Dead and Kind of Famous

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Courtney Blomquist and Marissa Rivera

13 episodes

2 months ago

Send us a text 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: • Record from a bench in Hollywood Forever Cemetery on a cloudy day s...

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Episodes (13/13)

Dead and Kind of Famous

Cemetery Kisses and Peacocks: A Season 1 Finale

5 months ago

51 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

Punk to Paint: Tomata Du Plenty Part 2

Send us a text 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 creating art. That same year, he received an HIV diagnosis – a death sentence...

6 months ago

59 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

Let's Do Things: Tomata Du Plenty Part 1

Send us a text 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 Kids in Seattle, to pioneering synthesizer-based punk with The Screamers, Tomato consistently positioned himself at the cutting edge ...

7 months ago

1 hour

Dead and Kind of Famous

Punk Vampira: Maila Nurmi Part 4

Send us a text 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 friendships (including Marlon Brando) and her counterculture grandm...

8 months ago

1 hour 26 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

Post Vampira: Maila Nurmi Part 3

Send us a text 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 https://youtu.be/qsb74pW7goU?si=BdDQ_BQEM72T2pkU Follow us on... Substack- https:/...

8 months ago

1 hour 19 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

We Love You, Los Angeles: Remembering the Victims of the Fires

Send us a text 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 we referenced and used as a source for this episode in add...

9 months ago

14 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

Prime Vampira: Maila Nurmi Part 2

Send us a text 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 infamous James Dean, and explore how their shared fascination with the macabre...

10 months ago

1 hour 39 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

Pre-Vampira: Maila Nurmi Part 1

Send us a text 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 darkness. Maila's path was anything but conventional, and through her ...

11 months ago

1 hour 35 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

Rags to Rainbow: Toto (Terry) the Dog

Send us a text 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 becoming the family dog of famed dog trainer, Carl Spitz, who taught Toto ...

11 months ago

1 hour 3 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

No More Bad Vibes: Christopher Jones Part 2

Send us a text 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 personal tragedies, such as the deaths of Sharon Tate and Jim Morrison, on ...

1 year ago

1 hour 5 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

Cheekbones and Demons: Christopher Jones Part 1

Send us a text 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 navigate Jones's on-screen triumphs and setbacks, from his role in the cult classic "Wild in the ...

1 year ago

1 hour 22 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

Introducing: Dead and Kind of Famous

Send us a text 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 focusing on the graves of the, well… dead and kind of famous fol...

1 year ago

5 minutes

Dead and Kind of Famous

Bon Vivant: Baron Clement Von Franckenstein

Send us a text 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 marble tombstone, the origin of his captivating surname, and even improvise an obit...

1 year ago

58 minutes