Britt Ekland

Britt Ekland
Britt Ekland and Peter Sellers 1964.
Born	Britt-Marie Eklund 6 October 1942 (1942-10-06) (age 67) Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1959–present
Spouse(s)	Peter Sellers (1964-1968) Slim Jim Phantom (1984-1992)

Britt Ekland (born 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress long resident in the United Kingdom. She is best known for her roles as a Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun, and in the British cult horror film The Wicker Man, as well as her marriage to actor Peter Sellers, and her high-profile social life.

Early life

Ekland's father was a successful retailer in Stockholm, Sweden (her birthplace). She has three younger brothers. Her mother died after a long battle with Alzheimers.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Ekland was the leading Bond girl in the 1974 James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun. Other notable film appearances include The Night They Raided Minsky's, Baxter, The Double Man, Get Carter (in the 1999 BBC television series I Love the '70s she hosted the 1971 episode in homage to her role as "Anna" in the film), and the 1973 cult film The Wicker Man (for which her voice was dubbed to disguise her Swedish-accented English).^{[citation needed]}

She had been director Roman Polanski's first choice for the lead in Rosemary's Baby (1968) because he thought she would contrast well with the film's dark undertones. The studio preferred Mia Farrow, however, who had become a star on the enormously popular night-time soap opera Peyton Place (1964). She would later stand as maid of honor for Sharon Tate at her marriage to Polanski.^{[citation needed]}

She also portrayed biographical characters, such as the one based on real-life actress Anny Ondra (boxer Max Schmeling's wife) in the television movie Ring of Passion (1978), and prostitute Mariella Novotny in the feature film Scandal (1989) about the Profumo affair.

Ekland published a beauty and fitness book in 1984, followed by a fitness video in 1992. Ekland credits her personal trainer, Herb Genendelis, for a workout regimen that has kept her in "show biz shape".^{[citation needed]}

She appeared on stage as a cast member in Grumpy Old Women Live, in December 2007 participated in the Swedish reality show Stjärnorna på slottet (The stars at the castle) along with Peter Stormare, Arja Saijonmaa, Jan Malmsjö and Magnus Härenstam, and in December 2007 and January 2008 she starred in Cinderella at Swindon's Wyvern Theatre.^[1] She appeared as a guest on the top rated British daytime television show Loose Women, in January 2008.

Filmography

• Too Many Thieves (1966)
• After the Fox (1966) (Italian title: Caccia alla volpe)
• The Double Man (1967)
• The Bobo (1967)
• The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)
• Stiletto (1969)
• Percy (1971)
• Get Carter (1971)
• Diabólica malicia (1971)
• Endless Night (1972)
• The Wicker Man (1973)
• The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
• Royal Flash (1975)
• Casanova & Co. (1977)
• Slavers (1978)
• The Monster Club (1980)
• Satan's Mistress (1982)
• Dead Wrong (1983)
• Love Scenes (1984)
• Fraternity Vacation (1985)
• Scandal (1989)
• Cold Heat (1989)
• The Children (1990)

Personal life

Britt Ekland became famous overnight as a result of her 1964 whirlwind romance and marriage to British actor and comedian, Peter Sellers, who proposed after seeing her photograph in the paper.^[2] She stood by him after he suffered a series of massive heart attacks shortly after their marriage. Ekland was stepmother to Sellers' children Sarah and Michael (who died of heart attack at about the same age as his father). In January 1965 they had a daughter, Victoria. The couple made two films together, After the Fox in 1966 and The Bobo in 1967, before divorcing the following year (1968).

She also had a much-publicized romance with rock star Rod Stewart; they were introduced in 1975 by Joan Collins and lived together for over two years, with Ekland giving up her career to focus on the relationship.^{[citation needed]} From 1979-1981 she dated and became engaged to Girl frontman and future L.A. Guns singer Phil Lewis.^{[citation needed]}In 1984 she married rock musician Slim Jim Phantom, who was almost two decades her junior. They had a son, Thomas Jefferson (born in 1988), and divorced in 1992.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1970s Ekland was one of the most photographed and talked about celebrities in the world and in 1980 her best-selling autobiography, True Britt, was published.^[3]

A close friend of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, she is still a regular fixture on the rock'n'roll social scene.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004 Ekland was portrayed by Charlize Theron in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. Theron invited her to be her date at the Cannes Film Festival, where she became highly emotional when she saw the film. ^[4]

She was diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2004, (which she attributes to yo-yo dieting and low calcium)^[5] after falling at an awards show and fracturing her wrist and ankle. She has been associated with both Alzheimer's and osteoporosis organizations. The actress is fluent in English, French, and German, in addition to her native Swedish.

Discography

• "Do it to Me" / "Private Party" (1979) #15 SWE (According to Britt herself, the LP went straight in at number 7 at the English chart, but there is no proof for this)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Britt Ekland

• Britt Ekland at the Internet Movie Database
• Britt Ekland biography and credits at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• Britt Ekland - From Sweden With Love