Anita Ekberg: Movies & Box Office

Anita Ekberg (born Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg on 29 September 1931 in Malmö, Sweden) was a Swedish actress and model whose striking beauty and curvaceous figure made her one of the most recognizable faces of mid‑century cinema. After winning the Miss Sweden contest in 1950 she entered the Miss Universe pageant the following year, which earned her a starlet contract with Universal Studios despite speaking only limited English. In Hollywood she appeared in minor roles such as the Venus‑girl in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953) and a small part in The Mississippi Gambler before being released by the studio, yet her glamorous publicity stunts and high‑profile romances with men like Frank Sinatra and John Wayne turned her into a 1950s pin‑up icon featured in magazines including Playboy. A breakthrough came when Paramount cast her in War and Peace (1956) and she was briefly promoted as “Paramount’s Marilyn Monroe”. The defining moment of her career arrived with Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960), where her unforgettable scene wading through the Trevi Fountain as the fictional Sylvia cemented her status as an international star and immortalized her in cinema history. Following the film she settled in Rome, attained permanent residency in 1964 and built a prolific European career, appearing in Italian comedies, gialli and international productions such as Boccaccio ’70 (1962) and The Alphabet Murders (1965). Although she was considered for the first Bond girl role, the part ultimately went to Ursula Andress, but Ekberg did appear in the Bob Hope comedy Call Me Bwana (1963). Her later years saw occasional cameo appearances, including a brief return to Fellini in Intervista (1987) and a guest spot on the Italian TV series Il bello delle donne (2001). Despite financial difficulties in her final decade, Ekberg remained a beloved figure, frequently recalling her bond with Fellini and the iconic Trevi Fountain scene in interviews until her death on 11 January 2015 in Rocca di Papa, Italy, where she was laid to rest in her native Sweden.