La dolce Vita, a journey through the sweet life in a fruitless search for Love and happiness.

Although Ekberg did not win the Miss Universe pageant but as one of six finalists she did earn a starlet’s contract with Universal Studios.

The combination of Ekberg’s voluptuous physique and colorful private life appealed to the gossip magazines.

(Well-publicized romances with Hollywood’s leading men like Frank Sinatra, Tyrone Power, Yul Brynner, Rod Taylor, and Errol Flynn)

She soon became a major pin-up, appearing in men’s magazines like Playboy.

Federico Fellini gave Ekberg her best known role in the film La Dolce Vita (1960), performing as Sylvia Rank, the unattainable dream woman of the character played by Marcello Mastroianni.

The film features a scene of her in Rome’s Trevi Fountain alongside Mastroianni, which has been called as one of cinema’s most iconic film scenes.

You are everything … everything! You are the first woman on the first day of creation. You are mother, sister, lover, friend, angel, devil, earth, home.

What do you think you like most in life?

I like lots of things. But there are three things I like most. Love, Love and Love.

Both of Ekberg‘s marriages were to actors, but neither of them succeeded. In one interview, she said she wished she had a child but stated just the opposite on another occasion.

After her house had been broken in to and partially burned, Ekberg was in financial need. She applied for help from the Fellini Foundation, which found itself in a difficult financial situation.

She then lived in a retirement home near Rome and wrote her memoirs. Ekberg died on 11th January 2015, at the age of 83.