch of his little parts
little body parts and put itright before he died.
That's kind of actually creepy.

Speaker 3 (01:15:23):
It is.
He tacked them up with a pieceof Mila's costume jewelry, a
scabbard and dagger affixed witha chain.
Art.

Speaker 2 (01:15:31):
Mm, hmm.

Speaker 3 (01:15:32):
He also focused her ceiling light to spotlight them.
He also focused her ceilinglight to spotlight them.
It was strange and creepy,which was fitting for their
friendship.
So Myla decided to do somethingstrange and creepy too.
She used one of her oldpublicity postcards for Vampyra
that pictured her loungingbeside an open grave and wrote
Wish you were here, Love Myla.

(01:15:53):
Not knowing his new address,myla had the note delivered to
Jimmy's new stomping grounds,the Villa Capri, so it was seen
by much of the staff.
So they weren't.

Speaker 2 (01:16:06):
If she didn't know where he lived, then they were
not close.

Speaker 3 (01:16:10):
Yeah, I mean I think he probably recently moved is
what I would imagine because ofthe fame boost, and he also
wasn't really close.

Speaker 2 (01:16:20):
He wasn't close with her at this time yeah, so still
crawling through a goddamnwindow.

Speaker 3 (01:16:24):
I know, I know, um, so it was.
But this like little postcarduh, was seen by much of the
staff before it made its way tojimmy, if it ever made its way
him.
He had called Myla asking ifshe'd sent him a mean picture,
and it was then that she foundout it had been intercepted by
the maitre d' of the Villa Capri.
She told him it wasn't mean andthat he'd have to see it for

(01:16:47):
himself, but that was the lasttime they spoke.
At 6 pm on September 30th 1955,the costume jewelry dagger came
looseimmy's collage and swunglike a pendulum from its chain,
and right afterwards miloreceived the call that james
dean had died.
Milo was shattered by his deathbut felt too fragile to attend

(01:17:12):
his funeral in indiana, but hewas buried on october yeah, and
you had to go to indiana, andwe've talked about this.

Speaker 2 (01:17:20):
You know you go and you.
My mental health is hanging bya threat and I need to go.
You know where I need to goindiana.

Speaker 3 (01:17:30):
A funeral in indiana.
Um so he was buried on october8th 1955.
It was the same day that mylawas released from her kabc
contract and retained her rightsto the vampire character.
Wow, so obviously that sours it, it's a big day it's a big day
and then she would have beenhappy that day.

(01:17:53):
But she can't be right.
So sophie came to help heragain as myla was moving
directly from career grief intothe grief of losing a close
friend.
She played the rosemary clooneysong hey there repeatedly and
began to feel that she couldcommunicate with jimmy from
beyond the grave oh no daysafter his death, she swore, the

(01:18:15):
ear of the collage he'd left onthe wall fluttered, with no
breeze coming from the window torustle it.
So Myla asked the ear.

Speaker 2 (01:18:23):
What was Jimmy's favorite drumbeat?
Was it too fast and one slow,or one slow and too fast?

Speaker 3 (01:18:31):
According to Myla, it wiggled two times slowly and
then one more time.
It wiggled two times slowly andthen one more time, succumbing
to her grief.
Myla had taken to wearing allblack along with a large
crucifix, and she would recountstories of the wiggling ear like
this to curious throngs atGoogies.
Some were intrigued enough towant to witness the ear for
themselves, and Myla obliged.
But while she convinced somethat he was communicating via

(01:18:55):
his own photographed ear, othersmocked her for believing this,
and it would be this story andthe postcard she'd sent him
before his death that would comeback to haunt her.
Oh no, but for now she wassimply haunted by Hollywood and
all of the memories of her dearfriend that were contained
within the smoggy city.
So, as was her custom, shemoved to New York for a fresh

(01:19:16):
start, as we talked about lasttime she was back and forth,
back and forth.

Speaker 2 (01:19:20):
Yeah, now again.
When Marlon Brando asked howshe'd support herself, myla had
said I suppose I could dotelevision commercials, or maybe
I'll be a blues singer.
I can't sing worth a damn, butI sure as hell know how to be
blue.

