Anita Ekberg, the acid-tongued Swedish film siren best known for her role in La Dolce Vita, died on Sunday in Rocca di Papa, Italy, at age 83. Her attorney, Patrizia Ubaldi, confirmed the news on Sunday afternoon, saying: “She had hoped to get better, something that didn’t happen.” Ekberg, who hailed from Malmo, Sweden, had been in an Italian hospital since the holidays as she battled a longtime illness, Ubalzi said. Prior to that she was staying briefly in an Italian care home after her villa was partially destroyed in a fire, BBC reports. The former actress had been in a wheelchair for the past several years since colliding with one of her Great Dane dogs and breaking her hip. Born Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg on September 29, 1931, she was one of eight children. Ekberg got her big break when she traveled to the U.S. at age 20 to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, after she had been crowned Miss Sweden in 1950. She didn’t win the pageant, but just afterward signed with Universal Pictures. Read more http://www.newsweek.com/anita-ekberg-international-film-siren-dies-age-83-298488
