Gia Scala (1934-1972) was a beautiful, sensitive Italian-American actress and model. Despite roles in such classics as The Guns of Navarone (1961), she never reached her full potential in Hollywood. Later, she also worked in Italy. The circumstances of Scala's death at 36 by an overdose, have been questioned.
Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 3390. Photo: Universal International.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 690. Photo: Universal.
Gia Scala was born Josephine Grace Johanna Scoglio in 1934, in Liverpool, England, to aristocratic Sicilian father Pietro Scoglio, and Irish mother Eileen O'Sullivan. She had one sister, Tina Scala, also an actress.
Scala was brought up in Messina and Mili San Marco in Sicily, the latter on the estate of her grandfather, Natale Scoglio, who was one of the largest citrus growers in Sicily. When Scala was 16, she moved to the United States to live with her aunt Agata in Whitestone, Queens, New York City.
In 1952, after graduating from Bayside High School, she moved to Manhattan to pursue acting. Scala supported herself by working at a travel agency. During this time, Scala studied acting with Stella Adler and the Actors Studio, where she met Steve McQueen. The two dated from 1952 to 1954.
Scala began to appear on game shows, including Stop the Music, where she later became host Bert Parks' assistant. There she was spotted by Maurice Bergman, an executive of Universal International located in New York City. In 1954, accompanied by her mother, Scala flew to Los Angeles to screen test for the role of Mary Magdalene in The Gallileans but the film ended up being scrapped.
Although she did not get the part, Peter Johnson at Universal was impressed with Scala's screen test. Scala had her first official job in Hollywood when she was given a non-speaking, uncredited part in All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955), starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. Despite her minor role in the film, Universal signed her to a contract, dyed her hair dark brown, had her four front teeth capped, and gave her the stage name Gia Scala.
Songwriter Henry Mancini met Scala on the set of Four Girls in Town (Jack Sher, 1957), with George Nader and Marianne Koch. Inspired by her beauty, he wrote 'Cha Cha for Gia', which appeared uncredited in the film. She also played in Tip on a Dead Jockey (Richard Thorpe, 1957) starring Robert Taylor, and the Film Noir The Garment Jungle (Vincent Sherman, Robert Aldrich, 1957), with Lee J. Cobb.
Scala became emotionally distraught following the death of her mother in 1957. She began to drink heavily as compensation which led to a few arrests.
In 1958, she became a naturalised American citizen. Scala soon after landed roles in such films as the romantic comedy The Tunnel of Love (Gene Kelly, 1958) with Doris Day, the Western Ride a Crooked Trail (Jesse Hibbs, 1958), with former World War II hero Audie Murphy and Walter Matthau, the war thriller The Two-Headed Spy (André De Toth, 1958) featuring Jack Hawkins, and The Angry Hills (Robert Aldrich, 1959) with Robert Mitchum.
Italian postcard, no. 526.
In 1959, Gia Scala married Don Burnett, an actor who later turned investment banker. During the 1960s, Scala made frequent appearances on American television in such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960), The Rogues (1964-1965), Convoy (1965), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1965), Twelve O'Clock High (1965), and Tarzan (1967).
Gia's best-known film role came as Anna, a Greek resistance fighter in the epic The Guns of Navarone (J. Lee Thompson, 1961), starring Gregory Peck and David Niven. Presumably, Anna had been so horribly tortured by the Nazis that she became mute.
Due to her unreliability, Scala eventually lost her contract at Universal, which forced her to seek work overseas. She co-starred with her handsome husband in the Italian adventure film Il trionfo di Robin Hood/The Triumph of Robin Hood (Umberto Lenzi, 1962).
Scala kept having difficulties with alcohol and her career began to wane. Her last feature film was the Spanish-American comedy Operación Dalila/Operation Delilah (Luis de los Arcos, 1967) with Rory Calhoun. Her marriage burnt itself out, and, at one point, she threw herself off London's Waterloo Bridge in desperation. She would have drowned in the Thames River had a passing cab driver not plucked her out of the water in time. Her final acting role was in the episode The Artist Is for Framing of the series It Takes a Thief (1969) starring Robert Wagner.
After 10 years of marriage, Burnett left her and moved in with Rock Hudson. Gia and Don divorced in 1970. Her sportscar turned over on a winding canyon road in July 1971 and she lost part of her index finger. Gary Brumburgh at IMDb: "Gia's bouts with depression grew so severe that she was forced to undergo frequent psychiatric observations. In the midst of things, she tried to pick herself up emotionally by studying painting and staying close to her younger sister, actress Tina Scala. It was too late."
In 1972, 38-year-old Scala was found dead in her Hollywood Hills home. Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi reported her cause of death was from an "acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication" (an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills) and was later ruled accidental. The circumstances of the still beautiful Scala's death have been questioned, with some believing it was a result of either murder or suicide rather than accidental. She had first attempted suicide in 1958, after the death of her mother. She later tried again, after her ex-husband, Don Burnett, married Ironside star Barbara Anderson, a year after their divorce.
Her sister believed that she did not intend to take her life nor that her death was accidental. Scala had a prescription for valium and three tablets were missing from the bottle, but valium is a benzodiazepine, not a barbiturate. Also, Scala was discovered nude sprawled across her bed and bruises were found on her body and blood was on her pillow. Scala is interred next to her mother, Eileen O'Sullivan-Scoglio, in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In 2014, the author/researcher Sterling Saint James wrote a book about Gia Scala's life titled 'Gia Scala: The First Gia'. Tina Scala provided intimate details about her sister's life.
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 682.