Speaker 3 (01:19:39):
Yeah.
So, with a heavy heart andcareer ambitions that were more
half-baked than ever.
Myla boarded a bus.
Once again, she had just $210to her name.
What, mm-hmm?
But she found herself a home inthe third-story walk-up
apartment of a 46th streetbrownstone.
There was one practical angleto her new move she had

(01:20:01):
befriended actor tony perkins,who would later become eternally
famous for playing norman batesin psycho, and she felt that
he'd be able to of course I knowshe befriended the, the guy
that would be, I know, ohates, Iknow.
Oh my God, it's truly like ifyou're creepy, you're Mila

(01:20:21):
Nermy's friend, yeah, and shefelt that he'd be able to help
her with theater connections inthe city now that he was once
again performing on Broadway.

Speaker 2 (01:20:33):
Where are I?
Don't see her making any femalefriends.
Where are they?

Speaker 3 (01:20:38):
That's a really good point.
That's a really good point.

Speaker 2 (01:20:41):
It's all these.

Speaker 3 (01:20:41):
Like in the beginning , there were there were like
like last the last chapter, Ifeel like there were, but yeah,
now it's all spooky men that thecircus girl, the girl that she
like went to the circus with,yeah moved it.
Yeah, she had like some, like a, and the roommate where they
were like starving themselvesyes, yes, yes.

Speaker 2 (01:21:00):
Was that more of a roommate, more of a friend or a
roommate though?

Speaker 3 (01:21:03):
Sometimes you, I mean they moved to the city together
, so I don't know if it all.
It might have all beenconvenient.

Speaker 2 (01:21:10):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ok, so now she's friends
with yeah, another actor.

Speaker 3 (01:21:16):
Another creepy actor, having once been told that her
aura was lavender by a Hollywoodstreet prophet named Peter the
Hermit, that her aura waslavender by a Hollywood street
prophet named.
Peter the Hermit.
It's in this book, it's all inthis book.

(01:21:37):
Oh my God, myla embraced thiscolor as a hallmark of her next
chapter and painted everythingin the apartment, including the
refrigerator and the stove, aserene shade of lavender.
You know that's very.

Speaker 2 (01:21:48):
It's very calming.

Speaker 3 (01:21:49):
It's very calming.

Speaker 2 (01:21:50):
I'm about to paint my bathroom lavender.

Speaker 3 (01:21:52):
Yeah, it's going to be lovely.
What do you think?

Speaker 2 (01:21:54):
my aura is my color.

Speaker 3 (01:21:56):
Yellow.

Speaker 2 (01:21:58):
That's just because that's my favorite color, though
.

Speaker 3 (01:22:01):
No, I think it's true .

Speaker 2 (01:22:08):
I think, you're sunshine oh, I think you're
sunshine.
Yours is green.
Green is my favorite color, Iknow, but but it's also your
aura, you know maybe that's whythey're our favorites.
Yeah, that might be it.
That might be it.

Speaker 3 (01:22:19):
Yep, we know, we know you just always know your aura,
so, but her time in thisapartment would be anything but
serene, oh, no, the lavenderdidn't work.

Speaker 2 (01:22:32):
It did not work.

Speaker 3 (01:22:33):
I'm sorry to say that Myla endured a terrifying break
in by a young man named EllisBarber.
Knowing the crazed Vampyra fansthat were out there, you'd
think that Barber may have beenone of them, but in actuality he
had no idea who she was.
He just had a history ofburglarizing and attempted rape,
and myla was his unfortunatevictim.
No, he had pushed his way intoher the apartment when myla

(01:22:57):
cracked the door open.
Upon hearing his knock, shethought he was tony perkins.
Barb had told Myla you won'tlive past morning While lying on
top of her and holding a razorblade to her throat.
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (01:23:11):
I know.

Speaker 3 (01:23:11):
It's like the nightmare we all have yes.
And then, amazingly, he fellasleep that way.

Speaker 2 (01:23:19):
Do you think he was just so high on something and
then I don't know, because he'ddone this before, or like had he
had been up for so long and waslike in a manic sort of episode
?

Speaker 3 (01:23:34):
obviously he's not an okay person.
Something's wrong, I don't know, but like he'd done this kind
of thing before he fell asleepon top of her.
I know what the fuck Truly.
So she wriggled out frombeneath him and fled down the
stairs.
He came after her, attemptingto choke her and ripping off her
sweater, and in pulling awayfrom him she tumbled down the

(01:23:58):
stairs twice.
She managed to run outsidebruised and topless, screaming
for the police, and once herattacker had been caught, myla
learned from police that EllisBarber was known to the police
as the vamp, what I know.
He ended up at BellevueHospital for mental evaluation

(01:24:20):
after the attack, but that's allwe really know about where he
ended up.
But the Ruthless Press wasinterested in Myla again, now
that they could cover thescuffle between Vampyra and the
Vamp.

