Gia Scala

Gia Scala was born Giovanna Scoglio in Liverpool, United Kingdom, in 1934. At three months old, she moved to Sicily with her aristocratic Sicilian father and Irish mother. At age 14, she migrated to New York, where she attended Bayside (Queens) High School, graduating in 1952. She worked as a file clerk and airline reservations taker while studying with Stella Adler and the Actors Studio. In 1954, a Universal Studios agent spotted her on a television game show and placed her under contract.

After a few bit parts, she earned good notices as a second lead. Her performance in The Price of Fear (1956) led to roles in The Garment Jungle (1957), Don't Go Near the Water (1957), The Two-Headed Spy (1958), The Angry Hills (1959), and I Aim at the Stars (1960). Her most famous role was as the mute Anna, a Greek resistance fighter, in The Guns of Navarone (1961) with Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn. Following the loss of her mother, she fell into depression and began to drink heavily, leading to arrests and the loss of her Universal contract. She married actor Don Burnett in 1959; they divorced in 1970. Her life was marked by personal struggles, including a suicide attempt off London's Waterloo Bridge. She died on April 30, 1972, from an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills.