Zale Parry - NOGI

:: Zale Parry - Distinguished Service - 1973

Zale Parry, is arguably the most famous 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 womans depth record to 209 feet and became the third femaleinstructor 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. Zales 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, Zales 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.

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 Womens 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.

In 2004, Zale returned to her movie roots with a role in the film, "Tilamook Treasure," which has been her home town for the last few years. Zale has become an active conservation spokesperson throughout the Pacific Northwest and in November 2006, she introduced the Zale Parry Scholarship which is administered by The Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences. The Zale Parry Scholarship offers $1500 and a travel stipend of $500 annually to young people seeking careers in ocean exploration, hyperbaric research, equipment technology and/or marine conservation.