Irish McCalla

infobox actress


caption=1950s publicity still as TV's Sheena
birthdate=birth date|1928|12|25
birthplace=Pawnee City, Nebraska
deathdate=death date and age|2002|2|1|1928|12|25
deathplace=Tucson, Arizona
occupation=Film, television actress
spouse=Patrick McIntyre

Nellie Elizabeth "Irish" McCalla (December 25, 1928 – February 1, 2002) was an American actress and artist best-known as the title star of the 1950s television series "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle". Sheena co-stared actor "Chris Drake" (Christian Drake).

Formerly a "Varga Girl" model for pinup girl artist Alberto Vargas, the statuesque McCalla had measurements reported as an improbable 39½-18-37 at age 18, and a more credible 39½-24-36 during the filming of "Sheena", according to "Celebrity Sleuth" magazine — which also listed her as a fit 39½-26½-39½ in 1996, in her late 60s.

Biography

Early life

Born in Pawnee City, Nebraska, United States, McCalla was one of eight children of father Lloyd, a butcher, and mother Nettie Geiger McCalla. The family moved often, settling in Des Moines, Iowa in late 1939 when Lloyd began working for Condon Bros. meat dealers. They family lived at 1070 10th Street. Nellie attended Washington Irving Junior High School before the family moved to Marshalltown, Iowa in November 1941, and Omaha, Nebraska in September 1942, before returning to Pawnee City, where she completed high school. At 17, she joined some of her siblings in Southern California, where she worked as a waitress and at an aircraft factory.

In 1951, she married insurance salesman Patrick McIntyre, with whom she had two sons. McCalla was already a popular pinup model by 1952, when she and other models appeared in the film "River Goddesses", consisting of several voluptuous young women frolicking in the Grand Canyon.

heena

In a newspaper interview, McCalla recalled being discovered by a Nassour Studios representative while throwing a bamboo spear on a Malibu, California, beach, famously adding of her "Sheena" experience, "I couldn't act, but I could swing through the trees". [ [http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Feb/11/il/il08a.html Associated Press obituary] , Feb. 11, 2002, quoting her from a previous article in "The Prescott Courier" of Prescott, Arizona] Her 26-episode series aired in first-run syndication from 1955-56.

The athletic, reportedly 5'10" McCalla said she performed her own stunts on the series, filmed in Mexico, until the day she grabbed an unsecured vine and slammed into a tree, breaking her arm. Her elder son, Kim McIntyre, once told the press he remembered watching his mother swinging from vine to vine and wrestling mechanical alligators.

Following the one-season "Sheena", McCalla appeared in five films from 1958 to 1962, and guest roles on the TV series "Have Gun — Will Travel" and "Route 66". Additionally, she formed McCalla Enterprises, Inc.

Later life and art career

McCalla and McIntyre divorced in 1957, and the following year McCalla married prolific British actor and James Joyce/Sherlock Holmes scholar Patrick Horgan. They divorced in 1963. McCalla was reportedly married a third time, though by then she was out of the spotlight and details are sparse. She moved from Malibu to Prescott, Arizona in 1982.

As an artist, McCalla reportedly completed more than 1,000 paintings and eight collector plates, and sold lithographs of her work. McCalla was a member of Woman Artists of the American West, and her work has reportedly been displayed at the Los Angeles Museum of Arts and Sciences. [ [http://www.askart.com/AskART/M/irish_mccalla/irish_mccalla.aspx AskArt.com: Irish McCalla] ] She made personal appearances at autograph conventions, appearing as late as 1996 in a faux-leopard Sheena costume. McCalla has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1722 Vine Street.

Aged 73, Irish McCalla died of a stroke and complications from her fourth brain tumor — previous tumors were diagnosed in 1969 and 1981 — and was survived by two sons and two granddaughters, among other relatives.

Quotes

Filmography

* "River Goddesses" (1952) — Herself
* "Irish McCalla at the Beach" (1950?) Five-minute film of Irish modeling a leopard-skin bikini and a striped bikiniFact|date=February 2007
* "Queen of the Jungle" (1956) Three TV episodes with new footage, created for non-U.S. theatrical marketFact|date=February 2007 — Sheena
* "She Demons" (1958) — Jerrie Turner
* "The Beat Generation" (1959); reissued as "This Rebel Age" — Marie Baron
* "Five Gates to Hell" (1959) — Sister Magdalena
* "Five Bold Women" (1960) — "Big Pearl" Jackson
* "Hands of a Stranger", also known as "The Answer" (1962) — Holly

