Paolo Poli Biography
Paolo Poli was born in Florence in 1929. He attended the Vittorio Emanuele III elementary school, but had to interrupt his studies in 1938 to move to Lake Como to assist his father, who had been admitted to a sanatorium to treat a stomach ulcer. . After middle school at Agnolo Poliziano, he went to the Dante high school and graduated in Literature in 1959 with a thesis on the naturalistic theater of Henry Becque.
In 1949, at just over twenty years old, he enrolled in the Faculty of Letters of his city, where he followed the art history courses held by Roberto Longhi. This fueled his passion for figurative culture. In 1957-1958, he taught French language and literature at the Leonardo da Vinci high school.
Poli began his artistic career as a theater actor at the Compagnia dell'Alberello, a group of young amateurs protected and financed by an eccentric and generous noblewoman, the Marchesa Flavia Farini Cini. In 1950 he also had his first acting experiences in theatres. In 1954 he made his debut as a film actor, working in films such as The Two Orfanelle by Giacomo Gentilomo, The Loves of Manon Lescaut by Mario Costa and There's No Greater Love by Giorgio Bianchi.
Poli also continued to act in theater and television, participating in programs such as Zurlì, the magician of Thursday and Controcanale. He also worked as a costume designer and assistant to Franco Zeffirelli for the film Camping.
One of Poli's most important shows was Il mare in 2010, taken from the collection of short stories Il mare non bagna Napoli by Anna Maria Ortese, shown on the road in the 2013-2014 season. He concluded his artistic career with the show Gli aquiloni in 2012.
Paolo Poli died in Florence in 2016, at the age of 87.
