- Born
- Died
- Birth nameIrish Elizabeth McCalla
- Height5′ 9½″ (1.77 m)
- Irish McCalla was born on December 25, 1928 in Pawnee City, Nebraska, USA. She was an actress, known for She Demons (1958), Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (1955) and The Beat Generation (1959). She was married to Patrick Horgan and Patrick H. McIntyre. She died on February 1, 2002 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.
- SpousesPatrick Horgan(January 16, 1964 - March 24, 1969) (divorced)Patrick H. McIntyre(June 29, 1951 - March 28, 1960) (divorced, 2 children)
- The statuesque pin-up star whose measurements were 39-24-38, began appearing in girlie magazines; a photographer recommended her for the role of leopard skin-suited Sheena in the jungle series.
- Following her retirement from acting, she became an accomplished painter of seascapes and Western or Native American motifs.
- Was cast in the lead role of the short-lived television series Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (1955) only after Anita Ekberg had declined the role.
- At age 17, she rejoined some of her siblings in Southern California, where she worked as a waitress and in an aircraft factory.
- Overcame a brain tumor in 1969 and again when it returned in 1981. President of McCalla Enterprises, Inc. Member of Woman Artists of the American West. Her artwork is displayed in the Western White House, Los Angeles Museum of Arts and Sciences, and the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. She was once a "Varga Girl" model. Has painted more than 1,000 paintings, eight collector plates and numerous limited-edition lithographs.
- [on her "qualifications" for playing the title role in Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (1955)] I couldn't act, but I could swing through the trees.
- [on German director Carl Junghans, her director on River Goddesses (1952)] [He] openly said women should be kept in concentration camps for breeding purposes only: that's all we were good for.
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