Magazine bibliography

Cover

* "Eve" Oct 1950, Dec. 1950
* "Cavalier" (back cover) 1951 Vargas "4 of Diamonds" McCalla nude
* "Night and Day" Jan 1951, Sept 1951
* "Show" Nov. 1952
* "Jest" May 1957
* "Fabulous Females" No. 1 1955
* "People Today" Aug. 11, 1954
* "Focus" Sept. 1954
* "Vue" Mar. 1956
* "Blighty" (UK), 6April1957, Iss. 910
* "Snappy" March 1957 (back cover)
* "Ultra Filmfax" Apr-May 1998
* "Scarlet Street" No. 23

Interiors

* "Night and Day" ::Aug. 1950, Sept. 1950, Jan. 1951, March 1951, April 1951, Sept. 1951, Feb. 1952, April 1952, May 1952, Aug. 1952, Jan. 1953, Feb. 1953, March 1953, July 1953, Oct. 1953, Feb 1956
* "Famous Models" Sept.-Oct. 1951
* "Frolic" July 1951, May 1951, Feb. 1955
* "Man" (UK) Aug. 1952
* "Pagent" August 1952
* "People Today" 1952 Vol5, No.6, Dec. 1957
* "T.V. Star Parade" Feb. 1956
* "Vue" Oct. 1952
* "Photo" Oct. 1954
* "Point" March 1954, Dec. 1955
* "Tempo" 3/21/1955
* "Man's" June 1955
* "Vue" March 1956
* "Picture week" &nbsp March 27, 1956
* "Show" Oct. 1956
* "Starweek" Aug. 1982
* "Preview Pin Up Special 2" Aug.-Oct. 1994
* "Femme Fatales" Jan. 1999
* "Tease" No.3 1995" "
* "Playboy" March 1997, vol. 44, #3, pg. 118, by Kevin Cook, "Glamourcon"
* "Playboy" Jan. 1999, vol. 46, #1, pg. 105-128, 214-220, "Sex Stars of the Century"
* "Playboy Special Edition" Aug 1999, pg. 89, by staff, "Playboys Sex Stars of the Century"
* "Celebrity Sleuth" 1991, vol. 5, #1, pg. 32-33, by staff "Separate But Sequel:Irish McCalla"
* "Celebrity Sleuth" 1996, vol. 9, #9, pg. 56-59, "Sheena Lives"
* "Celebrity Sleuth" 1997, vol. 11, #1, pg. 56, "Star-Tistics"
* "Playboy" Dec. 2001, vol. 48, #12, pg. 168, "Sheena's World"
* "Alberto Vargas: Works from the Max Vargas Collection", by Reid Stewart Austin, Hugh Hefner. 144pp (2006) (ISBN 978-0821257920). Includes Vargas nude painting and sketch of McCalla
* "AC Comics" Irish of the Jungle, 1992
* "AC Comics" Jungle Girls, #4 1992
* "AC Comics" Jungle Girls, #5 1992
* "AC Comics" TV's Original Sheena:Irish McCalla, 1992
* "AC Comics" Good Girl Quarterly, #11 1993
* "AC Comics" The Golden Age of Sheena, 1999
* "AC Comics" Wild Woman #1, 1999
* "AC Comics" Femforce #118 Special Edition, 2003
* "Playboy" February 2008, vol. 55, #2, pg. 60-68, by Leonard Martin, "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, Without Her Wrap, Irish McCalla" (nude pictorial)

Footnotes

References

* "Ultra Filmfax" April 1988, Iss.66, pg. 74-78, by Herb Fagen, "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle"
* "Preview" Oct 1994, Vol.3, Iss.2, pg.34-39 by: Steranko, "The She-Cat Who Put the She in Sheena"
* "Alberto Vargas: Works from the Max Vargas Collection", by Reid Stewart Austin, Hugh Hefner. 144pp (2006) (ISBN 978-0821257920).
* "Playboy" February 2008, vol. 55, #2, pg. 60-68, by Leonard Maltin, "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, Without Her Wrap, Irish McCalla"
*Black, Bill. "TV's Original Sheena: Irish McCalla" (Paragon Publications/AC Comics) ISBN 1-56225-005-1

External links

*imdb name|id=0564695|name=Irish McCalla
*amg name|2:46904
*findagrave|6171584
* [http://members.optusnet.com.au/%7Epwgr2/Sheena/Sheena-home.htm Sheena, Queen of the Jungle] (fan site)
* [http://javasbachelorpad.com/irish.html Java's Bachelor Pad: Femme Fatale: Irish McCalla] (fan site)
* [http://www.polarblairsden.com/superherosheenaqueenofjungle.html Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (1955 TV Series)] (fan site)
* [http://aa.1asphost.com/CTVA/US/Adventure/SheenaQueenOfTheJungle.htm Classic TV Archive]
* [http://www.erbzine.com/mag3/0322.html "ERBZine" vol. 3, #22: "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle"]