Scilla Gabel

Acting

Scilla Gabel

Born 1938-01-04 · 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 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.

Acting credits

The Odyssey poster
7.6

After fighting in the Trojan War, Odysseus spends years trying to return home to Ithaca. [Theatrical version of the 1968 mini-series.]

The Odyssey

1969

Sodom and Gomorrah poster
5.3

Lot leads his people to a fertile valley adjacent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, hotbeds of vice and corruption ruled by the merciless Queen Bera. When Lot orders a dam to be busted in order to prevent the destruction of the cities by the attacking Helamites, the queen, in gratitude, allows Lot's people to settle in Sodom. Soon, however, the veneer of civilization begins crumbling as Lot and the Hebrews become corrupted by the Sodomites.

Sodom and Gomorrah

1962

I ragazzi dei Parioli poster
7.5

A tale on the Italian upper class of the '60s and their ways to kill time.

I ragazzi dei Parioli

1959

Modesty Blaise poster
5.3

Modesty Blaise, a secret agent whose hair color, hair style, and mod clothing change at a snap of her fingers is being used by the British government as a decoy in an effort to thwart a diamond heist. She is being set up by the feds but is wise to the plot and calls in sidekick Willie Garvin and a few other friends to outsmart them. Meanwhile, at his island hideaway, Gabriel, the diamond thief has his own plans for Blaise and Garvin.

Modesty Blaise

1966

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure poster
5.4

The greatest adventure of jungle king Tarzan. Four British villains raid a settlement to obtain explosives for use in a diamond mine. In doing so they nearly destroy the settlement, so Tarzan pursues them to their mine.

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure

1959

Tender Sharks poster
9.0

While an admiral's son is hunted by secret agents, his sister plays his part on a warship.

Tender Sharks

1967

Mill of the Stone Women poster
6.1

Hans von Arnam travels to a Flemish village to study a strange carousel located in an old windmill that displays famous murderesses and other notorious women from history. Professor Gregorius Wahl, owner of the windmill, warns Hans to stay away from his mysterious daughter Elfi, in order to keep Hans from discovering the horrible secret shared by the Professor and Elfi's Doctor.

Mill of the Stone Women

1960

The Queen of the Pirates poster
5.5

In 16th century Italy, on the Adriatic coast, the duchy of Doruzza is governed by a tyrannical duke, Zulian, and his haughty daughter, Isabella. When they commit a great injustice, a ship's captain and his daughter turn pirate to fight back for the people.

The Queen of the Pirates

1960

The Shortest Day poster
6.4

Two jerks are enlisted in the Italian army during W.W.1 and by pure luck manage to help win an important battle.

The Shortest Day

1963

Mara poster
5.0

No synopsis available yet.

Mara

1961

The White Warrior poster
5.3

The story of Hadji Murad, a 19th-century Chechen chieftain who led his warriors in a fight against the invading forces of the Russian Czar.

The White Warrior

1959

Village of Daughters poster
6.7

A salesman from England is picked to select one girl in an Italian town who will become a bride for a native son.

Village of Daughters

1962

Girls of the Night poster
7.0

In Marseille Father Hermann has created a home for the ex-prostitutes to accommodate a new start to a better life. But it does not take long to arouse the anger of the pimps, and especially of Charly, one of the "bosses" who uses are criminal means to convince those that dare to fight his rules and territory. But several of the girls and women are not afraid of Charly and his gang. They have all been to the bottom of existence. But father Hermann is running out of resources.

Girls of the Night

1958

Romulus and the Sabines poster
5.3

The classic story from the early days of Rome where there are no women. Romulus, the founder of Rome, finds women to be wives from Sabina where there are a lot of women. The Sabine men, of course, attack Rome to get their wives and daughters back.

Romulus and the Sabines

1961

I piaceri del sabato notte poster
3.0

Behind the facade of a fashionable Milanese home, headed by Arabella, lies an efficient ring of high prostitution.

I piaceri del sabato notte

1960

Bastard, Go and Kill poster
5.3

Chaco, a Mexican on the run from just about everyone, is framed for the killing of a couple of Mexican cattlemen. Everyone knows he's innocent but the evidence is substantial. Chaco escapes and with the help of a bounty hunter, goes after the real murderers.

Bastard, Go and Kill

1971

Noi duri poster
6.7

Lieutenant Bombardone is in Paris to wipe out a gang of drug traffickers.

Noi duri

1960

The Revenge of the Gladiators poster
7.0

Friends of Spartacus achieve revenge on the plotter who tries to make political capital out of the rumor that he is still alive. It was shot back to back with Seven Slaves Against the World.

The Revenge of the Gladiators

1964

Son of Cleopatra poster
4.8

In Roman-dominated Egypt, the corrupt administration of a governor named Petronius has sparked a revolt headed by El Kabir, a young man who learns that he's actually the son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. When Petronius' daughter, Livia, newly-arrived from Rome, falls into his hands, El Kabir uses this opportunity to win her over to his side before releasing her to her father.

Son of Cleopatra

1964

No Man's Land poster
7.7

A group of traveling persons end up as prisoners of a German sergeant and his squad, in an isolated and precarious cabin in the country.

No Man's Land

1962

La grande vallata poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

La grande vallata

1961

Arms of the Avenger poster
9.3

Using Leonardo Da Vinci's innovative designs for weapons of war, flying engines and other machinery, three brothers join forces to fight a wicked and powerful Duke in early-Renaissance Italy.

Arms of the Avenger

1963

La salamandre d'or poster
8.0

In 1525, on the evening of the Battle of Pavia, François 1er was taken prisoner by the armies of Charles-Quint, with the Constable de Bourbon on their side. His mother, regent of the kingdom, commissioned the king's loyal equerry, Antoine de Montpezat, to raise a ransom of two million ecus and send it to Madrid. Despite the treachery of Vandoeuvre, governor of Languedoc and supporter of the connétable de Bourbon, who has his eye on the French throne, Montpezat accomplishes his mission and is reunited with his fiancée, who had almost married the traitor Vandoeuvre.

La salamandre d'or

1962

Outlaws of Love poster
6.1

This film is very much a docudrama which portrays the difficulties of Italian life circa 1963 due to the absence of a divorce law. Five scenarios with different actors portray realistic situations where divorce is clearly warranted but, because marriage was strictly in the purview of the Catholic Church at that time, which strictly forbade divorce, these people are shown to suffer the consequences in their daily lives. Italy got its first civilian divorce law in 1970.

Outlaws of Love

1963