{{short description|Italian actress}} {{Infobox person | image = Lella Costa, 2014.jpg | caption = Costa in 2014 | birth_date = {{birth-date and age|30 September 1952}} | birth_place =Milan, Italy | birth_name = Gabriella Costa | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = }} '''Gabriella "Lella" Costa''' (born 30 September 1952) is an Italian actress, comedian, playwright and writer.
== Life and career == Born in Milan, Costa studied acting at the Accademia dei Filodrammatici, and made her professional debut in the 1970s, with the stage company of {{Interlanguage link|Massimo De Rossi|it}}.<ref name="bio">{{Cite book |last=Cappa |first=Felice |title=Dizionario dello spettacolo del '900 |last2=Gelli |first2=Piero |last3=Mattarozzi |first3=Marco |date=1998 |publisher=Baldini & Castoldi |isbn=978-88-8089-295-3 |page=282|language=it |chapter=Costa, Lella}}</ref><ref name="mymo">{{cite web |last1=Secchi Frau |first1=Fabio |title=Lella Costa: la signora del monologhi teatrali |url=https://www.mymovies.it/persone/lella-costa/12300/ |website=Mymovies.it |access-date=13 April 2026 |language=it}}</ref> In 1980, she had her breakout with the a theatrical monologue ''Repertorio, cioè l'orfana e il reggicalze'', written by Stella Leonetti, and soon specialized in the monologue genre.<ref name="bio" />
In 1987, Costa made her playwriting debut with the satirical monologue ''Adlib''.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="mymo" /><ref name="univ">{{cite journal |last1=Stasio |first1=Loreta de |date=9 April 2011 |title=Il caso Lella Costa |url=https://revistascientificas.us.es/index.php/CulturasyLiteraturas/article/view/17925 |journal=Revista Internacional de Culturas y Literaturas |language=es |publisher=Universidad de Sevilla |issue=10 |pages=209–220 |doi=10.12795/RICL.2011.i10.15 |issn=1885-3625 |access-date=13 April 2026|doi-access=free }}</ref> Her 1996 monologue ''Stanca di guerra'' was co-written with Alessandro Baricco.<ref name="univ" /> Starting from the second half of the 1980s, she started appearing in several television comedy shows.<ref name="bio" /> She also appeared in several films, mostly in character roles, notably in Maurizio Nichetti's ''The Icicle Thief''.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="mymo" /> She is also active as a voice actress and a dubber.<ref name="mymo" />
Since 2021, Costa serves as artistic director of the Teatro Carcano alongside Serena Sinigaglia.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mazzone |first1=Roberto |title=Teatro Carcano di Milano: direzione artistica al femminile {{!}} Notizia |url=https://www.teatro.it/notizie/teatro/teatro-carcano-di-milano-direzione-artistica-al-femminile-con-lella-costa-e-serena-sinigaglia |access-date=13 April 2026 |work=Teatro.it |date=22 June 2021 |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ghezzi |first1=Marta |title=Mi sogno ancora i due della Romanini |work=Corriere della Sera|date=16 April 2023 |page=13}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *{{IMDb name}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Lella}} Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:People from Milan Category:Italian film actresses Category:Italian stage actresses Category:Italian television actresses Category:20th-century Italian actresses Category:Italian women comedians Category:Italian women dramatists and playwrights