Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg[1] (29 September 1931 – 11 January 2015) was a Swedish actress active in American and European films, known for her beauty and curvaceous figure. She became prominent in her iconic role as Sylvia in theFederico Fellini filmLa Dolce Vita (1960).[2] Ekberg worked primarily in Italy, where she became apermanent resident in 1964.[3]
Anita Ekberg was born on 29 September 1931, inMalmö,Skåne (Sweden), the sixth of eight children. In her teens, Anita worked as a fashion model. Ekberg entered the Miss Malmö competition in 1950 at her mother's urging. This led to theMiss Sweden contest which she won. Despite speaking very little English, she went to the United States to compete for the 1951Miss Universe title (an unofficialbeauty pageant at that time, it became official in 1952).[2][4]
Ekberg skipped many of her drama lessons, restricting herself to riding horses in theHollywood Hills. Ekberg later admitted she was spoiled by the studio system and played, instead of pursuing bigger film roles.[5] Universal dropped her after six months.[6]
The combination of Ekberg's voluptuous physique and colourful private life (such as her well-publicized romances with Hollywood's leading men likeFrank Sinatra,Tyrone Power,Yul Brynner,Rod Taylor, andErrol Flynn)[2][7] appealed to the gossip magazines, likeConfidential and she soon became a major 1950spin-up, appearing in men's magazines likePlayboy.[8] Additionally, Ekberg participated inpublicity stunts. She once admitted that an incident in which her dress burst open in the lobby of London'sBerkeley Hotel[9] was prearranged with a photographer.[5]
Ekberg toured Greenland withBob Hope, entertaining American servicemen. Hope spoke of her beauty andJohn Wayne signed her to a contract with hisBatjac Productions at $75 a week.[6]
By the mid-1950s, after several modelling jobs, Ekberg finally broke into the film industry. She guest-starred in the short-lived TV seriesCasablanca (1955) andPrivate Secretary.
Ekberg returned to Hollywood to make a second film with Martin and Lewis (and Tashlin),Hollywood or Bust (1956). Ekberg made a second film for Warwick with Mature,Interpol (1957).[13] In 1956,Hedda Hopper said her fee was $75,000 per picture.[6]
She was announced forGlare directed byBudd Boetticher, but it was not made.[14]
WhenJohn Wayne split up with his producing partner Robert Fellows, Fellows took over Ekberg's contract.[15]
Ekberg returned to Hollywood to makeValerie (1957) withSterling Hayden and her then-husband Anthony Steel for directorGerd Oswald.[13][16] She co-starred withBob Hope andFernandel inParis Holiday (1958). This film was also directed by Oswald, as wasScreaming Mimi (1958). She did a third for Warwick,The Man Inside (1958) with Jack Palance. Another film was announced for her, entitledA Lot of Woman, but it was not made.[17]
She stayed in Rome to makeLa Dolce Vita (1960) forFederico Fellini, performing as Sylvia Rank, the unattainable "dream woman" of the character played byMarcello Mastroianni. The film features a scene of her cavorting in Rome'sTrevi Fountain alongside Mastroianni, which has been called "one of cinema's most iconic scenes".[2][19]
The movie was an international sensation and Ekberg settled in Rome.[20] She had the lead in an Italian-French co production,Last Train to Shanghai (1960) (akaThe Dam on the Yellow River), then was inLe tre eccetera del colonnello (1960),The Call Girl Business (1960),[13]Behind Closed Doors (1961), andThe Mongols (1961), which had an American director (Andre de Toth) and co star (Jack Palance).
She later said "things became a little bit boring for me afterLa Dolce Vita because every producer or director in Italy, England and America wanted me to recreate the same role – the movie star from America who comes over to Italy."[21]
Ekberg then appeared inBoccaccio '70 (1962), a film that also featuredSophia Loren andRomy Schneider. Soon thereafter, Ekberg was being considered by Broccoli to play the firstBond girl,Honey Ryder inDr. No, but the role went to the then-unknownUrsula Andress.[13] However Broccoli then cast her inCall Me Bwana (1963) withBob Hope.Call Me Bwana was featured in the second Bond film,From Russia with Love, during a sequence where Ali Kerim Bey assassinates the Russian agent Krilencu with a sniper rifle. Krilencu attempts to escape through a window, which is situated in Anita Ekberg's mouth, on the wall-sized poster: "She should have kept her mouth shut", Bond quips.[22]
She went to Asia to make a Hollywood film,Northeast of Seoul (1972). In 1972, she sued an Italian magazine for publishing naked photographs of her.[23]
In 2021 actressMonica Bellucci co-produced and starred in amockumentary dedicated to Ekberg, called "The girl in the fountain" presented as a special event at the 2021 Torino Film festival.
