Gia Scala
| Gia Scala | |
|---|---|
Gia Scala
|
|
| Born |
Josephine Grace Johanna Scoglio 3 March 1934 Liverpool, Lancashire„ England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 30 April 1972 (aged 38) at home in Hollywood, California, US |
| Cause of death | Accidental?-- new evidence |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California |
| Occupation | Actress, model |
| Years active | 1955—1969 |
| Spouse(s) | Don Burnett (1959-1970; divorced) |
| Website | http://giascala.com |
Gia Scala (3 March 1934 – 30 April 1972) was an actress and model who was born in Liverpool, raised in Sicily, and later moved to New York, where she became a naturalized United States citizen. Her father was Sicilian and her mother was Irish.
She was born Josephine Grace Johanna Scoglio in Liverpool, Lancashire (now Merseyside), to a Sicilian father, Pietro Scoglio, and an Irish mother, Eileen O'Sullivan. She had one sister, Tina Scala, also an actress. Gia was raised in Messina, and Mili San Marco, Sicily, the latter was upon her grandfather—Natale Scoglio's estate. He was the largest agriculturist of citrus, mainly lemons known as the "Ballerina Brand". It was the custom of upper social and economic class families to send their young adult children to live abroad to enculturate and learn other languages. When she was 16 years old, Gia began to reside with her aunt Agata in Whitestone, Queens, Long Island, New York. She had always wanted to be an actress; however, her very religious aunt disapproved of her aspirations. After she graduated from Bayside High School in Queens, Gia moved to Manhattan to pursue acting. To support herself, she found employment in a travel agency, where she met a person who had connections with a television producer. During this time, she took drama classes from Stella Adler, and that was when she met Steve McQueen; they dated from 1952 to 1954. She appeared on game shows, in particular Stop the Music, where she was spotted by Maurice Bergman, an executive of Universal International located in New York.
In 1954, accompanied by her mother, Scala flew to Hollywood 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 scrapped. Nevertheless, Peter Johnson at Universal Studios was impressed with Scala's close-ups in the screen test. She was given a nonspeaking, uncredited part in the movie All That Heaven Allows that starred Rock Hudson. Afterward, Universal Studios signed her to a contract. The studio dyed her hair dark brown, had her four front teeth capped, and changed her name to Gia Scala.
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