Biography for
Anita Ekberg More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

29 September 1931, Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden

Birth Name

Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg

Nickname

The Iceberg

Height

5' 6½" (1.69 m)

Mini Biography

Growing up with seven brothers and sisters wasn't an adventure, but Anita's adventure began when she was elected Miss Sweden in 1950. She didn't win the Miss Universe contest but she got a modeling contract in the US. She quickly got a film contract with Howard Hughes's RKO that didn't lead anywhere (but Anita herself has said that Hughes wanted to marry her.)

Instead she started making movies with Universal, small roles that more often than not only required her to look beautiful. After five years in Hollywood she found herself in Rome, where Federico Fellini's La dolce vita (1960) meant her breakthrough. She stayed in Italy and made around 20 movies during the next ten years, some roles memorable, some to be forgotten. Her two marriages gave her a lot of attention from the press. During the 1970s the roles became less frequent, but she made a marvellous comeback with Fellini's Intervista (1987).

IMDb Mini Biography By: Mattias Thuresson

Spouse

Rik Van Nutter	(9 April 1963 - 1975) (divorced)
Anthony Steel	(22 May 1956 - 14 May 1959) (divorced)

Trivia

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#98). [1995]

Miss Sweden 1950

Was up for the lead role in the 50s TV series, "Sheena: Queen of the Jungle" (1955) before her contract was bought out by John Wayne's production company, Batjac.

Played the role of Rick's (Charles McGraw) love interest "Trina' in the 1955 TV series Casablanca' based upon the 1942 movie.

Returned to Sweden in 1964 to appear in her first Swedish movie, Bo Widerberg's Kärlek 65 (1965), but cancelled her appearance because "Widerberg was such an amateur!" Personal quote.

In the 1950s, made a television commercial for Lustre Creme.

Measurements: 39 1/2-22-36 (as Miss Sweden 1950), 42-27-38 (posing for glamour photos in 1982 at age 50). (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).

1955 Deb Star.

Personal Quotes

How can I know who's PM or in government in Sweden? It's been 40 years since I moved abroad! Oh!

I'm very much bigger than I was, so what? It's not really fatness, it's development.

I'm very proud of my breasts, as every woman should be. It's not cellular obesity. It's womanliness.

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