Zale Parry, a pioneering American scuba diver known as the “First Lady of Scuba Diving”, has died aged 93 at her home in Tillamook, Oregon. She helped bring underwater exploration to a wider audience through television and film, including appearances on Sea Hunt alongside Lloyd Bridges and stunt work for Sophia Loren and Carroll Baker.

Parry set the women’s scuba depth record at 209 feet in 1954 when she was 21, later appearing on Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life and on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Born Rosalia Parry in Milwaukee in 1933, she began performing in aquatic shows as a teenager, moved to California in 1951 and later became involved in underwater research with her husband, Parry Bivens.