 Her early film roles were usually in films that her actor father was appearing in, such as 'Sei bambine ed il Perseo' ('Perseus and the six children') (1940).Scilla Sclanizza married the prominent Italian puppeteer Otello Sarzi (1922–2001).Their son, Mauro Sarzi (born 1947) is also a prolific theatre artist, continuing the puppeteering tradition going back five generations.