Gia Scala

Gia Scala
Gia Scala in Goodyear Theatre
Born	Josephine Grace Johanna Scoglio (1934-03-03)3 March 1934 Liverpool, United Kingdom
Died	30 April 1972(1972-04-30) (aged 38) Hollywood Hills, California, United States
Cause of death	Acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California
Occupation(s)	Actress, model
Years active	1955—1969
Spouse	Don Burnett (1959–1970; divorced)
Website	http://giascala.com

Gia Scala (3 March 1934 – 30 April 1972) was a British-American actress and model, who was one of the most popular film and television stars of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Scala was born in Liverpool and raised in Sicily, later moving to the United States where she began an acting career. Scala quickly became a prominent actress in Hollywood, receiving praise for her roles in The Garment Jungle (1957) and The Two-Headed Spy (1959), and appearing in critically acclaimed works such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) and The Guns of Navarone (1961).

Early life

Josephine Grace Johanna Scoglio was born on 3 March, 1934, in Liverpool, United Kingdom, to a Sicilian father, Pietro Scoglio, and an 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 agriculturist of citrus in Sicily, mainly lemons known as the "Ballerina Brand". It was the custom of upper social and economic class families in Sicily to send their young adult children to live abroad to experience other cultures and learn other languages. When Scala was 16 years-old she moved to the United States to live with her aunt Agata in Whitestone, Queens, New York City. Scala had always wanted to be an actress, however, her very religious aunt disapproved of her aspirations, but after she graduated from Bayside High School moved to Manhattan to pursue acting. To support herself, Scala found employment in a travel agency where she met a person who had connections with a television producer. During this time, Scala took drama acting classes from Stella Adler where she met Steve McQueen, and the two dated from 1952 to 1954. Scala began to appear on game shows, in particular Stop the Music, where she was spotted by Maurice Bergman, an executive of Universal International located in New York City.

Career

Scala in the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Mother, May I Go Out to Swim?"

In 1954, accompanied by her mother, Scala flew to Los Angeles to screen test for the role of Mary Magdalene for the up-coming film The Gallileans. She did not get the part, but it did not matter because the film was soon scrapped. Nevertheless, Peter Johnson at Universal Studios was impressed with Scala's close-ups in the screen test. Scala had her first official job in Hollywood when she was given a non-speaking, uncredited part in the movie All That Heaven Allows, starring Rock Hudson. Despite her very minor role in the movie, Universal Studios signed her to a contract, dyed her hair dark brown, had her four front teeth capped, and gave her stage name Gia Scala.

While Henry Mancini worked with Universal Pictures, he met Scala on the Four Girls in Town stage. Inspired by her beauty, he wrote "Cha Cha for Gia" which became an uncredited tune for the 1957 movie.

As Scala's stardom began to rise in 1957, her mother died, and she became unstable as she was emotionally distraught. In 1958, while she was filming The Two Headed Spy in London, Scala and her father were sharing an apartment where late one night they had an argument, causing Scala to leave the apartment in anger. She got into a taxi and headed to the Waterloo Bridge, where it looked as if she were going to jump off the bridge. The taxi driver called the police, and she was taken to the police station where she was collected by her father in the morning. Later that year, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States. After the filming of The Two Headed Spy was complete, her father moved to Taormina, Sicily, where he retired from the import/export business. Scala soon landed several remarkable roles in Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957), The Garment Jungle (1957), and The Tunnel of Love (1958), which featured Richard Widmark and Doris Day. Her performance as a labour organiser in The Garment Jungle was critically acclaimed.

Gia received recognition for her performance as Anna in the film The Guns of Navarone (1961), starring Gregory Peck and David Niven.

Scala made frequent appearances on American television shows during the 1960s, co-starring with William Shatner in a 1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode entitled "Mother, May I Go Out to Swim?", another called "Deathmate", and with Christopher Lee in a 1964 Alfred Hitchcock Hour segment entitled "The Sign of Satan". She also guest-starred in other series, Convoy, The Islanders, The Rogues, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twelve O'Clock High episode "Rx for a Sick Bird" (1965), the NBC TV series Tarzan (1967), and It Takes a Thief (1969) in the episode "The Artist Is for Framing", which came to be her final acting role.

