Gia Scala — Biography
Born Giovanna Scoglio in Liverpool, England, Gia Scala was a striking, yet inwardly reserved and sensitive, foreign presence. Her family moved to Sicily when she was merely three months old, and she later relocated to New York at the age of fourteen. There, she completed her education at Bayside High School in Queens, graduating in 1952. While working various administrative roles, including a file clerk and an airline reservations agent, she pursued acting studies with notable mentors Stella Adler and the Actors Studio.
A chance encounter on a television game show led to a Universal Studios agent spotting the striking young woman and offering her a contract in 1954. Scala quickly began to climb the Hollywood hierarchy. After a few minor roles, she started receiving positive attention for her supporting parts. Her work in The Price of Fear in 1956 paved the way for more prominent romantic roles, including appearances in The Garment Jungle alongside Kerwin Mathews, Don't Go Near the Water opposite Glenn Ford, The Two-Headed Spy with Jack Hawkins, The Angry Hills starring Robert Mitchum, and I Aim at the Stars, where she appeared with Curd Jürgens.
Her most memorable role was portraying Anna, the silent, ill-fated Greek resistance fighter, in the grand ensemble production of The Guns of Navarone in 1961, a film led by Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn. Following this period, her personal and professional life began to falter. Beneath her consistent glamour and professional success lay deep-seated insecurities. The death of her mother triggered severe depression, leading her to rely heavily on alcohol as a coping mechanism, which resulted in a few legal troubles. Her unreliability caused her to lose her contract with Universal, necessitating her to seek work abroad.
Her marriage to actor Don Burnett, with whom she shared the screen in the lesser-known adventure film The Triumph of Robin Hood in 1962, eventually dissolved. In a moment of despair, she attempted to take her own life by jumping from London's Waterloo Bridge, only to be rescued by a passing cab driver. Scala's struggles with depression became so profound that she required frequent psychiatric care. Amidst these challenges, she sought solace in painting and maintained a close relationship with her younger sister, actress Tina Scala. Sadly, her fight ended on April 30, 1972, when she was discovered deceased in her Hollywood Hills home due to an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills. This beautiful actress, whose full potential in Hollywood remained unfulfilled, became another cautionary tale of Tinseltown. She was married to Don Burnett from August 21, 1959, until their divorce on September 1, 1970.
A chance encounter on a television game show led to a Universal Studios agent spotting the striking young woman and offering her a contract in 1954. Scala quickly began to climb the Hollywood hierarchy. After a few minor roles, she started receiving positive attention for her supporting parts. Her work in The Price of Fear in 1956 paved the way for more prominent romantic roles, including appearances in The Garment Jungle alongside Kerwin Mathews, Don't Go Near the Water opposite Glenn Ford, The Two-Headed Spy with Jack Hawkins, The Angry Hills starring Robert Mitchum, and I Aim at the Stars, where she appeared with Curd Jürgens.
Her most memorable role was portraying Anna, the silent, ill-fated Greek resistance fighter, in the grand ensemble production of The Guns of Navarone in 1961, a film led by Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn. Following this period, her personal and professional life began to falter. Beneath her consistent glamour and professional success lay deep-seated insecurities. The death of her mother triggered severe depression, leading her to rely heavily on alcohol as a coping mechanism, which resulted in a few legal troubles. Her unreliability caused her to lose her contract with Universal, necessitating her to seek work abroad.
Her marriage to actor Don Burnett, with whom she shared the screen in the lesser-known adventure film The Triumph of Robin Hood in 1962, eventually dissolved. In a moment of despair, she attempted to take her own life by jumping from London's Waterloo Bridge, only to be rescued by a passing cab driver. Scala's struggles with depression became so profound that she required frequent psychiatric care. Amidst these challenges, she sought solace in painting and maintained a close relationship with her younger sister, actress Tina Scala. Sadly, her fight ended on April 30, 1972, when she was discovered deceased in her Hollywood Hills home due to an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills. This beautiful actress, whose full potential in Hollywood remained unfulfilled, became another cautionary tale of Tinseltown. She was married to Don Burnett from August 21, 1959, until their divorce on September 1, 1970.
