She was responsible for one of the most memorable cinematic images in history - the sight of the statuesque evening-dressed Anita Ekberg cavorting in the Fontana di Trevi in Fellini's La Dolce Vita must surely be up there with Orson Welles stepping out of the shadows in The Third Man and Lauren Bacall leaning against that door frame in To Have and Have Not for sheer screen impact - but it is highly unlikely that many people could name another film in which she starred.
At the height of her fame, her lovers were said to include Errol Flynn, Yul Brynner and Frank Sinatra. Yet cinematic longevity eluded her, and she spent the latter years of her life in her adopted Italy.
According to several reports, the actress was almost penniless at the time of her death. However, she leaves one of the greatest legacies of all - that cooler-than-cool image of the unattainable object of desire, which "set the bar" for many a screen ingénue who followed in her wake.
RIP Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg (29th September 1931 – 11th January 2015)
Not such a "Sweet Life", after all.
