Born in Cagliari, Palmara made his film debut in 1952 as character actor in drama films by eminent directors such as Luchino Visconti, Mario Monicelli and Antonio Pietrangeli, then obtained main roles in a great number of genre films, especially adventure films and peplum films., When the sword and sandals genre declined, he took part at a number of spaghetti westerns in which he is usually credited as Dick Palmer. A close friend of Sergio Leone, he was the Leone's first choice for the role of Ramon in A Fistful of Dollars; Palmara eventually chose to star in Mario Caiano's Bullets Don't Argue and the role of Ramon was played by Gian Maria Volontè.
