LA DOLCE VITA ACTRESS ANITA EKBERG DIES

La Dolce Vita actress Anita Ekberg dead at 83 following 'a series of illnesses'

Swedish born actress died in Rome on Sunday

First found fame in Fellini's La Dolce Vita 

Became a sex symbol thanks to iconic scene showing her wading through Rome's Trevi Fountain in strapless black dress 

Married twice and has said her greatest regret is not having any children  

Anita Ekberg, the Swedish-born actress who is best known for her role in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, has died at the age of 83.

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The moment where her character Sylvia, wades through Rome's Trevi Fountain in nothing but a strapless black dress is remembered as one the most iconic scenes ever in a movie and one which turned her into a fully-fledged sex-symbol. 

Ekberg's lawyer Patrizia Ubaldi confirmed she died in Rome on Sunday morning following a series of illnesses. She had been hospitalised most recently after Christmas.

Ubaldi said that in her last days Ekberg was saddened by the illness and her advancing age. 

'She had hoped to get better, something that didn't happen,' she said. 

Ubaldi added that a ceremony would be held in the coming days at a Lutheran church in Rome, and that Ekberg had specified that her remains be cremated.

Born on Sept. 29, 1931, in the southern city of Malmo, Ekberg grew up with seven siblings.

In 1951 she won the Miss Sweden competition, after being recommended to enter by organisers who saw her on the street, and went to the United States to compete for the Miss Universe title.

She didn't win but became a model in Hollywood and later started taking on small acting roles.

Her role in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita - where she played a movie star - shot her to stardom. The movie was a colossal success and came to define the wild and carefree days of the early 1960s.

Hosting a Swedish radio program in 2005, Ekberg recalled shooting the scene in the Trevi Fountain in Rome. She said it was shot in February, the water in the fountain was cold and co-star Marcello Mastroianni was falling over in the fountain drunk on vodka.

'And there I was. I was freezing,' she said. 'They had to lift me out of the water because I couldn't feel my legs anymore.'

'I have seen that scene a few times. Maybe too many times. I can't stand watching it anymore, but it was beautiful at the time,' she said.

Ekberg had long lived in Italy, the country that gave her worldwide fame thanks to the iconic dip opposite Mastroianni.

Ekberg married Briton Anthony Steel in 1956, but divorced him four years later. In 1963 she married again to actor Rik van Nutter, but that marriage also failed.

In an interview with Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet in 2006, Ekberg said her only regret in life was never having children.

'I would have liked to have a child, preferably a son,' she was quoted as saying. 'It didn't turn out that way. That's life, you just have to accept it.'

In the interview, published in connection with Ekberg's 75th birthday, she also said she wasn't afraid of death.

'I'm just angry because I won't get the chance to tell others about death, where the soul goes and if there is a life afterward,' she was quoted as saying.

'I don't know if paradise or hell exist, but I'm sure hell is more groovy.' 

 

EE British Academy Film Awards in 2015

The Theory of Everything, Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead in BAFTA nominations 2015

Courtesy of http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2903041/Rosamund-Pike-Reese-Witherspoon-Felicity-fight-Leading-Actress-2015-BAFTA-nominations-announced.html

LEADING ACTOR

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH The Imitation Game

EDDIE REDMAYNE The Theory of Everything

JAKE GYLLENHAAL Nightcrawler

MICHAEL KEATON Birdman

RALPH FIENNES The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

LEADING ACTRESS 

AMY ADAMS Big Eyes

FELICITY JONES The Theory of Everything

JULIANNE MOORE Still Alice

REESE WITHERSPOON Wild

ROSAMUND PIKE Gone Girl

BEST FILM

BIRDMAN Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole

BOYHOOD Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson

THE IMITATION GAME Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR

EDWARD NORTON Birdman

ETHAN HAWKE Boyhood

J.K. SIMMONS Whiplash

MARK RUFFALO Foxcatcher

STEVE CARELL Foxcatcher

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

EMMA STONE Birdman

IMELDA STAUNTON Pride

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY The Imitation Game

PATRICIA ARQUETTE Boyhood

RENE RUSSO Nightcrawler 

 

