Farewell to Anita Ekberg

Star of La Dolce Vita dies at 83.

by Jennie Kermode

Anita Ekberg
Anita Ekberg

A former Miss Sweden who became an international sex symbol after dancing in the Trevi Fountain in La Dolce Vita, Anita Ekberg has died in hospital in Rome at the age of 83. The charismatic star, who set out to make a career in Hollywood even before she could speak English, also enjoyed success as a model.

Best known in cinema for her partnership with Federico Fellini, which also saw her shine in Intervista as late as 1987, she will be remembered for films like War And Peace, The Glass Sphinx, and Poirot thriller The Alphabet Murders. She enjoyed a brief career as a horror icon and also did television and radio work, the latter proving that it wasn't only her body with which she could captivate an audience.

During the last few years of her life, Ekberg fell on hard times following a robbery and fire at her home. She was hosptalised after breaking her thigh and subsequently suffered a series of short illnesses. twice married, she was alone at the time of her death, and never had children. Always gracious to press and public, she will be fondly remembered by fans around the world.

Share this with others on...
News

Love, not reason Pawel Pawlikowski, Sandra Hüller, August Diehl and Hanns Zischler discuss Fatherland

The monstrosity of the form Katie Aselton and Mark Duplass on relatable storytelling and Magic Hour

Going off-plan Ben Wheatley on early inspirations, developing his craft and making Normal

The accidental revolutionary Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue discuss artistic evolution and Blaise

Embracing complexity Nigel Santos on the messiness of real life romance, and Open Endings

Alone together Park Joon-ho on loneliness, North Korean experience, gay life and 3670

More news and features

We're bringing you news, reviews and more from Cannes and Queer East.



We've recently brought you coverage of the San Francisco Independent Film Festival, Visions du Réel, Fantaspoa, Overlook, BFI Flare and SXSW, the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, the NY Rendezvous with French Cinema, the Glasgow Film Festival, the Berlinale, Sundance and Palm Springs.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

Don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.


It's a busy time for festivals and here's the latest:


Cannes Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma team takes to the stage


Cannes Paul Laverty, Demi Moore, Park Chan-Wook and others speak out


Cannes Honorary Palme d'Or for Peter Jackson


Cannes Festival to host 25th anniversary screening of The Fast And The Furious, as Classics also announced


Fantasia First wave of titles announced