Anita Ekberg, the actress who catapulted to stardom following her role in the 1960's movie 'La Dolce Vita', passed away at 83 on Sunday in the clinic called San Raffaele in Rocca di Papa, which is located outside of Rome. The former model and pinup star died in the city that glorified her career as an actress, Italy.
The star of the Federico Fellini film was reportedly dependent on her wheelchair during the final years of her life due to an accident caused by tripping over one of her pets, specifically a Great Dane. The former Miss Sweden subsequently broke her hip, which bound her to the contraption for several years, as reported by CNN.
Ekberg was born in 1931 in Malmo, Sweden as Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg. Her career as an actress was set off by her participation in the Miss Universe beauty contest in 1950. Although she failed to take home the crown, the voluptuous candidate caught the eye of numerous producers, television personalities, actors, and other enterprises interested in banking on her beauty and physique to advance her career in show business.
Among the influential people she attracted were Academy award winner and box office king, John Wayne; renowned business tycoon, philanthropist, and filmmaker, Howard Robard Hughes, Jr.; and director, screenwriter, and actor, Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer.
The attention Ekberg caught during the pageant gave her opportunities to bag modeling contracts in the United States and also be considered as one of the women hailed in Playboy and other American pinup glossies.
However, it was her part as the sexy and daring leading lady who played the role of a seductress to the young and stylish Marcello Mastroianni that made Ekberg a household name during the 1960s. The former beauty queen was reportedly discovered by the director, Fellini, while she was filming in Italy alongside Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda for the movie War and Peace in 1956.
The circumstances surrounding the film led Ekberg towards Fellini's direction as he searched for a muse for his next masterpiece. La Dolce Vita became a highly acclaimed movie in which Fellini even won the Golden Palm award during the Cannes Film Festival in 1960.
Prior to her breakthrough role in the movie La Dolce Vita, Ekberg starred in other films, including Abbott and Costello Go To Mars in 1953, Artists and Models in 1955, Hollywood or Bust in 1956, and Paris Holiday in 1958.
