Irish McCalla

Irish McCalla

1950s publicity still as TV's Sheena
Born December 25, 1928(1928-12-25)
Pawnee City, Nebraska
Died February 1, 2002(2002-02-01) (aged 73)
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-starred actor Chris Drake. McCalla was also a "Varga Girl" model for pinup girl artist Alberto Vargas.

Contents

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 Glen Canyon.[1]

Sheena

In a newspaper 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".[2] 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.[3] 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[2] — previous tumors were diagnosed in 1969 and 1981. She was survived by two sons, Kim and Sean McIntyre, three sisters, and two granddaughters.[2]

Quotes

Carol Hatfield
The Realist (Winter 1994)
“ [W]hen I was eight years old, Sheena was the only female portrayed on the tube who didn't conform to the fifties stereotype. Sheena was a real rugged individualist. Watching her struggle with a new adventure every week made me feel more capable at a time when everything was so unexplored. If she could handle the jungle, I felt sure that I could handle my world".[4] ”

Filmography

Magazine bibliography

Cover

Interiors

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

Footnotes

  1. ^ Wickham, Paul; Bonilla, Frank. "River Goddesses (1952)". TerrorOstralis.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. http://www.terrororstralis.com/sheena/irish/films/river.htm.  Additional WebCitation archive.
  2. ^ a b c "TV actress Irish McCalla dead at 73". Associated Press via The Honolulu Advertiser. February 11, 2002. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Feb/11/il/il08a.html.  Additional WebCitation archive.
  3. ^ Profile at AskArt.com "Irish McCalla (1928 - 2002)". Archived from the original on April 5, 2008. http://www.askart.com/AskART/M/irish_mccalla/irish_mccalla.aspx Profile at AskArt.com. 
  4. ^ Hatfield, Carol (Winter 1994). "I Remember Sheena". The Realist. Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071107085007/members.aol.com/mshatfield/sheena.html. 

References

External links