Britt Ekland

Britt Ekland (born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in The Double Man, The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968), Machine Gun McCain (1969), Stiletto (1969), and the British crime film Get Carter (1971), which established her as a sex symbol. She also starred in several horror films, including The Wicker Man (1973), and she appeared as a Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). to Maj Britt, a secretary, and Sven Eklund, who ran an upmarket clothing store in Stockholm and was captain of the Swedish national curling team, four-time national champion and one-time president of the World Curling Federation. Ekland's mother died of Alzheimer's disease in the 1980s, which had a profound effect on her.

Ekland grew up with three younger brothers, and has said that she was overweight for much of her childhood: "I was very heavy. God, I was brutal-looking. I always tried to be funny to make up for the fact that I was fat and ugly". 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 1973's 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 Britt Ekland's autobiography True Britt was published in 1980 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. The book is an archetypal celebrity tell-all, chronicling her marriage to Peter Sellers and subsequent relationship with Rod Stewart.

Ekland is also the author of one novel, Det Ljuva Livet (Sweet Life).

In 2024, Ekland contributed an introduction to the LGBT+ horror novel, The Sugar Pit by William Jackson, published by the Cambridge Queer Press. Ekland refers to the illusory nature of all fiction. For The Wicker Man, spring had to be faked by glueing leaves to trees as principal photography took place in the autumn and Ekland herself was pregnant requiring some of her nude scenes to be filmed with a body double.

Personal life

Relationships and family Ekland became famous overnight as a result of her 1964 whirlwind romance and marriage to English actor and comedian Peter Sellers, who proposed after seeing her photograph in the paper and then meeting her in London. She stood by him after he suffered a series of heart attacks shortly after their marriage. Ekland was stepmother to Sellers's children Sarah and Michael (who died of a heart attack at about the same age as his father). In January 1965 they had a daughter, Victoria. The couple made three films together, A Carol for Another Christmas (1964), After the Fox (1966), and The Bobo (1967), before divorcing in 1968.

In June 1973, Ekland had a son, Nicolai Adler, with record producer Lou Adler.

She also had a much publicised romance with rock star Rod Stewart. They were introduced in 1975 by Joan Collins and lived together for more than two years, with Ekland giving up her career to focus on their relationship.

From 1979 to 1981, she dated and became engaged to singer Phil Lewis of the groups Girl and L.A. Guns.

In 1984, at age 42, she married Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom, who was 23. They had a son, Thomas Jefferson, in 1988. They divorced in 1992.

Legacy

While Rod Stewart's domestic partner, Ekland inspired his hit song "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)," which was 1977's overall #1 song. The song features a French spoken part by Ekland.

In the 2018 film My Dinner with Hervé, Helena Mattsson played Ekland.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes1962 Short Is the Summer Edvarda's Friend 1963 It's With Me He's Been Li's Workmate Uncredited To Bed or Not to Bed Extra UncreditedThe Commandant Iris The Prize Nudist 1964 Advance to the Rear Greta A Carol for Another Christmas Mother Four Bullets for JoeExtra 1965 Do Not Disturb Party girl Uncredited1966 After the Fox Gina Romantica 1967 Too Many Thieves Claudia The Bobo Olimpia Segura The Double Man Gina 1968 The Night They Raided Minsky's Rachel Schpitendavel 1969 Stiletto Illeana Machine Gun McCain Irene Tucker The Conspirators Princess Spada The Year of the Cannibals Antigone 1970 Tintomara Adolphine 1971 Percy Dorothy Chiltern-Barlow Get Carter Anna 1972 A Time for Loving Josette Papillion What the Peeper Saw Elise Endless Night Greta Asylum Lucy 1973 Baxter! Chris Bentley The Wicker Man Willow MacGregor The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War Katrina Volana 1974 The Ultimate Thrill Michelle Parlay The Man with the Golden Gun Mary Goodnight 1975 Royal Flash Duchess Irma 1976 High Velocity Mrs. Andersen 1977 Casanova & Co. Countess Trivulzi 1978 Slavers Anna von Erken 1979 King Solomon's Treasure Queen Nyleptha 1980 The Hostage Tower Leah 1981 The Monster Club Mrs. Busotsky 1982 Satan's Mistress Ann-Marie 1983 Dead Wrong Penny Lancaster Erotic Images Julie Todd Dr. Yes: The Hyannis Affair Susannah 1984 Love Scenes Annie 1985 Fraternity Vacation Eyvette Marbella Deborah 1987 Moon in Scorpio Linda 1989 Scandal Mariella Novotny Beverly Hills Vamp Madame Cassandra Cold Heat Jackie Mallon 1990 The Children Lady Zinnia Wrench 2006 Search Lisa's neighbour 2020 Jeepers Creepers Fantasy Lover voice

Television

Reality television Year TitleRoleNotes1970 The Dean Martin Show Herself Episode: "6.3"1981 Barbara Woodhouse Goes to Beverly Hills Herself documentary 1982 Electric Blue 3 Herself 1984 The Fall Guy Herself Episode: "Always Say Always" 1992 Bara med Britt Herself / Host 1997 Brass Eye Herself Episode: "Animals" 2007–2008 Stjärnorna på slottet Herself 5 episodes 2008–2021 Loose Women Herself / Presenster 5 episodes 2010 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Herself / Contestant 20 episodes 2011 Celebrity Antiques Road Trip Herself episode #1.8 2013 Astrid in Wonderland Herself Episode #5.8 2013–2015 Svenska Hollywoodfruar Herself 2018 Let's Dance Herself / Contestant 2 episodes 2020 The Real Marigold Hotel Herself Season 4, 4 episodes

Discography "Do it to Me once more (with feeling)" / "Private Party" (1979) No. 15 SWE