Scilla Gabel
She was born Scilla Gabellini, one of five siblings, in Rimini on the Adriatic coast. Scilla initially studied law at Oxford University, graduating with a doctorate. Her interest in pursuing a legal career waned quickly, however, since her next move was a return to Italy for acting classes at Rome's Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica. At the age of seventeen, the voluptuous, blue-eyed Scilla became a body double for Sophia Loren (to whom she bore more than a passing resemblance), notably in the classic Boy on a Dolphin (1957). Two years later, she underwent cosmetic surgery to look less like Sophia in order to forge her own screen image. In 1963, Scilla featured on the cover of several magazines, including Playboy, the Milanese publication Le Ore and Parade (at the time, the most widely read weekly in the U.S.). Though she went on to command leads in a number of films during the 60s, Scilla tended to be typecast in roles which emphasized her physical attributes, rather than her acting ability. She appeared most often in genre films, anything from innocuous sex comedies (Genitori in blue-jeans (1960), Bel Ami 2000 oder Wie verführt man einen Playboy? (1966)) to swashbuckling costume dramas (La Venere dei pirati (1960)), and from spaghetti westerns (Johnny Golden Poker (1966)) to peplum spectacles (Death on the Arena (1962), The Revenge of Spartacus (1964)). After 1971, she was afforded more challenging and critically acclaimed roles as a star in Italian TV miniseries. Eleven years after leaving the screen, Scilla attracted media attention as a result of the murder of her 87-year old landlord father Giuseppe, by a crazed tenant at his villa on the via Campi di Torre Flavia in Ladispoli.
Known For
Credits
- 1983 · That Awful Mess on Via Merulana as Liliana Balducci
- 1976 · Dov'è Anna? as Paola Silvestri
- 1971 · Bastard, Go and Kill as Susanna
- 1969 · Johnny Belinda as Belinda
- 1968 · The Odyssey as Elena
- 1968 · Odissea as Elen
- 1967 · Tender Sharks as Zeezee
- 1966 · How to Seduce a Playboy? as Anita Bionda
- 1966 · Target for Killing as La Tigra
- 1966 · Djurado as Barbara Donovan
- 1966 · Modesty Blaise as Melina
- 1965 · Con rispetto parlando as
- 1964 · Son of Cleopatra as Livia
- 1964 · The Revenge of the Gladiators as Cinzia
- 1964 · Seven Slaves Against the World as Claudia
- 1964 · Corpse for the Lady as Renata
- 1964 · Una storia di notte as Turista tedesca
- 1963 · Outlaws of Love as Wilma
- 1963 · Arms of the Avenger as Isabella - duchessina di Collinalto
- 1963 · Il terrore dei mantelli rossi as Cristina
- 1963 · The Shortest Day as L'amante di un soldato (uncredited)
- 1963 · Two Colonels as Iride
- 1962 · La salamandre d'or as Béatrice
- 1962 · Sodom and Gomorrah as Tamar
- 1962 · Colossus of the Arena as Thalima
- 1962 · Village of Daughters as Angelina Vimereati
- 1962 · No Man's Land as Signora De Rossi
- 1961 · Romulus and the Sabines as Dusia
- 1961 · Three Faces of Sin as Rossana
- 1961 · Mara as Mara
- 1961 · The Festival Girls as Nadja
- 1961 · The Fruit Is Ripe as Kissa
- 1960 · Mill of the Stone Women as Elfie Wahl
- 1960 · The Queen of the Pirates as Isabella, the Duke's Daughter
- 1960 · I piaceri del sabato notte as Patrizia
- 1960 · Noi duri as Josette
- 1960 · Genitori in blue-jeans as Colette
- 1960 · Take Me As I Am as Gina
- 1959 · Tarzan's Greatest Adventure as Toni
- 1959 · The White Warrior as Princess Mario Vorontsova
- 1959 · I ragazzi dei Parioli as Nuccia
- 1958 · Legs of Gold as Gianna Savelli
- 1958 · Girls of the Night as Lola
- 1957 · Gente felice as Gina
- 1955 · Tua per la vita as La sartina dell' Atelier