Britt Eckland

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'' (1967), ''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 appeared as a Bond girl in '' The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974).

Ekland continued to act throughout the 1970s, with roles in films such as ''The Ultimate Thrill'' (1974), ''Royal Flash'' (1975), '' High Velocity'' (1976), and ''King Solomon's Treasure'' (1979), and into the 1980s, starring in the likes of ''Fraternity Vacation'' (1985), ''Moon in Scorpio'' (1987), and ''Scandal'' (1989). Since the early 1990s her acting work has mainly consisted of stage shows, one-off roles, cameos, and appearances on reality television.

Her high-profile social life, her 1964 marriage to actor Peter Sellers, and her relationship with singer Rod Stewart attracted considerable press attention, making her one of the world's most photographed celebrities during the 1970s.

Early life

Ekland was born Britt-Marie Eklund in Stockholm, Sweden 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". As a teenager, Ekland left school to travel with a theatre company and was spotted in a coffee shop in Italy by a talent agent who sent her to London to audition for films.

Career

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. Ekland has said that Sellers insisted that she leave the set, come to America, then claim that an illness prevented her from returning. 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.

In 2010 Ekland took part in the reality TV show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', where she was the fourth celebrity to be voted off the show. Ekland was one of the housewives of ''Svenska Hollywoodfruar'' (English: Swedish Hollywood Wives) on TV3 from 2012 to 2014. In 2018 she participated in '' Let's Dance'' broadcast on TV4. She was the first to be eliminated on 30 March, placing 11th.

In 2020 Ekland appeared in Season 4 of BBC TV's ''The Real Marigold Hotel''. 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.

On 17 December 1968, Mr Justice Alan Orr granted Ekland a decree nisi for divorce in the High Court on the grounds of cruelty by Sellers, who did not contest the proceedings."Actor Peter Sellers Regretted That His Marriage To Britt Ekland Had Broken Down, A Divorce Court Judge Was Told Today", Associated Newspapers news release dated 17 December 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 2004, Charlize Theron portrayed Ekland in ''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers''. Ekland accompanied Theron to the Cannes Film Festival, where she became highly emotional when she saw the film.

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

Filmography

Film

Television

Reality television

Discography

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

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekland, Britt
1942 births
Living people
Actresses from Los Angeles
Actresses from Stockholm
Family of Peter Sellers
Family of Rod Stewart
Swedish autobiographers
Swedish expatriates in the United Kingdom
Swedish expatriate actresses in the United States
Swedish women singers
Swedish film actresses
Swedish television actresses
Women autobiographers
20th-century Swedish actresses
21st-century Swedish actresses