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM 

'71 Yann Demange, Angus Lamont, Robin Gutch, Gregory Burke

THE IMITATION GAME Morten Tyldum, Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman, Graham Moore

PADDINGTON Paul King, David Heyman

PRIDE Matthew Warchus, David Livingstone, Stephen Beresford

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING James Marsh, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten

UNDER THE SKIN Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Nick Wechsler, Walter CampbelL 

 

DIRECTOR 

BIRDMAN Alejandro G. Iñárritu

BOYHOOD Richard Linklater

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Wes Anderson

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING James Marsh

WHIPLASH Damien Chazelle 

 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 

BIRDMAN Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo

BOYHOOD Richard Linklater

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Wes Anderson

NIGHTCRAWLER Dan Gilroy

WHIPLASH Damien Chazelle 

 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

AMERICAN SNIPER Jason Hall

GONE GIRL Gillian Flynn

THE IMITATION GAME Graham Moore

PADDINGTON Paul King

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Anthony McCarten 

 

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER 

ELAINE CONSTANTINE (Writer/Director) Northern Soul

GREGORY BURKE (Writer), YANN DEMANGE (Director) '71

HONG KHAOU (Writer/Director) Lilting

PAUL KATIS (Director/Producer), ANDREW DE LOTBINIÈRE (Producer) Kajaki: The True Story

STEPHEN BERESFORD (Writer), DAVID LIVINGSTONE (Producer) Pride 

 

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

IDA Pawel Pawlikowski, Eric Abraham, Piotr Dzieciol, Ewa Puszczynska

LEVIATHAN Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov

THE LUNCHBOX Ritesh Batra, Arun Rangachari, Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga

TRASH Stephen Daldry, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Kris Thykier

TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd 

 

DOCUMENTARY

20 FEET FROM STARDOM Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Gil Friesen

20,000 DAYS ON EARTH Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard

CITIZENFOUR Laura Poitras

FINDING VIVIAN MAIER John Maloof, Charlie Siskel

VIRUNGA Orlando von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara

 

ANIMATED FILM

BIG HERO 6 Don Hall, Chris Williams

THE BOXTROLLS Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable

THE LEGO MOVIE Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

ORIGINAL MUSIC

BIRDMAN Antonio Sanchez

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Alexandre Desplat

INTERSTELLAR Hans Zimmer

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Jóhann Jóhannsson

UNDER THE SKIN Mica Levi

 

CINEMATOGRAPHY

BIRDMAN Emmanuel Lubezki

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Robert Yeoman

IDA Lukasz Zal, Ryzsard Lenczewski

INTERSTELLAR Hoyte van Hoytema

MR. TURNER Dick Pope

 

EDITING 

Due to a tie in voting in this category, there are six nominations

BIRDMAN Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Barney Pilling

THE IMITATION GAME William Goldenberg NIGHTCRAWLER John Gilroy

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Jinx Godfrey

WHIPLASH Tom Cross

 

PRODUCTION DESIGN

BIG EYES Rick Heinrichs, Shane Vieau

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock

THE IMITATION GAME Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald

INTERSTELLAR Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis

MR. TURNER Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts

 

COSTUME DESIGN

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Milena Canonero

THE IMITATION GAME Sammy Sheldon Differ

INTO THE WOODS Colleen Atwood

MR. TURNER Jacqueline Durran

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Steven Noble

 

MAKE UP & HAIR 

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Frances Hannon

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White

INTO THE WOODS Peter Swords King, J. Roy Helland

MR. TURNER Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Jan Sewell

 

SOUND

AMERICAN SNIPER Walt Martin, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman

BIRDMAN Thomas Varga, Martin Hernández, Aaron Glascock, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio, Pawel Wdowczak

THE IMITATION GAME John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Stuart Hilliker, Martin Jensen

WHIPLASH Thomas Curley, Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann

 

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, Daniel Barrett

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner, Nicolas Aithadi

THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White

INTERSTELLAR Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer

 

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION 

THE BIGGER PICTURE Chris Hees, Daisy Jacobs, Jennifer Majka 

MONKEY LOVE EXPERIMENTS Ainslie Henderson, Cam Fraser, Will Anderson 

MY DAD Marcus Armitage

 

