Wonder Woman gets more hype—and not without reason—but the first female character with her own comic book title was actually Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.
Sheena was basically a female version of Tarzan, and if she doesn’t linger in the collective consciousness the way that Wonder Woman does, it is due in part to the popularity of the adaptations that followed. Wonder Woman had a memorable 1970s TV show and a blockbuster movie in 2017. The only major movie treatment that Sheena ever received was a 1984 box-office dud starring Tanya Roberts, and on television the most recent effort was a syndicated TV series starring Gena Lee Nolin that ran from 2000 to 2002.
But Sheena did get come to life on the screen first, in a 1950s television show starring actress and model Irish McCalla. The strapping Nebraska native and Vargas girl was modest about her qualifications for the role. She later said “I couldn’t act, but I could swing through trees.”
And in fact McCalla did swing through trees for a photo session with LIFE photographer Loomis Dean. The shoot took place at the World Jungle Compound in Southern California, which was both a theme park and a training ground for movie animals. And while that first Sheena, Queen of the Jungle wasn’t a big hit—it lasted 26 episodes—McCalla made impression. One young fan named Carol Hatfield, who went on to become a writer, reminisced that McCalla presented a vision of femininty that was ahead of its time. “She was the only female portrayed on the tube who didn’t conform to the fifties stereotype,” Hatfield wrote. “Sheena was a real rugged individualist.”
In later life Hatfield would interview McCalla for a “Where are they now”-type television show, and she reported that during the filming of Sheena, McCalla did not get along with her chimpanzee co-star.
That’s surprising because, in the photos that Loomis Dean took, McCalla and the chimp seemed to have the kind of chemistry that most human actors can only dream of. The silhouetted photos of the two primates hanging from branches exude a flair that is rare to find in publicity shots.
One fun note about the character of Sheena is that her most lasting contribution to pop culture is likely a song from the Ramones, “Sheena is a Punk Rocker.” Nothing in these photos would do anything to dispel the notion that Sheena could rock.
Irish McCalla starred in ‘Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle,” 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla, star of the television series ‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,’ posed with a chimpanzee named Neal at the World Jungle Compound, Thousand Oaks, California, 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla, star of the television series ‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,’ posed with a chimpanzee named Neal at the World Jungle Compound, Thousand Oaks, California, 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla, star of the television series ‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,’ posed with a chimpanzee named Neal at the World Jungle Compound, Thousand Oaks, California, 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla, star of the television series ‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,’ posed with a chimpanzee named Neal at the World Jungle Compound, Thousand Oaks, California, 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla, star of the television series ‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,’ posed with a chimpanzee named Neal at the World Jungle Compound, Thousand Oaks, California, 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla, star of the television series ‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,’ posed with a chimpanzee named Neal at the World Jungle Compound, Thousand Oaks, California, 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla, star of the television series ‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,’ posed with a chimpanzee named Neal at the World Jungle Compound, Thousand Oaks, California, 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla, star of the television series ‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,’ posed with an elephant at the World Jungle Compound, Thousand Oaks, California, 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla, star of the television series ‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,’ posed with a chimpanzee named Neal at the World Jungle Compound, Thousand Oaks, California, 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla starred in ‘Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle,” 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Irish McCalla starred in ‘Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle,” 1955.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
