Irish McCalla
Encyclopedia
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
. McCalla was also a "Varga Girl" model for pinup girl artist Alberto Vargas
.
, 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 Glen Canyon
.
interview, McCalla recalled being discovered by a Nassour Studios representative while throwing a bamboo spear on a Malibu, California, beach, adding of her Sheena experience, "I couldn't act, but I could swing through the trees". 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.
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. 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. She was survived by two sons, Kim and Sean McIntyre, three sisters, and two granddaughters.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
best known as the title star of the 1950s television series Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle is a fictional, American comic book jungle girl heroine, published originally by Fiction House. The female counterpart to Tarzan, Sheena had two things in common with Edgar Rice Burrough's Jungle Lord: Both possessed the ability to communicate with wild animals and were...
. Sheena co-starred actor Chris Drake
Chris Drake
Chris Drake was an American actor best known for his co-star role of the 1950s television series Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Chris co-starred with Actress Irish McCalla in the Sheena series...
. McCalla was also a "Varga Girl" model for pinup girl artist Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas was a noted Peruvian painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists...
.
Early life
Born in Pawnee CityPawnee City, Nebraska
Pawnee City is a city in Pawnee County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,033 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pawnee County.-Geography:Pawnee City is located at...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, McCalla was one of eight children of father Lloyd, a butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
, and mother Nettie Geiger McCalla. The family moved often, settling in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
in late 1939 when Lloyd began working for Condon Bros. meat dealers. They family lived at 1070 10th Street. Nellie attended Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
Junior High School before the family moved to Marshalltown, Iowa
Marshalltown, Iowa
Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States. The population was 27,552 in the 2010 census, an increase from the 26,009 population in the 2000 census. -History:...
in November 1941, and Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
in September 1942, before returning to Pawnee City, where she completed high school. At 17, she joined some of her siblings in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, where she worked as a waitress and at an aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
.
In 1951, she married insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
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 Glen Canyon
Glen Canyon
Glen Canyon is a canyon that is located in southeastern and south central Utah and northwestern Arizona within the Vermilion Cliffs area. It was carved by the Colorado River....
.
Sheena
In a newspaperNewspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
interview, McCalla recalled being discovered by a Nassour Studios representative while throwing a bamboo spear on a Malibu, California, beach, adding of her Sheena experience, "I couldn't act, but I could swing through the trees". 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
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, 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
Have Gun — Will Travel
Have Gun — Will Travel is an American Western television series that aired on CBS from 1957 through 1963. It was rated either number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings during each year of its first four seasons. It was one of the few television shows to spawn a successful radio...
and Route 66
Route 66 (TV series)
Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America. The show ran weekly on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod...
. Additionally, she formed McCalla Enterprises, Inc.
Later life and art career
McCalla and McIntyre divorced in 1957, and the following year McCalla married prolific BritishBritish people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
/Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
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
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, 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. She made personal appearances at autograph conventions
Fan convention
A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...
, appearing as late as 1996 in a faux-leopard Sheena costume.
McCalla has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, at 1722 Vine Street.
Aged 73, Irish McCalla died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
and complications from her fourth brain tumor
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
— previous tumors were diagnosed in 1969 and 1981. She was survived by two sons, Kim and Sean McIntyre, three sisters, and two granddaughters.
Quotes
| Carol Hatfield The Realist (Winter 1994) |
Filmography
- River Goddesses (1952) — Herself
- Irish McCalla at the Beach (1950?) Five-minute film of Irish modeling a leopard-skin bikini and a striped bikini
- Queen of the Jungle (1956) Three TV episodes with new footage, created for non-U.S. theatrical market — 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
Cover
- Eve October 1950, December 1950
- Cavalier (back cover) 1951 Vargas "4 of Diamonds" McCalla nude
- Night and Day January 1951, September 1951
- Show November 1952
- Jest May 1957
- Fabulous Females No. 1 1955
- People Today August 11, 1954
- Focus September 1954
- Vue March 1956
- Blighty (UK), 6April1957, Iss. 910
- Snappy March 1957 (back cover)
- Ultra Filmfax Apr-May 1998
- Scarlet StreetScarlet Street (magazine)Scarlet Street was an American film magazine that primarily specialized in the genres of horror, mystery and film noir. Its initial concentration was on Sherlock Holmes and related film and television productions, but later its subject matter expanded to include a variety of other genres.The title...
No. 23
Interiors
- Night and Day
-
- August 1950, September 1950, January 1951, March 1951, April 1951, September 1951, February 1952, April 1952, May 1952, August 1952, January 1953, February 1953, March 1953, July 1953, October 1953, February 1956
- Famous Models Sept.-October 1951
- Frolic July 1951, May 1951, February 1955
- Man (UK) August 1952
- Pagent August 1952
- People Today 1952 Vol5, No.6, December 1957
- T.V. Star Parade February 1956
- Gala March 1952, vol. 2, #6, pg. 25
- Vue October 1952
- Photo October 1954
- Point March 1954, December 1955
- Gala January 1955, vol. 5, #5
- Tempo 3/21/1955
- Man's June 1955
- Vue March 1956
- Picture week March 27, 1956
- Show October 1956
- Starweek August 1982
- Preview Pin Up Special 2 Aug.-October 1994
- Femme Fatales January 1999
- Tease No.3 1995" "
- Playboy March 1997, vol. 44, #3, pg. 118, by Kevin Cook, "Glamourcon"
- Playboy January 1999, vol. 46, #1, pg. 105-128, 214-220, "Sex Stars of the Century"
- Playboy Special Edition August 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 December 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)
- August 1950, September 1950, January 1951, March 1951, April 1951, September 1951, February 1952, April 1952, May 1952, August 1952, January 1953, February 1953, March 1953, July 1953, October 1953, February 1956
External links
- ERBZine vol. 3, #22: "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle"
- http://terrororstralis.com/sheena/irish/biography/biography.htm"Irish McCalla profile at WebCitation archive
- Holloway, Clark J. "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle", The Holloway Pages (fan site), 2000