BRITISH SHORT FILM 

BOOGALOO AND GRAHAM Brian J. Falconer, Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney

EMOTIONAL FUSEBOX Michael Berliner, Rachel Tunnard

THE KÁRMÁN LINE Campbell Beaton, Dawn King, Tiernan Hanby, Oscar Sharp

SLAP Islay Bell-Webb, Michelangelo Fano, Nick Rowland

THREE BROTHERS Aleem Khan, Matthieu de Braconier, Stephanie Paeplow

 

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)

GUGU MBATHA-RAW

JACK O'CONNELL

MARGOT ROBBIE

MILES TELLER

SHAILENE WOODLEY 

 

Celebrity Big Brother 2015 contestants

Full line up revealed
Courtesy http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/celebrity-big-brother-2015-full-4932256

A fresh batch of celebs are ready and waiting to head into the Celebrity Big Brother house.
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The full list of contestants, revealed by The Sun, will not be confirmed until the launch show tonight.
Here's the low-down on the latest reports, and we're pretty excited.

Professional motor mouth Katie is sure to cause plenty of arguments with that acid tongue of hers.
She found fame in The Apprentice, but has since shared her controversial opinions on everything from obesity to the Ebola outbreak.
The outspoken columnist was rumoured to have been offered a record fee to take part.

Gossip blogger Perez Hilton is friends (and enemies) with the likes of Paris Hilton (who he named himself after), Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie, so he could really spill the beans.
He’s signed a contract worth £150,000 and will enter the house in January, reports The Sun.

Actress Patsy Kensit
The 46-year-old actress once claimed she would be unwilling to participate in any reality TV shows apart from BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing.

The blonde bombshell, who was married to Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, hinted at her stint in the house in a tweet, saying: "I have a feeling that meditation is going to help me a lot in the next month!"
You can say that again...

Keith Chegwin
The 57-year-old TV presenter is perhaps best known for his appearances on the Big Breakfast.
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Who can forget his appearance on Celebrity Love Island?
As the son of footy legend George Best, he should have plenty of tales to tell.


Model Cami made headlines in 2013 for her whirlwind romance with TOWIE star Kirk Norcross.
The 27-year-old is also a host of a Venezuelan reality show about alternative models - Models and Rock.
With her love of skimpy clothes and body art, she could be a seriously sexy addition to the show.


Former Baywatch hunk Jeremy Jackson played David Hasslehoff's son in the hit TV series.
The 34-year-old actor is renowned for his troubled personal life after he was arrested in 2000 for manufacturing methamphetamines.
He has also admitted to an addiction to steroids in the past and has been to rehab five times.


Pop sensation Kavana had hits in the 90s and went on to join boyband 5th Story as part of last year's series of ITV2's The Big Reunion.
But its his showbiz friendships that are really interesting - he's close pals with the likes of Mel B. But will he dish some gossip?


Feisty model and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini double Chloe Goodman starred in MTV’s Ex On The Beach and was at the centre of one of the series' biggest bust-ups.
The raunchy model, 21, was a body double for X Factor judge Cheryl, in her L’Oreal TV adverts.
With her incredible looks, she's set to drive the boys wild.
Goodman also once shared a snog with Sugababe Amelle Berrabah in a film called Plastic.


Tele fave and Mirror columnist Nadia Sawalha starred in EastEnders, Casualty and The Bill.
She's also been a panelist on ITV's Loose Women.
And she could be the chef of the house - proving her culinary skills by winning Celebrity Masterchef.


Coronation Street legend Ken Morley is best known for playing supermarket manager Reg Holdsworth in the soap.
He has since starred in Benidorm, and could be fighting Nadia Sawalha for the kitchen - he's also competed on Celebrity Masterchef


American R&B singer Alexander O'Neal enjoyed plenty of hits in the 80s.
If You Were Here Tonight, anyone?


Plastic surgery addict Alicia Douvall has had over 350 cosmetic ops.
The model, and former girlfriend of Simon Cowell, has spoken openly about her body struggles.


Michelle Visage, a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race, has earned a reputation as Ms Nasty on the show.
Will her quick wit rival Katie Hopkins? We sense fireworks in the making.
Celebrity Big Brother's launch show will air on Channel 5 tonight at 9pm.