Daniela Rocca was born in Acireale, one of the poorest districts of Catania, in Sicily. Like many other Italian starlets in the Fifties and Sixties, Rocca became an actress after winning a beauty contest. In 1953, she was elected Miss Catania, and soon after was noticed by talent scouts, after taking part in the Miss Italy contest.
Her first film was Mercanti di Donne (1957). Four years later, the director Pietro Germi who had seen her in I Masnadieri (1961), offered her the role of Rosalia in Di