Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg was a Swedish actress active in American and European films, known for her beauty and stunning figure.
38 Facts About Anita Ekberg
2.
Anita Ekberg became prominent in her iconic role as Sylvia in the Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita.
3.
Anita Ekberg was born on 29 September 1931, in Malmo, Skane, the sixth of eight children.
4.
Anita Ekberg entered the Miss Malmo competition in 1950 at her mother's urging.
5.
Anita Ekberg appeared briefly in The Mississippi Gambler with Tyrone Power, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Take Me to Town with Ann Sheridan, and The Golden Blade with Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie.
6.
Anita Ekberg skipped many of her drama lessons, restricting herself to riding horses in the Hollywood Hills.
7.
Anita Ekberg later admitted she was spoiled by the studio system and played, instead of pursuing bigger film roles.
8.
Anita Ekberg once admitted that an incident in which her dress burst open in the lobby of London's Berkeley Hotel was prearranged with a photographer.
9.
Anita Ekberg guest-starred in the short-lived TV series Casablanca and Private Secretary.
10.
Anita Ekberg had a small part in the film Blood Alley starring John Wayne and Lauren Bacall, made for Wayne's Batjac Productions.
11.
Anita Ekberg appeared alongside the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy act in Artists and Models, directed by Frank Tashlin for Paramount, playing "Anita".
12.
Anita Ekberg was third billed in a thriller for Batjac, Man in the Vault.
13.
Anita Ekberg signed a deal with Warwick Pictures, the company of producers Albert Broccoli and Irwin Allen, who made films in England.
14.
Anita Ekberg returned to Hollywood to make a second film with Martin and Lewis, Hollywood or Bust.
15.
Anita Ekberg made a second film for Warwick with Mature, Interpol.
16.
Anita Ekberg was announced for Glare directed by Budd Boetticher, but it was not made.
17.
Anita Ekberg returned to Hollywood to make Valerie with Sterling Hayden and her then-husband Anthony Steel for director Gerd Oswald.
18.
Anita Ekberg co-starred with Bob Hope and Fernandel in Paris Holiday.
19.
Anita Ekberg did a third for Warwick, The Man Inside with Jack Palance.
20.
Anita Ekberg went to Italy to star in Sheba and the Gladiator, playing Zenobia.
21.
Anita Ekberg stayed in Rome to make La Dolce Vita for Federico Fellini, performing as Sylvia Rank, the unattainable "dream woman" of the character played by Marcello Mastroianni.
22.
The movie was an international sensation and Anita Ekberg settled in Rome.
23.
Anita Ekberg had the lead in an Italian-French co production, Last Train to Shanghai, then was in Le tre eccetera del colonnello, The Call Girl Business, Behind Closed Doors, and The Mongols, which had an American director and co star.
24.
Anita Ekberg then appeared in Boccaccio '70, a film that featured Sophia Loren and Romy Schneider.
25.
Soon thereafter, Anita Ekberg was being considered by Broccoli to play the first Bond girl, Honey Ryder in Dr No, but the role went to the then-unknown Ursula Andress.
26.
Anita Ekberg co-starred with Andress, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin in the western-comedy 4 for Texas.
27.
Anita Ekberg went to England for an Agatha Christie adaptation, The Alphabet Murders, directed by Frank Tashlin who had directed her two Martin and Lewis films.
28.
Anita Ekberg was in the Italian How I Learned to Love Women then had a small role in a Jerry Lewis comedy, Way.
29.
Anita Ekberg had a cameo in If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium and the lead in Fangs of the Living Dead, Death Knocks Twice, and A Candidate for a Killing.
30.
Anita Ekberg went to Asia to make a Hollywood film, Northeast of Seoul.
31.
Anita Ekberg guest-starred in the Italian TV series Il bello delle donne.
32.
Anita Ekberg was married to Anthony Steel from 22 May 1956 until their divorce on 14 May 1959 and to Rik Van Nutter from 9 April 1963 until their divorce in 1975.
33.
Anita Ekberg was frequently quoted as saying that it was Fellini who owed his success to her, rather than vice versa: "They would like to keep up the story that Fellini made me famous, that Fellini discovered me", she said in a 1999 interview with The New York Times.
34.
Anita Ekberg did not live in Sweden after the early 1950s, and rarely visited the country.
35.
Anita Ekberg stated in an interview that she would not move back to Sweden but would be buried there.
36.
In December 2011, it was reported that the 80-year-old Anita Ekberg was "destitute" following three months in a Rimini hospital with a broken hip, during which time her home was robbed of jewelry and furniture, and her villa was badly damaged by fire.
37.
Anita Ekberg applied for help from the Fellini Foundation, which found itself in difficult financial straits.
38.
Anita Ekberg died on 11 January 2015, at the age of 83, at the clinic San Raffaele in Rocca di Papa, Roman Castles, from complications of chronic illnesses.