Speaker 2 (01:24:32):
Oh, my God.
No, I know.

Speaker 3 (01:24:35):
It's so tacky.

Speaker 2 (01:24:36):
That's so gross.

Speaker 3 (01:24:38):
Despite how traumatized she was, myla
cooperated with the story andallowed the press to photograph
her pointing to her bruises.
They cared about selling astory and a catchy headline, but
nobody seemed to care for Mylaas a human being, and I do have
a picture of that photograph inhere.
I hope she got paid for this.
I don't think she did Look at.

Speaker 2 (01:25:01):
She's like kind of posing and pointing to her
bruises look at, she's like kindof posing and pointing to her
bruises.
I do like that in one of herpointing she's pointing with her
middle finger.

Speaker 3 (01:25:12):
Let me see.
Oh my god, I did not catch that.

Speaker 2 (01:25:16):
You're right, she's pointing to one on her shoulder.
Yeah, she's pointing to one onher shoulder and kind of looking
glamorous about it, and thenwith her other hand she's
pulling up the side of her dressand with her hand, but pointing
with her middle finger- Maybeshe was doing a little fuck you.
Maybe she was.
I mean, I feel like she.

(01:25:37):
She was very purposeful.

Speaker 3 (01:25:42):
Yes, but I also wonder if this was a moment
where it was like just that darkdesperation.
Yeah, I don't think she gotpaid to do this article.
I bet she didn't.
I don't know.
I mean it might have been likeoh, it's press, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:25:57):
You know me, I'm just so worried about women getting
paid.
I don't think she Girl.

Speaker 3 (01:26:02):
We're all worried about her getting paid because
it didn't happen enough so shereturned to hollywood, trusting
that she could endure painfulmemories in exchange for the
feeling of safety and beingamongst friends.
But immediately upon returningto the city, okay, so she's back
to hollywood again.

Speaker 2 (01:26:16):
Yep, zip, zip.
I mean I would.
I would been out of thatapartment so fast.

Speaker 3 (01:26:21):
Oh, for sure, of course I would no, of course no
take me across the country.
Yeah, get me away immediately.
Upon returning to the city, asleazy magazine called whisper
issued a story that inflictedemotional bruises that were just
as vicious as her physical ones.
It was a five-page spread thatwas titled james dean's black
madonna the most chilling,tragic love story in Hollywood.

(01:26:44):
It asserted incorrectly thatJames and Myla had been lovers
and that he dumped her when he'dbecome a star.
Truthfully, he partially diddump her as a friend when he
became a star, but that wasn'tthe story they were going with.

Speaker 2 (01:26:58):
Anyway, the article featured photos of Jimmy's
cutout collage on Myla's walland of the postcard she's sent
to the villa capri.

Speaker 3 (01:27:09):
Uh, it's.
How did they get a hold of it?
I mean, I guess like a waiteror something gross, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:27:13):
And then she showed the eared up people, that's
right, yeah to do that.

Speaker 3 (01:27:17):
It said that myla was a witch and she'd cast a death
spell upon james dean.

Speaker 2 (01:27:22):
What?
Oh, just the history of peoplecalling women witches and then
burning them or their careers tothe ground.

Speaker 3 (01:27:35):
Yeah and her careers already burned to the ground in
a lot of ways, and then this iswhat happens.
It's like the final nail in thecoffin really yeah.
And she began receiving deaththreats from James Dean's fans.
And on top of all of theseexternal stressors, she was flat
broke.
So she moved in with her mother, sophie, in a one-bedroom

(01:27:58):
apartment.

Speaker 2 (01:27:59):
Dear God, I know it's dear, god, I know it's dear.

Speaker 3 (01:28:09):
A one bedroom apartment.

Speaker 2 (01:28:10):
Listen, I had to do that for four months.
You did when, when you had yoursurgery, when, I had knee
reconstruction my parents movedin with me for four months to
take care of me, and I'm sograteful that I had someone to
take.

(01:28:30):
I needed that.
But, my God, the three of uswere sharing a one bedroom
apartment I don't know if I'vetold this story already in this
part and I was me, my mom, mydog and the machine the ice
machine around my knee and themachine that would bend and

(01:28:53):
straighten my leg for me sixhours a day all shared the bed.
My dad slept on the couch and Iwent a little crazy.
I did go a little bit nuts.

