Born 1928 in Pawnee City, Nebraska, American actress and artist Irish McCalla was best known as the title star of the 1950s television series Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. She co-starred with actor Chris Drake. Following the one-season Sheena, she appeared in five films from 1958 to 1962, and guest roles on the TV series Have Gun — Will Travel and Route 66.

McCalla was already a popular pinup model by 1952, when several other models and she appeared in the film River Goddesses, comprising voluptuous young women frolicking in Glen Canyon. She was also a “Vargas Girl” model for pin-up girl artist Alberto Vargas.

As an artist, McCalla drew numerous oil paintings and collector plates, and sold prints of her work. She was a member of Woman Artists of the American West, and her work has been displayed at the Los Angeles Museum of Arts and Sciences.

At age 73 in 2002, McCalla died of a stroke and complications from her fourth brain tumor. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1722 Vine Street. Take a look at these fabulous photos to see the beauty of young Irish McCalla in the 1950s.

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (1917 – 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic and rhythmic complexity previously unheard in jazz.

His combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of the new music called bebop. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, scat singing, bent horn, pouched cheeks, and light-hearted personality provided some of bebop’s most prominent symbols.

In the 1940s, Gillespie, with Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Jon Faddis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, Chuck Mangione, and balladeer Johnny Hartman.

American jazz reviewer, historian, and author Scott Yanow wrote:

“Dizzy Gillespie’s contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time, Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up being similar to those of Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis’s emergence in the 1970s that Dizzy’s style was successfully recreated [….] Gillespie is remembered, by both critics and fans alike, as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time”.

These vintage photos were taken by Carl Van Vechten that show portrait of a young Dizzy Gillespie on December 2, 1955.

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Born 1923 in Manhattan, New York City, American actress Bonita Granville began her career on the stage at age three. She initially began as a child actress, making her film debut in Westward Passage (1932). She rose to prominence for her role in These Three (1936), which earned her an Academy Award nomination at age fourteen. Her prominence continued with the Nancy Drew film series, and roles in Now, Voyager (1942) and Hitler’s Children (1943).

After marrying Jack Wrather in 1947, Granville transitioned into producing with her husband on series such as Lassie (1959–1973). She also worked as a philanthropist and a businesswoman, most notably owning and operating Disneyland Hotel with her husband. She was appointed to the John F. Kennedy Center Board of Trustees by president Richard Nixon in 1972 and for another term by president Ronald Reagan in 1982.

Granville died in 1988 of lung cancer at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 65. In addition to her Oscar nomination, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for her contributions to the film industry. She and her husband were posthumously named Disney Legends in 2011.

Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see the beauty of young Bonita Granville in the 1930s and 1940s.

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Born 1894 in Waco, Texas, American actress Corinne Griffith pursued a film career after winning a beauty contest in Southern California. In 1916, she signed a contract with Vitagraph Studios, appearing in numerous films for the studio through the remainder of the decade.

In 1920, Griffith began making films for First National Pictures, and became one of the studio’s bigger stars. In the mid-1920s, she began executive-producing features, and served as a producer on 1925’s Déclassée and Classified, in both of which she starred. In the latter part of the 1920s, Griffith’s film career slowed, though she had lead performances in Outcast (1928) and the drama The Garden of Eden (also 1928).

Dubbed “The Orchid Lady of the Screen,” Griffith achieved critical recognition for her performance in Frank Lloyd’s The Divine Lady (1929), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. After 1932, Griffith retired from acting and became a successful author and businesswoman, writing numerous fiction and non-fiction books, as well as venturing into real estate, in which she had begun investing in the 1920s.

After suffering a stroke in July 1979, Griffith was hospitalized in Santa Monica, California, where she died shortly after of a heart attack. She left behind a reported estate of $150 million, making her one of the wealthier women in the world at that time.

Take a look at these vintage photos to see the beauty of young Corinne Griffith in the 1910s and 1920s.