BRITT EKLAND

'Britt Ekland' (born October 6, 1942) is a Swedish actress, long resident in the United Kingdom. She is fluent in English, French and German and her native Swedish and is most famous for her role as a Bond Girl in ''The Man with the Golden Gun''.

Contents

Biography

Youth

Career

Personal life

Sources

References

External links

Biography

Youth

Ekland's father was a successful retailer and she has three younger brothers.
Her mother died after a long battle with Alzheimers and Ekland was diagnosed with osteoporosis (which in her case she attributes to chronic dieting and low calcium),^[1] after falling at an awards show and fracturing her wrist and ankle. She has been associated with Alzheimer's and Osteoporosis organizations.

Career

Ekland appeared in the 1974 James Bond movie ''The Man with the Golden Gun''. Other notable film appearances include ''The Night They Raided Minsky's'', ''Baxter'' (co-starring Patricia Neal), ''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).
She was one of the first celebrities to do pilates (beginning in the 1970s) and she published a beauty and fitness book in 1984, followed by a fitness video in 1992. Ekland credits her personal Swedish trainer, Herb Genendelis, for a workout regimen that has kept her in "show biz shape".

Personal life

Ekland became famous 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. She stood by him after he suffered a series of massive heart attacks shortly after their marriage, and in 1965 they had a daughter, Victoria. The couple made two films together, ''After the Fox'' in 1966 and ''The Bobo'' in 1967, before she divorced Sellers. Ekland also has a son, Nicholai (born 1973) from her relationship with record producer Lou Adler.
Britt Ekland had a much-publicised 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 exclusively on the relationship. (She is heard whispering on his song ''Tonight's the Night, Gonna Be Alright''). Stewart has since admitted the relationship broke down because of his infidelity. After a highly public and acrimonious split she sued him for $12 million; the case was settled out of court. Following the split, Ekland became synonymous with the term "toyboy" having flings with, amongst others, Simon Turner (the King of Luxembourg), John Waite and Bay City Roller Les McKeown. From 1979-1981 she dated and became engaged to Girl frontman and future L.A. Guns singer Phil Lewis. In 1981 she was reported as having a fling with a 17-year old Spaniard. In 1984 she married rock musician Slim Jim Phantom who was almost two decades her junior and they had a son Thomas Jefferson (born 1988) before divorcing in 1992.
In the 1970s she was one of the most photographed and talked about celebrities in the world and in 1980 her autobiography "True Britt" was published. This inspired kiss-and-tell tales about Ekland, including Simon Turner's disputed allegation that Ekland liked to dress him in her clothes and make-up, and McKeown's subsequently retracted tales of group romps and an affair with Ekland's daughter Victoria.
She was portrayed by Charlize Theron in ''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'' (2004). Theron invited her to be her date at the Cannes Film Festival, and she became emotional when she saw the film for the first time. ^[2] There have also been reports that she was not happy with the film and claimed it is not an accurate representation of her life with Sellers.^[3]
She is a close friend of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne and is still a regular fixture on the rock and roll social scene. In the last few years she has appeared in several pantomimes in the UK.

Sources

1. http://www.virginmedia.com/movies/interviews/charlizetheron.php
2. http://www.roger-moore.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=forum&board=movie&op=display&num=651
3. http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/120387/health_watch_bone_disease_highlighted/index.html

References

1. http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/120387/health_watch_bone_disease_highlighted/index.html
2. http://www.virginmedia.com/movies/interviews/charlizetheron.php
3. http://www.roger-moore.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=forum&board=movie&op=display&num=651

External links

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