Dina Galli Vais4 - Public domain portrait photograph

Born Clotilde Anna Maria Galli in Milan, Italy, Galli was the daughter of a well known theatrical character actress, Armellina Nesti. She debuted on stage as a child actress in a Milanese dialect stage company, the Olivieri company, and in 1890 she joined the stage company led by Edoardo Ferravilla. In 1900 she became main actress in the Talli-Gramatica-Calabresi, and in the following years she worked in the companies led by Enrico Viarisio, Enzo Biliotti, Antonio Gandusio and Nino Besozzi. Galli made her film debut in 1914, in two silent films directed by Nino Oxilia. During the World War I, she voluntarily served in hospitals, entertaining wounded soldiers as a puppeteer. In 1935 she had a large success with the Giuseppe Adami's comedy play Felicita Colombo, and in 1937 she starred in a film adaptation with the same name directed by Mario Mattoli. She spoke with a distinctive Lombardy accent.