Anita Ekberg, star of La Dolce Vita, has died aged 83.
The Swedish-born actress was branded a "sex goddess" for her performance in Federico Fellini's 1960 movie.
The moment where she wades through Rome's Trevi Fountain in a strapless dress is considered one of cinema's most iconic scenes. She died in Rome on Sunday morning, her lawyer confirmed. She had been in hospital since Christmas following a series of illnesses.
Born in Malmo, Sweden, in 1931, Ekberg travelled to America after winning the Miss Sweden title at the age of 20.
She was immediately signed by a Hollywood studio and sent to work in Italy, where she met director Frederico Fellini.He cast her in La Dolce Vita as Sylvia Rank - "the most wonderful woman created since the beginning of time" - an actress pursued by news photographers.
Ironically, the film, which gave rise to the term paparazzo, resulted in Ekberg being hounded by the press herself.
She was constantly in the headlines for her romances with Hollywood's leading men, and her lovers were said to include Errol Flynn, Yul Brynner and Frank Sinatra.But she also made the front pages when, in 1960, she turned on photographer Felice Quinto with a bow and arrow.Quinto was amongst a pack of reporters who followed from a nightclub to her villa in Rome. During the fracas, she was photographed with her knee in one man's groin.
Alongside La Dolce Vita, Ekberg also appeared as a foil in Bob Hope's comedies Paris Holiday (1957) and Call Me Bwana (1963). Her other roles included Blood Alley 1955, Hollywood or Bust 1956 and the historical epic War and Peace (1956).
But the actress's popularity was not enduring.By the late 1970s, Ekberg had virtually disappeared from the screen, making only rare appearances in forgettable European films, although she appeared as herself in Fellini's 1987 cinematic memorybook Intervista. According to several reports, the actress was almost penniless at the time of her death.
Source : BBC News