Both of Ekberg's marriages were to actors, but neither of them succeeded. She was married toAnthony Steel from 22 May 1956 until their divorce on 14 May 1959 and toRik Van Nutter from 9 April 1963 until their divorce in 1975.[2][7] In a 2006 interview she said she wished she had a child,[26] but stated just the opposite six months later.[27] Ekberg's great love wasGianni Agnelli, the Italian industrialist and owner of Fiat. They were lovers for several years, although he was married.[28][29]
Ekberg was often outspoken in interviews,e.g., naming famous people she reportedly "couldn't bear". She was also frequently quoted as saying that it was Fellini who owed his success toher, rather thanvice versa: "They would like to keep up the story that Fellini made me famous, that Fellini discovered me", she said in a 1999 interview withThe New York Times.[30]
In 1960, afterpaparazzi followed her home to her villa from a nightclub, she was photographed kneeing one of them in the groin, and pulling out a bow and arrow to threaten others.[31]Felice Quinto claimed she shot arrows at him.[32]
Ekberg did not live in Sweden after the early 1950s and rarely visited the country. However, she welcomed Swedish journalists into her home outside Rome and in 2005, appeared on the popular radio programSommar, talking about her life. She stated in an interview that she would not move back to Sweden but would be buried there.[26]
In 1963, she was sued by her publicist.[33] In 1977, she was robbed in August and in December.[34]
On 19 July 2009, she was admitted to the San Giovanni Hospital in Rome after falling ill in her home inGenzano, according to a medical official in the hospital's neurosurgery department. Despite her condition not being serious, Ekberg was put under observation in the facility.[35]
In December 2011, it was reported that the 80-year-old 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,[2] and her villa was badly damaged by fire.[36] Ekberg applied for help from the Fellini Foundation, which also found itself in difficult financial straits.[37]
Ekberg died on 11 January 2015, at the age of 83, at the clinic San Raffaele inRocca di Papa,Roman Castles, from complications of chronic illnesses. The actress had been in a wheelchair for several years after being knocked down by one of her pet Great Danes, which broke her hip.[2][38][39] Ekberg's funeral service was held on 14 January 2015, at the Lutheran-EvangelicalChristuskirche in Rome, after which her body was cremated and her remains were buried at the cemetery ofSkanör Church in Sweden, in accordance with her wishes to be buried in the land of her birth.[40]
^abcHopper, Hedda (23 September 1956). "Anita Ekberg Caught in Whirl of Stardom: Anita Ekberg Caught in Whirl of Fame After Triumphal Return to Hollywood".Los Angeles Times. p. D1.
^"ANITA EKBERG TOLD TO PAY TAX IN ROME".Chicago Daily Tribune. 3 July 1961. p. a5.
^Ajesh Patalay (13 August 2006). "Anita Ekberg; Rewind 1960 Interview".Sun Herald. Sydney. p. 38.
^Field, Matthew; Chowdhury, Ajay (2015).Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films. The History Press. p. 102.ISBN978-0750966504.
^"Magazine Sued by Anita Ekberg".Los Angeles Times. 11 July 1972. p. g12.
^Stanley, Alessandra (3 July 1999). "La dolce Anita It's nearly 40 years since she danced in the Fountain of Trevi for Fellini, but Anita Ekberg still looks and acts the diva. Now she is making a rare screen appearance – mainly to spite her rival, Gina Lollobrigida".The Guardian. London. p. 5.
^Norwich, William (15 May 1999). "Life's not so sweet when you're being squeezed".National Post. p. B12.
^THOMAS M. PRYOR. The (14 May 1953). "WARWICK ACQUIRES BEVAN SPY NOVEL: Irving Allen Plans Production of 'Zarak Khan' -- Seeking Errol Flynn for Title Role".The New York Times. p. 33.
^Fountain, Nigel (2008). "Killer Nun: Film, Horror".Time Out Film Guide 2009. London. p. 566.Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved1 January 2016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Koper, Richard (2010).Fifties Blondes: Sexbombs, Sirens, Bad Girls and Teen Queens. BearManor Media. p. 113.
