By Gautaman Bhaskaran
The Swedish star, Anita Ekberg, — who died on Sunday — was, along with Marilyn Monroe, one of the most admired pinup girls in a
world that was just getting over the catastrophic World War II.
In the spirit of utter relief, Europe and America were ready to celebrate. Sex and freedom emerged through girlie magazines that
men ogled at. And Ekberg was perfect for this mood of liberated fun.
Ekberg, who died at age 83 in Roca di Papa, near Rome, was the ultimate male fantasy with her pouting lips and her daring
dresses that seduced and titillated through an endless stream of images.
She was, however, best known for her arrestingly sensual scene in La Dolce Vita. Wading into the tourist hotspot of Rome’s Trevi
Fountain in a strapless black dress, she almost froze to death in the cold waters of February when the film, directed by Federico
Fellini, was shot.
On top of this, her co-star, the dashing and debonair Marcello Mastroianni, was drunk, which helped him to keep warm. But he was
stumbling, necessitating repeated takes. Finally, “they had to literally lift me out of the water, because I could not feel my
legs”, Ekberg had once said.
However, the uncomfortably icy experience was worth it all. The scene of Ekberg dancing in the water and splashing it all around,
cooing all the time, “Marcello, come to me”, is one of cinema’s most iconic romantic moments. La Dolce Vita won the Palm d’Or at
the 1960 Cannes Film Festival and the Oscar for Best Costumes.
But all this allure has — much to the chagrin of the Italian authorities — led to dozens of tourists jumping into the Trevi
Fountain trying to copy Ekberg’s magic moment.
In 1996 after the death of Mastroianni, the fountain was turned off and covered in black as a mark of honour to one of the most
captivating performers.
Playing a movie star, Sylvia, in La Dolce Vita — chased by the paparazzi (the first time the term was used), including a pleasure
hunting tabloid journalist, essayed by Mastroianni — Ekberg shot into immense fame, her voluptuous figure and whispery voice
adding to her image of a siren who seemed unattainable. Not just to that journalist, but others as well.
Once a photographer, Felice Quinto, clicked Ekberg kissing a married producer at a Rome night club and followed her home. She
went in and came back with a bow and arrow. One hit him on his hand. She then kneed and gave him a punch in his groin. The
shocked man winced in pain. However, Quinto still managed to sell those pictures to tabloids the world over. Such was Ekberg’s
charm and importance then.
She was as renowned for her style as she was her romances with major stars of the era like Frank Sinatra and Gary Cooper — though
these relationships were never confirmed.
Ekberg married twice — first to actor Anthony Steel from 1956 to 1959 and then to actor Rik Van Nutter from 1963 to 1975. She had
no children.
Apart from her most celebrated appearance in La Dolce Vita, Ekberg was also known for her roles in War and Peace with Audrey
Hepburn, Artists and Models with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin and Paris Holiday with Bob Hope. She tried, but lost out on the part
of Honey Ryder in the first James Bond movie, Dr. No.
A former Miss Sweden, Ekberg clinched a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for one of her first Hollywood forays, the 1955
thriller Blood Alley with John Wayne and Lauren Bacall.
Ekberg was born in Malmo, Sweden, on September 29 1931, the sixth of eight children. In 1951, she was crowned Miss Sweden, and
went to the US to vie for the Miss Universe title.
She did not win this, but instead got a contract with Universal. She landed small parts there and also appeared in Bob Hope’s
television serials — where her curves were “fodder for jokes”.
Over five decades, she made over 50 films. By the late 1970s, her career was just about over. Her most recent role was portraying
Ingrid in the Italian television series, Il Bello Delle Donne, produced by Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset.
In contrast to her early and middle life, Ekberg’s last years were one of suffering. She broke her hip when her pet dog knocked
her down. And when she was in hospital, her house was robbed and also damaged in a fire, and according to the Italian media, she
died lonely and penniless.
It was a sad end to one of the best known pinup girls whose sexy magnetism drew men like nothing else. And she partied and
partied as if there was no tomorrow.
l Gautaman Bhaskaran has been writing
on Indian and world cinema for
over three decades and may be e-mailed at
[email protected]
Ekberg, who died at age 83 in Roca di Papa, near Rome, was the ultimate male fantasy with her pouting lips and a daring dress sense.