Speaker 3 (01:29:08):
I remember this time that machine was huge.

Speaker 2 (01:29:13):
If you're interested, there is a picture of it and me
on my.
I documented my recovery prettyextensively so that I could
look back and be able to see theprogress, because I definitely
didn't feel it a lot of the time.
But there is a picture of meand I called it the torture

(01:29:33):
machine but it was also tortureLiving with my parents in a one
bedroom apartment.
Yeah, when I tell you I am Vamp, am vampire and she is me yes,
it's kindred, it's a connectionit's a soul connection.

Speaker 3 (01:29:53):
It is sorry, I was just eating a bite of that
delicious cinnamon roll.
Um.
So yes, luckily her mother wasnow sober.
She doted on Myla, albeitresentfully.
She tended to I mean, shetended to her cats, washed her

(01:30:13):
clothing, did the dishes andmade sure Myla remembered to
bring a sweater with her when itwas chilly.

Speaker 2 (01:30:18):
So she took care of her little depressed ass.
Yeah she did.
She was there for her when sheneeded her.
She was, she was All right, mom, you find you get some points
here.
You got some points here.

Speaker 3 (01:30:32):
And she also gets some points for, like you know,
uh, freaking out on um OrsonWelles.

Speaker 2 (01:30:40):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:30:41):
That was, that was pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:30:42):
Yeah, that was pretty good, yeah, that was really
good.

Speaker 3 (01:30:43):
And she often had to make excuses for her daughter
when she double booked herselfand was out on a date with one
man while another one showed upat her door for the same purpose
Me.

Speaker 2 (01:30:56):
If this isn't me, the amount of times I've double
booked myself in so manydifferent ways.
Yep, because my ADHD ass didn'tput shit in my iCal.

Speaker 3 (01:31:09):
I feel like you're good with your calendar.
I'm getting better.

Speaker 2 (01:31:12):
Because of the amount of times I have double booked
myself, Courtney, and been soembarrassed or accidentally
unprofessional.

Speaker 3 (01:31:21):
Yeah, girl, I get it.

Speaker 2 (01:31:23):
Myla, I am you.
Her mom made excuses for her.
That is that.
That is.
That's a homie right there.
That's more than a mom.

Speaker 3 (01:31:34):
That's a homie, it's true and so sophie had a thing
or two to legitimately complainabout, and she did complain,
also my mother, she said, of herdaughter.

Speaker 2 (01:31:56):
Myla keeps on godly hours.
She hangs out with creeps.
She doesn't help with thegroceries.
She spends all her money ontaxis.
Her behavior is shameful.

Speaker 3 (01:32:06):
Says the newly sober person.
I feel like that's a newlysober attitude.

Speaker 4 (01:32:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:32:12):
God, you're such a your life's in the gutter, why
can't you be like me and cleanyourself up?
Just when Myla had scraped thebottom of her barrel of funds, a
job came along.
That was the bottom of hercareer barrel.
She had been offered a part inB-movie director Ed Wood's new
picture, which at that point wastitled Grave Robbers from Outer

(01:32:35):
Space.
I mean on brand.
I mean on brand.
On brand.
On brand on brand on brand.

Speaker 2 (01:32:43):
Honestly, I wouldn't say no if I were the best thing
about a B movie.

Speaker 3 (01:32:50):
I mean, you know me, I wouldn't say no, even if I
wasn't yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:33:04):
Also, I mean, what is Grave robbers from?
Oh, we're gonna.

Speaker 3 (01:33:09):
What is, what is okay , we're gonna talk about okay,
um, they offered 200 in cash, or2300 today for one day of work.
That ain't bad, it's not bad,that ain't bad.
And the film would feature herbeloved Bella Lugosi.

Speaker 2 (01:33:25):
A chance to reunite with her bestie Bella, that's
right.

Speaker 3 (01:33:30):
Because she was so broke, Mila was tempted, but
because of Wood's schlockyreputation I used it again, she
sure did.
She sure did.
She thought working with himmight put the final nail in
Vampyra's coffin.
So she agreed to read thescript, but held off on
accepting.
And just when it seemed thatthe well was truly dry, some

(01:33:53):
promising opportunities aroselike the walking dead that would
keep Ed Wood in the wings for alittle bit longer, and that is
where we will pick up next time.

