She is best known for starring in commedia sexy all'italiana, particularly the La liceale series, and also in erotic coming-of-age-drama films in the mid-1970s.

Gloria Guida was born in Merano, Italy, to a family from Emilia-Romagna.

She first began a singing career, starting in her father's dancing place on the Romagna coast.

Two of her early films, La ragazzina (Monika in English-language release) and La minorenne, both shot in the summer of 1974, are stories of young female characters discovering their sexuality.

Another film of particular success was Avere vent'anni ("To Be Twenty") in 1978, where she starred with Lilli Carati.