Greeting Celebrators of Vintage Sensuality;
Welcome to the June/2026 issue of the Old Hollywood Newsletter.
In this month’s issue we’re bringing you the incredibly beautiful Irish McCalla.
McCalla was never a huge name in Hollywood, but found success on television, as a model and then later in her life — as an artist.
You’ll want to learn more about this beautiful, talented and perhaps surprisingly down to earth star. Have look below.
Thank you for reading and stay sensual.
06/2026
Dyann Bridges, writer, publisher and voice actor
SHEENA QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE
McCalla was tall, standing nearly 6′. She was also athletic, having grown up playing many sports, very well.
This helped garner her the role she’s best known for — the lead as Sheena in SHEENA – Queen of the Jungle – a 1955 television series.
The role ultimately made McCalla one of the first female action heroes on TV— and became an inspiration for girls nation wide.
One of the most revealing comments about Sheena came not from men, but from a female viewer.
She recalled that Sheena didn’t fit the standard female television mold of the era which made her feel more capable.
An Episode from Sheen, Queen of The Jungle
IN THE BEGINNING
Irish McCalla was born Nellie Elizabeth McCalla on Christmas Day, December 25, 1928 in Pawnee City, Nebraska.
She passed away on February 1, 2002 (at the age of 73) in Tucson, Arizona.
By all accounts, McCalla was a tomboy who loved to play sports and be outside.
She wasn’t afraid of hard work and held jobs in factories and stores as a teen. She liked doing things like skin diving in her time off.
McCalla grew unusually tall at a young age and developed into a striking young woman which made her a natural choice for pin-up modeling.
It all started — apparently — when she was spotted by a photographer while she was sunbathing on the beach.
He asked if she would pose for pictures as Miss Navy Day.
“Sure,” she said, “why not?”
ALBERTO VARGAS
Modeling was a natural path for McCalla and once she was discovered her career rolled along nicely.
In the course of her budding modeling career she worked with Alberto Vargas.
Vargas was one of the premiere pin up artists of the 1940s and 50s. His work is still celebrated today.
Below are several photos of McCalla posing for the artist Alberto Vargas (born Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez; 9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982).
McCalla first met Alberto Vargas when he judged a Miss California beauty contest that she had entered as an 18-year-old.
She didn’t win the show but Vargas offered her a job posing for him as a pin-up girl.
With some reluctance, Irish posed nude for the December 1951 page in a Vargas calendar.
McCalla was married to her first husband Patrick Macyntire
A Down-To-Earth Gal
Over the years, McCalla repeatedly suggested she wasn’t obsessed with her own sex-symbol status.
In one interview she says that if not for her measurements, she might have led an ordinary life.
One of the most revealing quotes attributed to McCalla is that she was embarrassed by the very physical features everyone else obsessed over.
She said she never understood the fascination with bust measurements. and would have preferred people notice how long her hair was or how flat her stomach instead.
Before she garnered the television role of Sheena in Sheena – Queen of the Jungle, McCalla was already a successful pin-up model and a favorite subject of Alberto Vargas.
Additionally, her appearance in men’s magazines — such as Playboy –helped make her a recognizable commodity.
Although, it’s said that Irish McCalla was a replacement for the original choice to play Sheena — Swedish actress Anita Ekberg. Ekberg turned it down or didn’t show up for meetings – the accounts differ – either way McCalla became Sheena not the Swede.
Perhaps it was fate as McCalla fit the role of Sheena perfectly.
Tall, athletic, sun-bronzed, and grounded in her attitude, McCalla possessed a beauty that was feminine and strong.
She embodied a kind of female confidence that was neither aggressive nor self-conscious. Exactly what the role of Sheena needed.
Although, even Irish herself said, “I couldn’t act, but I could swing through the trees.”
She even did most of her own stunts for Sheena. This was very rare and still is.
To watch her run around in her leopard skin costume seems natural. McCalla looks perfectly at ease in her own skin.
It’s interesting to note that during the height of her modeling career and role as Sheena — she was married with two sons and then divorced.
IRISH McCALLA’S LOVE LIFE
This is my favorite part of this newsletter… who did this beautiful woman date, fall in love with, get married to, have children with and/or divorce?
Unfortunately, when featuring a lesser known star like Irish McCalla it’s sometimes difficult to get information. I’ve offered up the best tidbits on her relationships I could find. However, there are few photos of her and the men she loved.
