IrishMcCalla

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IRISH McCALLA

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-starred actor Chris Drake.

Formerly a Varga Girl model for pinup girl artist Alberto Vargas, the statuesque McCalla had measurements reported as 39½-18-37 at age 18, and 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.

Sheena

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".^[1] 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.

MORE: http://www.perfectpeople.net/celebrity-star/737/irish-mccalla.htm

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.^[2] 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.

MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_McCalla

IRISH McCALLA AT THE BEACH

FIVE GATES TO HELL (1959)

When asked what her best asset was Irish frequently expressed regret that no one ever commented on her impressive stomach. Her magnificent breasts always overshadowed her gorgeous exotic face, her long shapely legs and her flat muscular abdomen. Steve Sullivan, pinup aficionado, commented, "In the 1950s, a 39-and-a-half-inch bosom was considered a thing of wonder, and Irish's admirers regarded it - and her- with awe." She has acknowledged that if it hadn't been for her measurements she would have been just another pretty girl and possibly led an average life - "...which wouldn't have been half as much fun." In an interview she gave shortly after her initial test for the role of Sheena Irish said the part represented a chance to get away from pin-ups. "I've played second fiddle to my chest for long enough." She declared. (Glamour Girls) Fortunately for her, the enduring success as an artist she experienced in her later life allowed her an opportunity to prove to the world that she was much more than a vapid, large-breasted vamp.