Scilla Gabel
Born
4 January 1938 (88)
Place of Birth
Rimini, Italy
Also known as
Gianfranca Gabellini
Biography
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 t...
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.
Filmography (40)
Bastard, Go and Kill
1971
Johnny Belinda
1969
Odissea
1968
Tender Sharks
1967
How to Seduce a Playboy?
1966
Target for Killing
1966
Djurado
1966
Modesty Blaise
1966
Con rispetto parlando
1965
Son of Cleopatra
1964
The Revenge of the Gladiators
1964
Seven Slaves Against the World
1964
Corpse for the Lady
1964
Una storia di notte
1964
Outlaws of Love
1963
Arms of the Avenger
1963
Il terrore dei mantelli rossi
1963
The Shortest Day
1963
Two Colonels
1963
La salamandre d'or
1962
Sodom and Gomorrah
1962
Colossus of the Arena
1962
Village of Daughters
1962
No Man's Land
1962
Romulus and the Sabines
1961
Three Faces of Sin
1961
Mara
1961
The Festival Girls
1961
The Fruit Is Ripe
1961
Mill of the Stone Women
1960
The Queen of the Pirates
1960
I piaceri del sabato notte
1960
Noi duri
1960
Genitori in blue-jeans
1960
Take Me As I Am
1960
The White Warrior
1959
Tarzan's Greatest Adventure
1959
I ragazzi dei Parioli
1959
Legs of Gold
1958
Girls of the Night
1958