in
The Six Million Dollar Man (1973) and
Gunilla Persson in 2014 Ekland had small roles in the Swedish films
Kort är sommaren (1962) and
Det är hos mig han har varit (1963), before landing her first major supporting part in the
George Marshall Western
Advance to the Rear (1964). In the same year Ekland was originally cast in the dramatic role of Karen Eriksson in the British film
Guns at Batasi starring
Richard Attenborough,
Jack Hawkins,
Flora Robson, and sixties heartthrob actor/singer
John Leyton. However she left the
Pinewood production after only three weeks into filming due to tension with her new husband
Peter Sellers, who was apparently so paranoid about Ekland having an affair with Leyton he secretly asked his old acting friends,
David Lodge and
Graham Stark who were co-starring in the picture, to keep an eye on her. After being quizzed nightly on the telephone by Sellers about her scenes and who she was with, Ekland left the shoot to join Sellers in
Los Angeles. Her role was quickly recast and completed by
Mia Farrow. In response 20th Century Fox sued Ekland for $1.5 million; Sellers counter-sued for $4 million claiming the Fox suit caused him "mental distress and injury to his health". In 1964 she appeared in the Christmas television film
A Carol for Another Christmas with her husband Peter Sellers. She followed this with
After the Fox (1966), also starring Sellers; she made one more film with Sellers,
The Bobo (1967). This was followed with a lead role as an
Amish girl turned New York City
burlesque dancer in
William Friedkin's musical ''
The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968), which earned Ekland critical acclaim. Next came Stiletto (1969), a crime drama, based on a novel by Harold Robbins, co-starring Alex Cord. She then starred in a string of Italian films, Machine Gun McCain (1969), The Conspirators (1969), and as Antigone in The Year of the Cannibals'' (1970). In 1971 she was cast as a leading lady and
gun moll in the crime film
Get Carter, opposite
Michael Caine, which firmly established her as a
blonde bombshell. The 1970s also saw Ekland in several horror films, including
What the Peeper Saw (1972) as a disturbed bride; the
Agatha Christie adaptation
Endless Night (1972), playing the friend and companion of an American heiress; and as a hallucinatory figure in the anthology film
Asylum (1972) opposite
Charlotte Rampling. Her best known horror role came in 1973s
The Wicker Man, in which she played a
Pagan villager and seductress; however, her voice was dubbed in the film to disguise her Swedish-accented English. Other roles included in the thriller
The Ultimate Thrill (1974) and the British drama
Baxter! (1973). On television, she was cast in the TV film
The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War (1973) opposite
Lee Majors. Ekland's next prominent role came when she was cast as the
Bond girl, Mary Goodnight, in the
James Bond film
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), which received mixed reviews but furthered Ekland's status as a sex symbol. She played a comedy role in
Royal Flash, which has been described as "perhaps her best screen work". In 1976 Ekland provided the French spoken part at the end of then-boyfriend
Rod Stewart's single "
Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)". Ekland also portrayed biographical characters, such as the one based on real-life actress
Anny Ondra (boxer
Max Schmeling's wife) in the television film
Ring of Passion (1978). Ekland was also featured in the horror films
The Monster Club (1980) and ''
Satan's Mistress'' (1982). In 1978 she hosted a syndicated television series for American International Television called "Jukebox." Directed by Bruce Gowers and produced and written by Paul Flattery for Jon Roseman Productions, the series featured then-nascent music videos, most of which were originally produced by Roseman's companies in the United States and England. Ekland had supporting roles in independent feature films. She appeared in the comedy film
Fraternity Vacation (1985), followed by a role in the slasher film
Moon in Scorpio (1988), and as prostitute
Mariella Novotny in the feature
Scandal (1989) about the
Profumo affair. She has guest-starred on various television series, including an appearance on the popular TV series
Superboy, playing an alien disguised as
Lara,
Superboy's biological mother, during the show's second season in 1990. Ekland published a beauty and fitness book,
Sensual Beauty: How to Achieve It (1984), followed by a fitness video in 1992. In the
BBC television series ''
I Love the '70s (1999), she hosted the 1971 episode in homage to her role in the film Get Carter''. Ekland's later career has mainly consisted of stage and television, with her last feature film role being in
The Children (1990). She appeared on stage as a cast member in
Cinderella at the
Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent in December 1999 and January 2000. She also appeared in
Grumpy Old Women Live and 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. In December 2007 and January 2008 she starred again in
Cinderella at the
Wyvern Theatre, Swindon. She appeared as a guest on the British daytime television show
Loose Women, in January 2008. From December 2008 to January 2009 Ekland starred in
Cinderella at the
Shaw Theatre in London. In a rare instance of her singing, she performed the song
My Prince, originally recorded by
Lara Pulver on the album
Act One – Songs from the Musicals of Alexander S. Bermange. In 2009–10 she played the Fairy Godmother in
Cinderella at
Princess Theatre, Torquay. In December 2010 she starred as the 'Fairy Pea Pod' in
Jack and the Beanstalk at the
Kings Theatre, Southsea. She starred in further pantomimes at the
Theatre Royal, Windsor, in 2011 and 2012. Also in 2020, she toured the country in a production of
The Cat and the Canary, playing Mrs. Pleasant. Although the production halted due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, it resumed touring in late 2021. ==Writing==