Husband #1: Patrick McIntyre
McCalla married insurance salesman/executive Patrick McIntyre in 1951.
The marriage ended in divorce in 1957.
They had two sons – Kim (the older son) and Sean (the younger son).
There is little that is know about her sons, but there is an interesting quote from Kim. McCalla’s eldest son. He says he saw his mother swing from vine to vine while being on the set of Sheena. He saw her perform her own stunts and even wrestle mechanical alligators during production.
It’s interesting that while McCalla was becoming one of America’s most recognizable glamour models, she was simultaneously a wife and mother.
According to her later accounts, one reason she declined nude publication opportunities was because she was concerned about embarrassing her sons.
Husband #2: Patrick Horgan
Soon after her first marriage ended McCalla date and then married English actor and scholar Patrick Horgan in 1964.
The marriage ended in divorce in 1969.
Unfortunately, I found little material describing the relationship itself.
Husband #3 ??? Chuck Rowland
By some accounts Irish McCalla married Chuck Rowland in 1982. Others say they were never married. Either way, they parted ways in 1989.
Although they eventually separated, but before that they moved from California to Arizona which is where she spent the remainder of her life.
Again, there is little documentation on the personal dynamics.
QUICK FACTS
Born Nellie Elizabeth McCalla on December 25, 1928, in Pawnee City, Nebraska, Irish McCalla grew up far removed from the Hollywood glitz and glamour.
She was the third of eight children, raised in a modest household that often required a child to be resilient and independent.
Irish McCalla passed away on February 1, 2002, at the age of 73,
There was some moving around during her childhood until the family settled in Des Moines, Iowa, where she attended high school.
Perhaps surprisingly, the name “Irish” was not a Hollywood invention, but a nickname she carried from girlhood. The moniker reflected her heritage and what some might call her ‘fiery’ personality.
After high school, she moved westward, finding herself in California just as the Golden Age of Hollywood was booming — post-war.
Following her retirement from acting, she became an accomplished painter of seascapes and Western or Native American motifs.
While modeling her measurements were 39-24-38 and she kept this size for her entire life. It’s said she wore the original Sheena outfit in 1998 at an industry event for the public by popular demand.
Sheena lasted one season from 1955-1956. There were 26 episodes in its only season and was produced for first-run syndication. The episodes were approximately 30 minutes long and were filmed in Mexico.
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.
She overcame a brain tumor in 1969 and again when it returned in 1981.
Was president of her own art company entitled McCalla Enterprises, Inc. and she was a member of Woman Artists of the American West organization.
Her artwork is displayed in the Western White House, Los Angeles Museum of Arts and Sciences, and the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.
When McCalla died in 2002, some biographies reported that she was survived by: her two sons, Kim and Sean, and two granddaughters. Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias)
She has painted more than 1,000 paintings, eight collector plates and numerous limited-edition lithographs.
IRISH McCALLA THE ARTIST
Irish McCalla’s art career is much more substantial than most people realize.
She had been working at her painting from the time she was young. Her art was never abandoned.
So, after her Hollywood career ended, she spent decades developing herself as a serious painter and sculptor.
Her creativity particularly flourished after relocating to Arizona in 1982.
She became a member of the Women Artists of the American West and exhibited and sold work throughout the Southwest.
What did she paint?
Her work covered a surprisingly wide range of subjects such as; Western themes, Native American portraits, mountain men, landscapes, seascapes, children, nudes and still lifes.
McCalla herself said she worked in oils, watercolors, and pastels, and that her favorite subject often changed depending on what she was painting at the moment.
Living in Arizona increased demand for her Western-themed works, but her paintings of children and nudes were also popular.
It’s interesting that Irish McCalla had — in some ways – a much more successful carer as an artist.
While she never became a household name in the fine-art world, she was a commercially successful regional artist.
Reports from the time indicate that many of her paintings sold for between $1,500 and $6,000.
At least one of her works reportedly sold for about $12,000 during a successful one-woman exhibition in Scottsdale in the late 1980s.
She also sold lithographs of her paintings.
*One interesting story is that a seascape painted by McCalla was purchased by Pat Nixon and reportedly displayed in the White House.*
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EXAMPLES OF IRISH McCALLA’S WORK BELOW…
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ACQUANETTA
BARBARA LANG
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SYLVIA SIDNEY
EARTHA KITT
DOROTHY MCGUIRE
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