Person
Scilla Gabel
Rimini, Italy
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…
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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
Movies and shows, newest first
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1983
That Awful Mess on Via Merulana
TV show Liliana Balducci
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1976
Dov'è Anna?
TV show Paola Silvestri
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1973
Vino e pane
TV show Annina
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1971
Bastard, Go and Kill
Movie Susanna
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1969
The Odyssey
Movie Helen
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1969
Johnny Belinda
Movie Belinda
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1968
The Odyssey
TV show Helen
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1967
Tender Sharks
Movie Zeezee
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1966
How to Seduce a Playboy?
Movie Anita Bionda
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1966
Target for Killing
Movie La Tigra
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1966
Djurado
Movie Barbara Donovan
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1966
Modesty Blaise
Movie Melina
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1965
Le donne del Tenente Sheridan
TV show Cheril
-
1965
Con rispetto parlando
Movie Vittoria Oriani, in arte Patricia D'Altamura
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1964
Son of Cleopatra
Movie Livia
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1964
The Revenge of the Gladiators
Movie Cinzia
More credits
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1964
Seven Slaves Against the World
Movie Claudia
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1964
Corpse for the Lady
Movie Renata
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1964
Una storia di notte
Movie Turista tedesca
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1963
Outlaws of Love
Movie Wilma
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1963
Arms of the Avenger
Movie Isabella - duchessina di Collinalto
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1963
Il terrore dei mantelli rossi
Movie Cristina
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1963
The Shortest Day
Movie L'amante di un soldato (uncredited)
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1963
Two Colonels
Movie Iride
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1962
La salamandre d'or
Movie Béatrice
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1962
Sodom and Gomorrah
Movie Tamar
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1962
Colossus of the Arena
Movie Thalima
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1962
Village of Daughters
Movie Angelina Vimereati
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1962
No Man's Land
Movie Signora De Rossi
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1961
Romulus and the Sabines
Movie Dusia
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1961
Three Faces of Sin
Movie Rossana
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1961
Mara
Movie Mara
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1961
The Festival Girls
Movie Nadja
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1961
The Fruit Is Ripe
Movie Kissa
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1961
La grande vallata
Movie
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1960
Mill of the Stone Women
Movie Elfie Wahl
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1960
The Queen of the Pirates
Movie Isabella, the Duke's Daughter
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1960
I piaceri del sabato notte
Movie Patrizia
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1960
Noi duri
Movie Josette
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1960
Genitori in blue-jeans
Movie Colette
