At a young age he moved to Kharkiv, where his sister, Maria Sukhodolska-Dikova, was a popular actress, and she helped him to become an actor.

Young Dikiy made his acting debut at the age of 6, on stage of the Kharkiv Drama under the directorship of Oleksi Sukhodolskiy.

Then Dikiy studied under Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, and was hired as an actor at the Moscow Art Theater in 1910.

There his artistic rivalry with Michael Chekhov turned into a bitter dispute, and Dikiy left Moscow Art Theatre in 1928.

In 1928 Aleksei Dikiy received an invitation to work in Tel Aviv as director with Habima, the Jewish theatre troupe that had originated in Russia.

On 29 December 1928 he premiered The Treasure, a translation of the Yiddish play Der Oytser by Sholem Aleichem, which became an artistic and financial success.

Dikiy's production of Katerina Izmailova had over 100 performances in Leningrad and Moscow, and was considered a highlight of his directing career.

He was nominated for 'Best Actor' and received a special mention at the 1947 Venice Film Festival for the title role in Admiral Nakhimov.

[1] Under Dikiy's direction his friend and partner Boris Babochkin played one of his best roles ever – Klaverov, a corrupt career politician, alluding to a typical Soviet bureaucrat.

Official attacks by the Soviet Communist Party caused Dikiy a severe emotional trauma, which led to alcoholism, depression and other health problems.