PARRY BIVENS - DOCUMENT SIGNED 07/08/1955 - HFSID 282131

PARRY BIVENS
Aquatic engineer Bivens joins the actors' union in order to appear on Kingdom of the Sea, which featured his wife, diver and actress Zale (Parry) Bivens.
Document signed: "Parry E. Bivens", 2 pages, 6½x9, 1 sheet, front and verso. Hollywood, California, 1955 July 8. Application for membership in the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors, Los Angeles chapter. Submitted in connection with his appearance on Kingdom of the Sea. Accompanied by 6½x3¼ carbon copy receipt for initiation fee, stapled at top corners. Parry Bivens (d. 1963) was an aeronautical and aquatic engineer who founded the Scientific Underwater Research Enterprise (SURE) to test diving equipment. Bivens met and married Rosalie "Zale" Parry (last name coincidentally the same as his first), and taught her his hobby of skin diving. Zale soon excelled at skin diving, and in 1954 set a record for the deepest dive by a woman (209 feet). She went on to appear in several films and TV shows, including Kingdom of the Sea, an adventure series which featured her in a 5-minute water safety segment at the end of each episode. She was able to practice her diving skills in a special hyperbaric pressure chamber Parry Bivens built in their backyard. Horizontal fold creases. Lightly creased at edges. Horizontal fold crease at upper edge of receipt. Otherwise, fine condition.

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