Speaker 2 (01:34:04):
Oh, my gosh girl.
I hope this is, I hope this isjust a slump girl.
I'm rooting for you.

Speaker 3 (01:34:11):
I am rooting for you yep, well, I mean, she's also
somebody who is, again only kindof famous, and now we know why,
and you know well, there are,there are I mean back then too.

Speaker 2 (01:34:26):
There are.
There are plenty of famous,famous people that I'm not
familiar with, that's true theirwork.
So very true, you know, so wedon't know, so we don't know um
I love her.

Speaker 3 (01:34:39):
I love her, I'm just eating her cinnamon roll just
sorry guys move this microphoneaway from my mouth.
Keep, keep going.

Speaker 2 (01:34:45):
I love her so much she's.
I think she did the thing thata lot of young eager performers
often do when you don't have,either if you have the wrong
people quote unquote looking outfor you if you, or you have no
one looking out for you ifyou're non-union you don't have

(01:35:07):
a union to protect you.
And she just jumped at thisopportunity and then kind of got
locked into it and then, likeall her eggs were in this basket
.
And then, as soon as sheexercised any sort of anything

(01:35:28):
with her career, any it gotripped out from under her by a
stupid, stupid, stupid man, bySelig J Seligman, by John J
Johnman, the bastard For real?

Speaker 3 (01:35:44):
No, it's, it's just, but we'll, we'll see.
We'll see what uh, what comesto be of, uh, of Miss Myla Nurmi
but I thought this was justgonna be a two part series.

Speaker 2 (01:35:55):
I'm so excited that there's a third part oh, there
is a third part.

Speaker 3 (01:35:59):
Yeah, it's just her story.
Give us a little hint it willit, will it, will it.

Speaker 2 (01:36:03):
Does it get better?
I need some good news right now.
I mean, it's a.
Her story is so good.
Can you give us a little?

Speaker 3 (01:36:08):
hint, will it, will it, will it, does it get better?
I need some good news right now.
I mean, it's a look.
I think that, like we said,she's a counterculture queen and
I think that, without givingaway anything, what I admire
about her is that I think thateven in the lowest moments of
her life, she always found hercounterculture people, her
counterculture tribe at all agesof her life.

(01:36:32):
But I do, I feel like she, like, was artistic even in the
lowest moments of her life.
I think she had like that, likeshe, that instinct that we've
seen from her the whole time.
Like always wanting to makecharacters, even when she had,
like a job selling magazines orwhatever you know, it's like
that never goes away with her,and that's what I really love
about her.

Speaker 2 (01:36:51):
I love that I mean, when I'm in a lot of pain, I
don't know what else to do withit except turn it into art.
So god, I love her I love her.

Speaker 3 (01:37:04):
I love her too, she's , and I feel like, yeah, like
it's one of those I I'm really Ithink we're doing a
three-parter on her, because Ithink this woman's story needs
to be told.
I mean, I am using the glamourghoul I've mentioned this in the
last episode, but it'sobviously still the source for
this one.
It's called glamour ghoul thepassions and pain of the real

(01:37:25):
vampyra, and it was written byher niece, but using a bunch of
her own writings, because herniece had access to all of that
stuff because at the time shewas her only living relative.
So I mean, I've I don't knowhow many people have read this
book I don't think it's thatmany and I thought it was like
just the most fascinating andincredible story, and so I'm

(01:37:50):
really glad to be talking aboutit on here, because's kind of
amazing, so you all should readthis book, cause it's it's
pretty great.
It's a story that needs to betold.
I mean, we're telling it, butyeah.

Speaker 2 (01:38:11):
Well, thank you for doing the Lord's work, Courtney.

Speaker 3 (01:38:15):
You're welcome.
You're welcome For all you gobsout there.

Speaker 2 (01:38:18):
Yeah, yeah, ghouls out there.
I'm bringing you the story ofmother.

Speaker 3 (01:38:33):
If we've piqued your curiosity, please subscribe on
Substack atdeadandkindoffamoussubstackcom.
We list each episode there,along with photos, newsletters,
sources and more.
You can also find us whereveryou get your podcasts.

Speaker 2 (01:38:41):
Dead and Kind of Famous is written, researched
and produced by CourtneyBlomquist.
It is co-hosted by MarissaRivera.
We tag team on socials.
Jesse Russell and CourtneyBlomquist do our editing.

Speaker 3 (01:38:53):
Until next time.
You might not be famous, butyou got a story to tell and
you're not dead yet.

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