| IRISH
McCALLA ON TV |
| Part 3: Personal Appearances - Intro |
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| When Irish McCalla and
the other members of the Sheena crew returned to Los Angeles
in mid-1956 they were surprised to learn that the low budget
television series that they had been labouring on for many months
in the isolated jungles of Mexico was a smash hit. Sheena
Queen of the Jungle had begun screening in some locations
as early as December 1955 and was now screening in syndication
all over the country. When Irish came off the plane she
was astounded to learn that everyone knew who she was. "I
couldn't believe it! I was really hot!" she later
explained. Irish soon embarked on a rigorous touring schedule
to promote the series. She continued to make a living
making personal appearances for most of the next decade because
the show was being screened in foreign markets as far afield
as Japan and Australia. Inevitably, the exposure she received
eventually led to her appearing on the big screen, discussed
in the Irish in Film section,
and to several roles on television dramas. |
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| I am using the term "personal
appearances" here to refer to several concepts: (a) most
importantly, it refers to the promotional appearances that Irish
made, both in-person and on camera, to publicise the Sheena
Queen of the Jungle series; (b) also discussed are early
television appearances that Irish made before she was Sheena,
invariably as a decorative glamour model on variety shows; (c)
I also examine the tours that Irish did to promote Sheena, both
in the US and abroad; (d) also covered are Irish's appearances
as a serious dramatic actress on several television series in
the late-1950s and early-1960s; (e) lastly, I look at Irish's
little-known, and very short-lived, appearances on the theatrical
stage. |
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OTHER SHEENA PAGES
Please don't forget to visit my pages devoted to the twenty six episodes
of Sheena Queen of the Jungle,
if you haven't done so already. You will find plot summaries, numerous
comments about the individual episodes and video captures from all of the
surviving episodes. There are also large-sized copies of a many of
the photos used on these pages available to download on the Sheena
Gallery page. |
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PHOTOS
• Both promotional images of Irish as Sheena
are from late-1950s publications made by the Nassour Brothers, courtesy
of Frank Bonilla
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SHEENA
© is the property of Sony Pictures Corporation
This independent, fan-based analysis of the Sheena material is copyright
© 2006-2007 Paul Wickham
This page was updated in July 2007
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