Lelia Vita Goldoni was born in New York City to a Sicilian family with a background in acting. Her family relocated to California, where she spent her childhood in Los Angeles and attended L.A. City College to study Italian, English literature, and psychology.
In her free time, Goldoni performed with the Lester Horton troupe of interpretive dancers. At the age of 19, she moved back to New York to study drama at a workshop run by John Cassavetes and Burton Lane on West Forty-Sixth Street in Manhattan.
