Universal Studios Although Ekberg did not win the Miss Universe pageant, as one of six finalists, she did earn a
starlet's contract with
Universal Studios. As a starlet at Universal, she received lessons in drama, elocution, dancing, horseback riding, and fencing. She appeared briefly in
The Mississippi Gambler (1953) with
Tyrone Power,
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953) (playing a woman on Venus),
Take Me to Town (1953) with
Ann Sheridan, and
The Golden Blade (1953) with
Rock Hudson and
Piper Laurie. Ekberg skipped many of her drama lessons, restricting herself to riding horses in the
Hollywood Hills. Ekberg later admitted she was spoiled by the studio system and played, instead of pursuing bigger film roles. Universal dropped her after six months. appealed to the gossip magazines, like
Confidential and she soon became a major 1950s
pin-up, appearing in men's magazines like
Playboy. Additionally, Ekberg participated in
publicity stunts. She once admitted that an incident in which her dress burst open in the lobby of London's
Berkeley Hotel was prearranged with a photographer. Ekberg toured Greenland with
Bob Hope, entertaining American servicemen. Hope spoke of her beauty and
John Wayne signed her to a contract with his
Batjac Productions at $75 a week. By the mid-1950s, after several modelling jobs, Ekberg finally broke into the film industry. She guest-starred in the short-lived TV series
Casablanca (1955) and
Private Secretary. She had a small part in the film
Blood Alley (1955) starring
John Wayne and
Lauren Bacall, made for Wayne's
Batjac Productions. It was her first real speaking role in a feature. She appeared alongside the
Dean Martin and
Jerry Lewis comedy act in
Artists and Models (1955), directed by
Frank Tashlin for Paramount, playing "Anita". Ekberg's greatest opportunity was when Paramount cast her in
War and Peace (1956) which was shot in Rome, alongside
Mel Ferrer and
Audrey Hepburn, directed by
King Vidor. For a time, she was even publicised as "Paramount's
Marilyn Monroe". '' (1956) Ekberg was third billed in a thriller for Batjac,
Man in the Vault (1956). It was distributed by
RKO Pictures who had given Ekberg an excellent part in
Back from Eternity (1956), directed by
John Farrow. Ekberg signed a deal with
Warwick Pictures, the company of producers
Albert Broccoli and
Irwin Allen, who made films in England. She did
Zarak (1956) with
Victor Mature. Ekberg returned to Hollywood to make a second film with Martin and Lewis (and Tashlin),
Hollywood or Bust (1956). Ekberg made a second film for Warwick with Mature,
Interpol (1957). When
John Wayne split up with his producing partner Robert Fellows, Fellows took over Ekberg's contract.
Gerd Oswald Ekberg returned to Hollywood to make
Valerie (1957) with
Sterling Hayden and her then-husband Anthony Steel for director
Gerd Oswald. She co-starred with
Bob Hope and
Fernandel in
Paris Holiday (1958). This film was also directed by Oswald, as was
Screaming Mimi (1958). She did a third for Warwick,
The Man Inside (1958) with Jack Palance. Another film was announced for her, entitled
A Lot of Woman, but it was not made.
Italy and La Dolce Vita Ekberg went to Italy to star in
Sheba and the Gladiator (1959), playing
Zenobia. '' (1960) She stayed in Rome to make
La Dolce Vita (1960) for
Federico Fellini, performing as Sylvia Rank, the unattainable "dream woman" of the character played by
Marcello Mastroianni. The film features a scene of her cavorting in Rome's
Trevi Fountain alongside Mastroianni, which has been called "one of cinema's most iconic scenes". The movie was an international sensation and Ekberg settled in Rome. She had the lead in an Italian-French co production,
Last Train to Shanghai (1960) (aka
The Dam on the Yellow River), then was in
Le tre eccetera del colonnello (1960),
The Call Girl Business (1960), Ekberg then appeared in ''
Boccaccio '70 (1962), a film that also featured Sophia Loren and Romy Schneider. Soon thereafter, Ekberg was being considered by Broccoli to play the first Bond girl, Honey Ryder in Dr. No'', but the role went to the then-unknown
Ursula Andress. Ekberg co-starred with Andress,
Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin in the western-comedy
4 for Texas (1963). She returned to Europe to make
Love Factory (1964) and
Who Wants to Sleep? (1965). She went to England for an
Agatha Christie adaptation,
The Alphabet Murders (1965), directed by
Frank Tashlin who had directed her two Martin and Lewis films. Ekberg was in the Italian
How I Learned to Love Women (1966) then had a small role in a
Jerry Lewis comedy,
Way... Way Out (1966). She was in
Pardon, Are You For or Against? (1966), an
Alberto Sordi comedy;
The Cobra (1967), an Italian crime film with
Dana Andrews;
The Glass Sphinx (1967) with Robert Taylor;
Woman Times Seven (1967), an anthology directed by
Vittorio De Sica, in a segment with
Michael Caine; and
Crónica de un atraco (1968). She had a cameo in ''
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) and the lead in Fangs of the Living Dead (1969), Death Knocks Twice (1969), and A Candidate for a Killing'' (1969).
Later career Fellini called Ekberg back for a cameo in
The Clowns (1970). She had bigger parts in
The Divorce (1970) with
Vittorio Gassman;
The Conjugal Debt (1970); ''Quella chiara notte d'ottobre
(1970); The French Sex Murders (1972), a giallo; and Deadly Trackers'' (1972). She went to Asia to make a Hollywood film,
Northeast of Seoul (1972). In 1972, she sued an Italian magazine for publishing naked photographs of her. Ekberg was also in
Gold of the Amazon Women (1979),
Killer Nun (1979),
S.H.E: Security Hazards Expert (1980),
Cicciabomba (1982), and
The Seduction of Angela (1986). Fellini used her in
Intervista (1987), appearing as herself in a reunion scene with Mastroianni. She guest-starred in the 2001 Italian TV series
Il bello delle donne. == Personal life ==