Description
Statuesque (5′ 10″) actress/model/cover girl Irish McCalla (1928-2002) portrayed the title character on TV’s Sheena, Queen of the Jungle from 1955-56. “I couldn’t act,” she told an interviewer, “but I could swing through the trees.” She also did some weight-lifting. This portrait by Drew Friedman, based on a posed photo taken backstage at the Milton Berle Show, depicts Sheena hoisting famed comic actor/cartoon-voice artist, Arnold Stang (1918-2009), King of the Nebbishes.
“I saw this as a black and white photo in the R. Crumb Handbook and loved it,” recalls Friedman. “Stang was a Berle cast regular, and McCalla, dressed as Sheena, was a guest that week. The photo was captured backstage, sans props or setting. I saw its potential as an adapted illustration, deserving full color, depicting Stang, adorned with pith helmet and binoculars, as a geeky bird watcher who just happened to wander into Sheena’s lair.”
McCalla was also an artist who created paintings, collector plates, and lithographs. Her work is displayed at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame and the L.A. Museum of Arts & Sciences. Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 1722 Vine Street.