Giacomo Rossi Stuart was born in Todi, Perugia on 25 August 1925 to an Italian father and a Scottish mother. As a youth, he was an accomplished athlete who participated in the pentathlon, but his priorities changed when he discovered acting. He left for the United States in the 1950s to study at the prestigious Actors Studio of New York, before returning to Italy to make his film debut in Il mantello rosso (1955).

Rossi Stuart starred in nearly 100 film and television productions over the next 40 years, establishing a reliable presence in Italian genre cinema as both a supporting actor and occasional leading man. His three children, Kim, Valentina, and Loretta; followed him into the entertainment business, where he remained active until his death in 1994.