Anita Ekberg

 

Kerstin Marianne Ekberg (Swedish pronunciation (listen), 29 September 1931 - 11 January 2015) was an Swedish actress, popular for her gorgeous shape and beauty. She became prominent in her character in the role of Sylvia in the Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita (1960). Ekberg mostly worked in Italy which is where she was an permanent resident in 1964.Anita Ekberg was born on 29 September 1931, in (Sweden), the eighth child in a family of eight. In her teens, Anita worked as a fashion model. Ekberg was a participant in the Miss Malmo competition in 1950 on the advice of her mother. This resulted in her being selected for the Miss Sweden contest which she was crowned. Despite speaking very little English the contestant traveled to the United States to compete for the 1951 Miss Universe title (an unofficial pageant in that period, the pageant became official in 1952). Even though Ekberg was not the winner of the Miss Universe pageant, as one of six finalists, she did earn the title of a starlet with Universal Studios. She was a Universal starlet and took lessons in dramatization, elocution dance as well as horseback riding, fencing and elocution. She was briefly featured in The Mississippi Gambler (1953), Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953) (playing a woman in Venus), Take Me to Town (1953), and The Golden Blade (1953).