Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent is based on Maila Nurmi.
While some believed that Maleficent, just like Lady Tremaine, was also based on Eleanor Audley, there were also rumors flying around that the real prototype for the Disney villain was the actress, Maila Nurmi. This was confirmed after the actress’ death — her old diaries were discovered, where she wrote about working with Disney to create Maleficent.