Scilla Gabel
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jan 4, 1938 (age 88)
- Place of birth
- Rimini, Italy
- Credits
- 50
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
Filmography
That Awful Mess on Via Merulana
1983TV
Liliana Balducci
Dov'è Anna?
1976TV
Paola Silvestri
Vino e pane
1973TV
Annina
Bastard, Go and Kill
1971Movie
Susanna
The Odyssey
1969Movie
Helen
Johnny Belinda
1969Movie
Belinda
Le avventure di Ulisse
1969Movie
Elena
The Odyssey
1968TV
Helen
Tender Sharks
1967Movie
Zeezee
How to Seduce a Playboy?
1966Movie
Anita Bionda
Target for Killing
1966Movie
La Tigra
Djurado
1966Movie
Barbara Donovan
Modesty Blaise
1966Movie
Melina
Le donne del Tenente Sheridan
1965TV
Cheril
Con rispetto parlando
1965Movie
Vittoria Oriani, in arte Patricia D'Altamura
Son of Cleopatra
1964Movie
Livia
The Revenge of the Gladiators
1964Movie
Cinzia
Seven Slaves Against the World
1964Movie
Claudia
Corpse for the Lady
1964Movie
Renata
Una storia di notte
1964Movie
Turista tedesca
Outlaws of Love
1963Movie
Wilma
Arms of the Avenger
1963Movie
Isabella - duchessina di Collinalto
Il terrore dei mantelli rossi
1963Movie
Cristina
The Shortest Day
1963Movie
L'amante di un soldato (uncredited)
Two Colonels
1963Movie
Iride
La salamandre d'or
1962Movie
Béatrice
Sodom and Gomorrah
1962Movie
Tamar
Colossus of the Arena
1962Movie
Thalima
Village of Daughters
1962Movie
Angelina Vimereati
No Man's Land
1962Movie
Signora De Rossi
Romulus and the Sabines
1961Movie
Dusia
Three Faces of Sin
1961Movie
Rossana
Mara
1961Movie
Mara
The Festival Girls
1961Movie
Nadja
The Fruit Is Ripe
1961Movie
Kissa
La grande vallata
1961Movie
Mill of the Stone Women
1960Movie
Elfie Wahl
The Queen of the Pirates
1960Movie
Isabella, the Duke's Daughter
I piaceri del sabato notte
1960Movie
Patrizia
Noi duri
1960Movie
Josette
Genitori in blue-jeans
1960Movie
Colette
Take Me As I Am
1960Movie
Gina
The White Warrior
1959Movie
Princess Mario Vorontsova
Tarzan's Greatest Adventure
1959Movie
Toni
I ragazzi dei Parioli
1959Movie
Nuccia
Legs of Gold
1958Movie
Gianna Savelli
Girls of the Night
1958Movie
Lola
Gente felice
1957Movie
Gina
Due sosia in allegria
1956Movie
Tua per la vita
1955Movie
La sartina dell' Atelier