Irish McCalla - Modelling Page 4

MODELLING

Page 4 - First Autograph

Irish McCalla's next-door neighbour when she was living at Malibu was actor Turhan Bey (see photo below). Irish has said that he would often refer to her as his "hillbilly friend" when introducing her to his European and American friends because she spoke in a distinctive Midwestern accent and because she went barefoot at home most of the time. Irish usually hung around with the Malibu beach kids who were too poor to go to fancy restaurants and parties but Turhan would often take her out on the town to elegant restaurants. She said she felt indebted to him for introducing her to exotic interesting cuisines in Asian, Turkish, Russian and Viennese places ("Turhan loved the fact that I not only had a hefty appetite, but was happy trying out all of the different kinds of food he introduced me to.")

Irish was particularly thrilled when the actor invited her to the premiere of one of his movies. She borrowed a dress from a friend and was further delighted to learn that they would share a car with Sydney Greenstreet for the ride to Long Beach, where the film was opening. Irish commented that Greenstreet was very amusing during the ride and told a lot of jokes and stories using funny voices. When they arrived the two actors were formally introduced to the crowd that was gathered and Irish stood to one side as they signed autographs. As she was waiting a small girl approached her and asked her for an autograph, which made her feel embarrassed, but flattered. "I'm really not anybody," said Irish, "I just came along because I live near them." The girl was persistent and said that anybody as pretty as Irish would be famous some day. She didn't know what to do, but Turhan gave her a nod and she signed an autograph for the girl. The girl immediately pointed out that she had an unusual name and said that she would watch out for it in future. Irish decided that the little girl was a little strange and forgot about it. Years later when she was making personal appearance tours on the strength of her fame as Sheena (see Page 4: Irish in Tour in the Personal Appearances section), she was in a small town in

California (she had forgotten which one) signing autographs for a queue of fans . A woman with a small child approached her and said, "You don't remember me, but I got the first autograph you ever signed." Irish gave a polite, incredulous response but the woman reminded her of the premiere with Turhan Bey and Sydney Greenstreet. Needless to say, Irish was very surprised and very delighted to meet her again. (Tease)

This is a nice story, but I have found a serious difficulty in trying to confirm the facts of it. The major problem is that at the time of the events of this story in the early-1950s, Turhan Bey and Sydney Greenstreet had not made a film together since Background To Danger in 1943. If Greenstreet was just a good friend accompanying Turhan to the premiere of one of his films why was Greenstreet "formally presented to the crowd" at an opening as if he was a major participant in the new film? If you have any ideas please email me.

MODELLING INTRO PAGE

TOP OF PAGE

PAGE 5 - BOYFRIENDS

IRISH McCALLA
MAGAZINE GALLERIES
To see what all of the fuss was about and the reason for her popularity, click on the image at right to explore an extensive collection of glamour and television magazines that Irish McCalla appeared in between 1950 and 2008.

SOURCES
• Tease magazine No. 3, 1995
PHOTOS
• The photo of Irish in evening wear from Eve magazine, Jan 51, courtesy of Frank Bonilla
• The photo of Turhan Bey from Tease magazine No. 3, 1995, is form my personal collection
LYNX
• Read a Turhan Bey filmography at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
• Read a Sydney Greenstreet filmography at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

IRISH BIOGRAPHY INTRO

SHEENA INTRO

HOME