Satan's Playground: Star Irma St. Paule
By: Elaine Lamkin

Irma St. Paule is a true force of nature. In her 70s, she continues to work steadily on both stage and screen and for horror fans, is best known for her roles in Dante Tomaselli’s “Desecration” as Grandmother Matilda and “Satan’s Playground” where she will terrify people as the evil Mrs. Leeds. Bloody-Disgusting had the privilege to speak with Irma recently and she was a most delightful and colorful character

BD: Thank you for taking time to speak with us, Ms. St. Paule (or may I call you Irma?). You have an amazing body of work but there doesn’t seem to be much information about you floating around. Would you mind giving us a brief synopsis of The Irma St. Paule Story? Where you are from? When did you decide to become an actor? That sort of thing.

ISP: Thank you, darling. I am originally from Odessa, Ukraine, born on March 23rd. My father was Turkish and my mother was Russian. She was also half-Jewish which caused my father’s family to hate her and after she died, one of them came to me and asked if I had known my mother was a Jew. That sort of thing did not matter to me but back then... When I was young, I was taken to see the Ballet Russes and after that, I wanted to be a ballerina but my mother wouldn't hear of such a thing! Her daughter, showing her legs in public! Anyway, we came to America and lived in New York. I had an older brother but he was ten years older than me so we were not close. I married very young and my husband wanted to go to Chicago so we moved there and I discovered that, instead of being a ballet dancer, I could be an actor so I enrolled at the Goodman School of Drama at the University of Chicago and studied there.

BD: Did your earliest work come on stage or in European films or something else entirely?

ISP: My earliest work was on the stage. My husband and I divorced, you know, yada, yada, all that, and I went back to New York where I did some other work for a while. But, in 1974, I returned to the business. I did a lot of off-Broadway and I was on Broadway with the WONDERFUL Mercedes Ruehl in “The Rose Tattoo”. I played “The Strega”…not a witch really, more of a gossip, a busybody. And we had a real goat on stage PLUS we were both barefoot so it was my job to watch out for, you know, the little goat droppings. There were still a few accidents, slipping around, but such an experience!

BD: What did your family think of your decision to become an actor?

ISP: By then, my family was mostly gone so I was able to do as I wished. And I did!

BD: When did you first meet director Dante Tomaselli? What was your initial impression of this young new director?

ISP: I first met Dante when he was casting his first film, “Desecration”. I was SO amazed he would cast ME! But as young as he was, I could see he was VERY talented, very competent.

BD: Your portrayal of Grandmother Matilda in “Desecration” is so amazing. Did you base her on anyone you knew? And I heard that originally, she was going to have problems with allergies and sneeze a lot but then Dante heard you cough and that’s how that was brought into the film – any comments on that?

ISP: It was SO cold when we filmed “Desecration”! I had gotten over the flu but still had that cough, like I have now, darling. It was the dead of winter, dead of winter and so cold.

BD: This was Danny Lopes’ first film and he was only 15-years old at the time. What was it like for you to work with such a young, unpolished actor?

ISP: Danny is such a good, good actor! I keep telling him he should get in the unions.

BD: Do you recall any amusing anecdotes from the “Desecration” set? It was such a frightening movie – were there any light moments or funny incidents that you care to share?

ISP: You know darling, all I remember is how cold it was! I honestly cannot remember any specific moments that were funny or not funny.

BD: At the time you were filming “Desecration”, did you have any idea that it would become the cult classic it has and that Dante would only become more popular and stronger as a director?

ISP: I had NO idea that “Desecration” would become what it has become. This wonderful cult classic. At the time, it was just a job for me. As for Dante, I could tell he was going to be someone special – so full of talent!

BD: Your character in “Satan’s Playground”, Mrs. Leeds, is quite an abrupt change, in some ways, from Matilda. How did you prepare to play such a psychotic character? And were you already familiar with the Legend of the Jersey Devil?

ISP: (Laughs) Darling, I have played SO many psychos… I think that wig helped. I bought it years ago for $3,000 and it’s made of human hair so that really helped in making Mrs. Leeds so frightening. And no, I wasn’t familiar with the Legend of the Jersey Devil but I am NOW (laughs)!!

BD: How was it to work with Ed Neal, Felissa Rose and Ellen Sandweiss, three horror icons? And to have Ed play your son? I have spoken with him on numerous occasions and he is absolutely hysterical.

ISP: You are so right, darling. Ed is such a funny, funny man. We would sit together between takes and make up limericks. And he would tell such stories – he has been married like two or three times and has children with each wife I believe. He lives down in Texas now. Very funny man. I didn’t spend much time with Felissa or Ellen but I know how hard they worked. Especially poor Felissa – all that running through the woods and screaming. You can’t fake that.

BD: I have to ask – what was it you snorted up your nose in that one rather unexpected scene? It was amazing to see your character go from the apparently kindly old lady who could be baking cookies back in her kitchen to this crazy, drug-snorting, mallet-wielding maniac. How difficult was it for you to make such a dramatic transformation?

ISP: That was fake – I snorted nothing up my nose, darling. And it was such fun to start out as this seemingly kindly old lady who lives out in the woods and reads palms and deteriorate into this completely crazy woman who might be a cannibal. There is a scene somewhere in the film where that is hinted at.

BD: You worked with Danny Lopes again but this time he’s an adult. Did it seem like a family reunion, especially having Christie Sanford and Salvatore Paul Piro there as well? And also Maureen Tomaselli, Dante’s mother, putting in another one of her cameos?

ISP: I love working with all of them, especially Danny. I have seen him grow up right in front of me. And Maureen, Dante’s mother, is such a delight. I love that he puts his mother in his movies – Dante does.

BD: According to the IMDb, you have been working steadily in movies since “The Oracle” in 1985 and have two films either already completed or in production. Do you ever plan to retire? Or is it just too much fun?

ISP: No darling, I will never retire (laughs). I just finished two films, “The Last New Yorker” where I play a barfly, and “Made in Brooklyn” where I play Mary, the lead. It is a small film about an old lady – that would be me obviously – who loses her key on the street and is trying to find it. And soon I will be doing a two-character play called “Vigil” in Rochester. I like to stay busy.

BD: Do you hope to work with Dante Tomaselli again? Any possible roles that might be coming in a future film of his that you can discuss?

ISP: Dante tells me there will possibly be a small role for me in his new film, “The Ocean”, though I don’t know why he would want to fly me all that way for a little role. But yes, I hope to work with Dante again. He is such a good director and treats everyone with such respect.

BD: Are you a fan of horror movies? If so, what are some of your favorites?

ISP: No darling, I honestly don’t care for horror movies. Except for Dante’s, of course.

BD: What is one thing about Irma St. Paule that no one knows but you would like people to know?

ISP: That I am currently moving out of my 5th-floor walkup, where I have lived for FIFTY years and am going to Yonkers, which I am not thrilled about but what can you do. I just don't have enough trash bags to throw everything away. It is terrible how many things one accumulates – the books, the old headshots, the old press clippings. OUT!! Everything must go!

December 2005