Born in Bolzano, Piccolo made her acting debut in the stage adaption of
The Miracle Worker at the age of 11 under the direction of
Luigi Squarzina. She has also appeared in 45 films since 1962, making her debut film appearance in the 1963 film
The Leopard. In 1964, she met
Giorgio Strehler who directed the stage adaptations of
Brawling in Chioggia and
King Lear, both of which she appeared in. In 1970, she won the award for
Best Actress at the
1970 Cannes Film Festival for the film
Metello. In addition to working in
Italian cinema, Piccolo has also had some rare success in
French cinema. She made her debut in the 1971 film
The Widow Couderc directed by
Pierre Granier-Deferre. Two years later, she appeared in
The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot directed by
Nina Companeez. She also appeared in several French television shows throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Piccolo returned to Italian television with the series
Chiara e gli altri in which she portrayed Livia Malfatti. The show lasted only two seasons. Piccolo has a rare career as a voice actress. She is internationally known for providing the Italian voice of
Princess Leia Organa (portrayed by
Carrie Fisher) in the
Star Wars franchise. She was the only main cast member of the Italian dubbing of the
original trilogy to reprise her character in the
sequel trilogy as
Stefano Satta Flores and
Claudio Capone both died before the release of the sequel trilogy. ==Selected filmography==