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PODCAST

Dead and Kind of Famous

Courtney Blomquist and Marissa Rivera

Is the breaking news of today breaking you? Are true crime podcasts making you feel like trash? Then come on down and listen to us talk about old news and dead people who were NOT murdered!! Oooo ethical AND intriguing...This is the podcast where two friends - one who"s a nobody (Courtney Blomquist) and one who"s kinda famous (Marissa Rivera) - dive into the life stories of dead folks who enjoyed a touch or two of fame in their time and now reside permanently in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.So if you

tv & film film history

All Episodes

66:41

Miss Donut, the Cemetery Heiress : Holly Woodlawn Part 3

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2026/01/11

Send us a text A sex change budget blown and a cinematic breakup lead to upstate pig-slut shenanigans and a Miss Donut crown. Confused? You should be. In this episode, Holly finds her last name, meets Warhol, and almost ruins her chance with him shortly there after. If you've been listening to parts 1 and 2, it's no surprise that this chapter is quite the wild ride on the wild side. And get ready - Holly is going to be our first 5 part episode! Side note- apologies for the late episode posti...

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78:46

Esoteric Escapades: Holly Woodlawn Part 2

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2025/12/15

Send us a text From streetwalking to a pseudo housewife life, this episode is a journey in and of itself. Holly sold her body, slept on the subway, and even suffered from "streetwalking pneumonia". But she survived. She also met her future Warhol Factory counterparts, Candy Darling and Jackie Curtis, and found herself in a very serious relationship with a straight man who made the mistake of gifting her a Macy's credit card. This isn't a tidy origin story. In fact, it's wildly me...

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76:38

Lightning Strikes and Shaved Legs: Holly Woodlawn Part 1

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2025/11/23

Send us a text A lightning strike beside a soda machine. A pair of freshly shaved legs in a roadside motel. A runaway from Miami who would become the source of the first verse of Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side. She was a Warhol Superstar, trans icon, and hilarious writer as exemplified in her memoir, A Lowlife in High Heels. This is the origin story of Holly Woodlawn—born in Puerto Rico, raised between San Juan, New York, and Miami Beach—and trace how glamour became both her shield ...

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83:23

The Gregarious Aquarius : Carroll Righter

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2025/11/04

Send us a text We're back, baby! Season 2 of Dead and Kind of Famous is here for you so that you can continue to joyfully think about graveyards even though Halloween has passed. And catch up with Marissa and Courtney about how they're adjusting to living across the country from one another. But today, we're talking about Carroll Righter, "reader to the stars" and astrological legend who made horoscopes mainstream. Although he had many a celebrity client, he could never remember their names ...

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51:57

Cemetery Kisses and Peacocks: A Season 1 Finale

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2025/05/09

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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59:57

Punk to Paint: Tomata Du Plenty Part 2

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2025/04/14

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...

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60:56

Let's Do Things: Tomata Du Plenty Part 1

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2025/03/27

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 ...

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86:34

Punk Vampira: Maila Nurmi Part 4

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2025/02/27

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...

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79:34

Post Vampira: Maila Nurmi Part 3

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2025/02/13

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:/...

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14:06

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

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2025/01/16

Send us a textThis 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 additio...

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99:04

Prime Vampira: Maila Nurmi Part 2

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2025/01/02

Send us a textAs 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 ...

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95:43

Maila Nurmi Part 1: Pre-Vampira

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2024/11/28

Send us a textGet 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 tri...

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67:10

Rags to Rainbow: Toto (Terry) the Dog

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2024/11/14

Send us a textDid 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 eve...

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65:34

No More Bad Vibes: Christopher Jones Part 2

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2024/10/31

Send us a textToday, 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 his...

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82:14

Cheekbones and Demons: Christopher Jones Part 1

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2024/10/17

Send us a textWhat 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 Stree...

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5:53

Introducing: Dead and Kind of Famous

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2024/10/03

Send us a textHave 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 folk...

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58:12

Bon Vivant: Baron Clement Von Franckenstein

Dead and Kind of Famous ·

2024/10/03

Send us a textEver 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 obitu...

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17 results

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