Anita Ekberg, the Swedish-born actress who was immortalized in Federico Fellini’s film La Dolce Vita has died. She was 83. She died in a hospital outside of Rome where she lived for many yeras.
In La Dolce Vita, Ekberg played Sylvia, the unattainable dream woman who danced uninhibitedly in Rome’s Trevi Fountain. She also appeared in several American films (Abbott and Costello Go to Mars) and toured with Bob Hope on several USO tours. Due to her hourglass figure, Ekberg was the “the butt of Hope’s wisecracks.” Hope cast her in two of his films, too: Paris Holiday (1958) and Call Me Bwana (1962).
