After a university degree in French literature, Poli began his acting career in the early 1950s and was one of the first actors in Italy to perform en travesti roles. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most versatile of Italian theatrical actors.
He has acted in and directed a host of operettas, among which Aldino mi cali un filino, Rita of Cascia, Caterina de Medici, L'asino d'oro, Gulliver's Travels, La leggenda di San Gregorio, Il coturno della ciabatta, and La nemica by Dario Niccodemi. His Rita of Cascia prompted complaints from Italian president Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.[3]
Well into his eighties, he continued performing on stage, most recently in Sillabari[4] by Goffredo Parise and Aquiloni, taken from Giovanni Pascoli.[5]
Rodolfo di Gianmarco, Paolo Poli, Gremese Editore, Rome, 1985.
Andrea Pini, Paolo Poli. L’amore gay nell’Italia del dopoguerra fino a oggi, Pride (Revue) n. 66, December 2004.
Eva Marinai, Gobbi, dritti e la satira molesta. Copioni di voci, immagini di scena (1951-1967), ETS, Pisa 2007.
Andrea Jelardi, Queer Tv-omosessualità e trasgressione nella tv italiana, introduction of Carlo Freccero, Croce, Rome, 2006.
Interview to Paolo Poli (Gianluca Meis writer) page about Poli in: Andrea Jelardi, In scena en travesti-Il Travestitismo nello spettacolo italiano, Croce, Rome, 2009.
Paolo Poli, Siamo tutte delle gran bugiarde. Conversazioni con Giovanni Pannacci, Giulio Perrone Editore, Rome, 2009, ISBN978-88-6004-139-5
^G. Colombo; Who's Who in Italy S. R. L.; Who's Who in Italy (2006). Who's Who in Italy. Who's Who In Italy. p. 1420. ISBN9788885246584. Retrieved 8 January 2013.