Original Trailer The Guns of Navarone (1961). Source: IFILMuser (YouTube).
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 3390. Photo: Universal International.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 690. Photo: Universal.
Cha Cha for Gia
Gia Scala was born Josephine Grace Johanna Scoglio in 1934, in Liverpool, England, to aristocratic Sicilian father Pietro Scoglio, and Irish mother Eileen O'Sullivan. She had one sister, Tina Scala, also an actress.
Scala was brought up in Messina and Mili San Marco in Sicily, the latter on the estate of her grandfather, Natale Scoglio, who was one of the largest citrus growers in Sicily. When Scala was 16, she moved to the United States to live with her aunt Agata in Whitestone, Queens, New York City.
In 1952, after graduating from Bayside High School, she moved to Manhattan to pursue acting. Scala supported herself by working at a travel agency. During this time, Scala studied acting with Stella Adler and the Actors Studio, where she met Steve McQueen. The two dated from 1952 to 1954.
Scala began to appear on game shows, including Stop the Music, where she later became host Bert Parks' assistant. There she was spotted by Maurice Bergman, an executive of Universal International located in New York City. In 1954, accompanied by her mother, Scala flew to Los Angeles to screen test for the role of Mary Magdalene in The Gallileans but the film ended up being scrapped.
Although she did not get the part, Peter Johnson at Universal was impressed with Scala's screen test. Scala had her first official job in Hollywood when she was given a non-speaking, uncredited part in All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955), starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. Despite her minor role in the film, Universal signed her to a contract, dyed her hair dark brown, had her four front teeth capped, and gave her the stage name Gia Scala.
Songwriter Henry Mancini met Scala on the set of Four Girls in Town (Jack Sher, 1957), with George Nader and Marianne Koch. Inspired by her beauty, he wrote 'Cha Cha for Gia', which appeared uncredited in the film. She also played in Tip on a Dead Jockey (Richard Thorpe, 1957) starring Robert Taylor, and the Film Noir The Garment Jungle (Vincent Sherman, Robert Aldrich, 1957), with Lee J. Cobb.
Scala became emotionally distraught following the death of her mother in 1957. She began to drink heavily as compensation which led to a few arrests.
In 1958, she became a naturalised American citizen. Scala soon after landed roles in such films as the romantic comedy The Tunnel of Love (Gene Kelly, 1958) with Doris Day, the Western Ride a Crooked Trail (Jesse Hibbs, 1958), with former World War II hero Audie Murphy and Walter Matthau, the war thriller The Two-Headed Spy (André De Toth, 1958) featuring Jack Hawkins, and The Angry Hills (Robert Aldrich, 1959) with Robert Mitchum.
Italian postcard, no. 526.
A Greek resistance fighter, tortured by the Nazis
In 1959, Gia Scala married Don Burnett, an actor who later turned investment banker. During the 1960s, Scala made frequent appearances on American television in such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960), The Rogues (1964-1965), Convoy (1965), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1965), Twelve O'Clock High (1965), and Tarzan (1967).
Gia's best-known film role came as Anna, a Greek resistance fighter in the epic The Guns of Navarone (J. Lee Thompson, 1961), starring Gregory Peck and David Niven. Presumably, Anna had been so horribly tortured by the Nazis that she became mute.
Due to her unreliability, Scala eventually lost her contract at Universal, which forced her to seek work overseas. She co-starred with her handsome husband in the Italian adventure film Il trionfo di Robin Hood/The Triumph of Robin Hood (Umberto Lenzi, 1962).
Scala kept having difficulties with alcohol and her career began to wane. Her last feature film was the Spanish-American comedy Operación Dalila/Operation Delilah (Luis de los Arcos, 1967) with Rory Calhoun. Her marriage burnt itself out, and, at one point, she threw herself off London's Waterloo Bridge in desperation. She would have drowned in the Thames River had a passing cab driver not plucked her out of the water in time. Her final acting role was in the episode The Artist Is for Framing of the series It Takes a Thief (1969) starring Robert Wagner.
After 10 years of marriage, Burnett left her and moved in with Rock Hudson. Gia and Don divorced in 1970. Her sportscar turned over on a winding canyon road in July 1971 and she lost part of her index finger. Gary Brumburgh at IMDb: "Gia's bouts with depression grew so severe that she was forced to undergo frequent psychiatric observations. In the midst of things, she tried to pick herself up emotionally by studying painting and staying close to her younger sister, actress Tina Scala. It was too late."
In 1972, 38-year-old Scala was found dead in her Hollywood Hills home. Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi reported her cause of death was from an "acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication" (an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills) and was later ruled accidental. The circumstances of the still beautiful Scala's death have been questioned, with some believing it was a result of either murder or suicide rather than accidental. She had first attempted suicide in 1958, after the death of her mother. She later tried again, after her ex-husband, Don Burnett, married Ironside star Barbara Anderson, a year after their divorce.
Her sister believed that she did not intend to take her life nor that her death was accidental. Scala had a prescription for valium and three tablets were missing from the bottle, but valium is a benzodiazepine, not a barbiturate. Also, Scala was discovered nude sprawled across her bed and bruises were found on her body and blood was on her pillow. Scala is interred next to her mother, Eileen O'Sullivan-Scoglio, in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In 2014, the author/researcher Sterling Saint James wrote a book about Gia Scala's life titled 'Gia Scala: The First Gia'. Tina Scala provided intimate details about her sister's life.
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 682.
Original Trailer The Guns of Navarone (1961). Source: IFILMuser (YouTube).
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
No comments:
Post a Comment