Later years

On 21 August 1959, Scala had married Don Burnett, an actor turned investment banker. After ten years of marriage Burnett left her, moved in with Rock Hudson, but later married Barbara Anderson. Gia and Don divorced on 1 September 1970. Scala had difficulties with alcohol. As a middle aged actress her career began to wane. There have been numerous publications that incorrectly reported her situation deteriorated as a result of depression that led to the excessive drinking. Scala began to undergo frequent psychiatric observations. in 2015 author / researcher Sterling Saint James wrote a book about Gia Scala's life entitled "Gia Scala: The First Gia." Tina Scala narrated the book, and gave intimate information about her sister's life.

Death

On the night of 30 April 1972, 38 year-old Scala was found dead in her Hollywood Hills home. The Los Angeles County Coroner, Thomas Noguchi, reported her cause of death was from an "acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication" and was later ruled accidental.

The circumstances surrounding Scala's death have been questioned, with some believing it was a result of either murder or suicide rather than accidental. Her sister, Tina Scala, never believed that she intended to take her life nor that her death was accidental. She 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. The bedroom seemed to be staged with wine bottles and dirty wine glasses strewn about, which was suspicious as Scala was known to be a very organized and neat person.

Scala is interred next to her mother, Eileen O'Sullivan-Scoglio, in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Legacy

In 2008, the Democratic Republic of the Congo released a postage stamp bearing Scala's image.

Gia Scala: The First Gia is the title of a book published first in December 2014, then republished in July 2015. The book discusses in detail her personal and professional life. Video on YouTube

Film and television credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	Stop the Music		Game show contestant, later became Bert Parks assistant
1955	All That Heaven Allows	Marguerita	Uncredited
1956	Never Say Goodbye	Minnie	Uncredited
1956	The Price of Fear	Nina Ferranti	Gia Scala
1957	TV- Goodyear Theatre	Giovanna
1957	Four Girls in Town	Vicki Dauray
1957	The Big Boodle	Anita Ferrer	Filmed in Cuba
1957	Don't Go Near the Water	Melora Alba	MGM
1957	The Garment Jungle	Theresa Renata
1957	Tip on a Dead Jockey	Paquita Heldon	Filmed in Spain & Culver City, Calif.
1958	Ride a Crooked Trail	Tessa Milotte	Filmed in Los Angeles
1958	The Tunnel of Love	Estelle Novick	MGM
1958	The Two-Headed Spy	Lili Geyr	Filmed I London
1959	The Angry Hills	Eleftheria	Filmed in Greece & London
1959	Battle of the Coral Sea	Karen Philips
1960	I Aim at the Stars	Elizabeth Beyer	Filmed in Munich, Germany
1960	TV- Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Lottie Rank	Mother, May I Go Out to Swim?
1960	TV- The Islanders	Rhea	Duel of Strangers
1961	The Guns of Navarone	Anna	Filmed at Rhodes Island & London
1961	TV – Here's Hollywood	Herself	Episode 1.154
1961	TV Hong Kong	Maria Banda	The Runaway
1961	TV Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Lisa Talbot	Deathmate
1962	Il trionfo di Robin Hood	Anna	Filmed in Croatia & Italy
1964	Operation Delilah	Dalida	Filmed in Spain
1964	TV -Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Kitty Frazier	The Sign of Satan
1964	TV –The Rogues	Simone Carnot	Take Me to Paris
1965	TV – The Rogues	Lisa de Monfort	The Laughing Lady of Luxor
1965	TV- Convoy	Madeline Duval	Passage to Liverpool
1965	TV- Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea	Dr. Katya Markova	Jonah & the Whale
1965	TV -Twelve O'Clock High	Ilka Zradra	Rx for a Sick Bird
1965	TV – Run for Your Life	Marika Takacs	How to Sell Your Soul for Fun & Profit
1966	TV – Jericho	Simone DuBray	Upbeat & Underground
1967	TV – Tarzan	Martha Tolboth	The Golden Runaway
1969	TV – The Name of the Game	Renata Marino	The Inquiry
1969	TV – It Takes a Thief	Angel	The Artist Is for Framing, (Last appearance)

External links

• Gia Scala at IMDb
• Gia Scala at Find a Grave