|
|
|
|
Legends of Diving Articles |
|
|
Zale
Parry
Featured
at the Second
International Legends of Dive Festival

One of her several photos on the cover of Sports
Illustrated, Zale Parry is credited with appearing on the cover for the first SI
swimsuit edition, She will appear with others in the second annual Legends
Festival August 10-12.
|
Zale Parry is arguably the most famous woman scuba diver in
the world today. Zale was a pioneer skin diver in the
1940s and an early underwater equipment tester for
Scientific Underwater Research Enterprises in 1953. Zale
also helped run the first civilian hyperbaric chamber
for divers in California. In 1954 she set a woman's
depth record to 209 feet and became the third female
instructor to graduate from the L.A. County UICC
program. That same year, Zale made her screen debut in
Kingdom of the Sea, a Jack Douglas Production, which was
shown in 70 countries and had a successful run of
several years. Zale's knowledge of skin and scuba
diving, as well as
|
her astounding beauty in Kingdom of the Sea, made the
producers of Sea Hunt cast her immediately without so
much as a single screen test.
Besides her diving expertise, Zale's artistic talents
are manifold from acting to photography to writing. An
accomplished underwater photographer herself, in 1957,
Zale co-founded the
International Underwater Film Festival that ran for
17years. In 1960, she became the first elected woman president
of the U/W Photographic Society. From the 1950s through the
1990s, Zale remained in demand as an actress and underwater stuntwoman for
all the Hollywood studios (she never had to audition for
a part). Her credits include, Kingdom of the Sea, Sea
Hunt, GE Theatre, Wagon Train, Peter Gunn, and more. She
also made over two dozen "wet" and "dry" television
commercials and appeared on the cover of Sports
Illustrated several times. |

Zale Parry and Lloyd Bridges on
the set filming an episode of Sea Hunt. |
Even though Zale is "semi-retired" from film, she is not
content to rest on her laurels. Zale continues to enthrall and inspire
audiences today with her photo presentations and lectures on the beauty
of the underwater world. She recently published a book
with Al Tillman entitled, Scuba America Vol. I, the Human
History of Sport Diving in America, and is already busy
working on Volumes II through V. Zale is a recipient of
the NOGI Award for Distinguished Service, DEMA's
Reaching Out Award, the Women's Scuba Association Scuba
Diver of the Year Award, and the Los Angeles Parks and
Recreation Education Award. In 2001, Zale was made a
"Lifetime Ambassador at Large," by The Academy of
Underwater Arts and Sciences. In 2002, she was inducted
into the Cayman Island International Scuba Diving Hall
of Fame and received the Beneath |
 |
the Sea Diver of the Year Award. Zale has been an ardent
supporter of The Women Divers Hall of Fame (WDHOF) since its inception in
1999.
|
|
|
|
Portage Quarry Recreation Club, Inc.
12701 South Dixie Bowling Green OH, 43402
Email
©1999-2019 International Legends of Diving All Rights Reserved
|