About Brigitte Nielsen
Brigitte Nielsen (born July 15, 1963 in Rødovre, Denmark) is a Danish actress who became popular in 1980s B-movies, due to her Amazonian stature (she stands at 6 ft 1 in, or 185 cm, tall) large bust and sultry looks.
Nielsen was born Gitte Nielsen in Rødovre, Denmark to Svend Nielsen, an engineer, and Hanne, a librarian.[2] She has a brother, Jan.
Nielsen began her acting career in 1985, in Red Sonja. Nielsen started a short-lived music career shortly after her divorce from Sylvester Stallone in 1987. She released her debut album Every Body Tells a Story in that year and recorded a duet with Austrian pop sensation Falco called "Body Next to Body" which went to 22 in Germany and 6 in Austria. She released a follow-up album, I'm the One...Nobody Else, in 1992, although it was not a success. In 1999 she made a musical comeback by recording the dance track "No more Turning Back" under the pseudonym of Gitta and reached #1 in Spain and topped several other European dance charts. Other tracks recorded as Gitta were 2000's "Tic Toc" and 2001's "You're No Lady," a collaboration with RuPaul.
In the late 1980s, Marvel Comics approached Brigitte to pose for photographs dressed as the comic book character She-Hulk. Brigitte had previously impressed the company with her prior portrayal of their character Red Sonja and they hoped she would prove just as successful in a new movie venture. Unfortunately the photos did not produce a large amount of investors in the potential film and Marvel was forced to scrap the project. In the 1990s, she hosted an English-language talk show that was broadcast across Europe, to much acclaim. The show revived public interest in Nielsen and helped her brush off the misconception that she could only be known for her beauty.
She has worked for Italian television hosting hit shows such as the 1992 edition of the Sanremo Music Festival; Retromarsh (1995-1997), and ..la sai l'ultima? (1999); starring in the tv movie Fantaghirò and its sequels (1992-1996); and guest starring in the Rai Tre's soap opera Un posto al sole (2000). She appeared on the first season of the Italian version of The Mole (2004) and on the third season of the VH1 reality show The Surreal Life 2004. In the show, Nielsen was seen flirting with Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav and it was confirmed that they were a couple, even though she was still legally married to Raoul Meyer. The show was such a success, due mainly to the interplay between this unusual couple, that VH1 produced a spin-off reality show called Strange Love, which began airing on the channel on January 9, 2005. Nielsen also appeared with Flav on the VH1 Big in '04 Awards. In 2006, she guest-starred on Flav's other reality show, Flavor of Love.
In 2004 she appeared in the Danish Big Brother VIP, one year later in January 2005 she was also a contestant in the British equivalent Celebrity Big Brother along with her former mother-in-law Jackie Stallone and the writer Germaine Greer. In 2006 she appeared in another reality TV series, VH1's The Surreal Life: Fame Game. In March 2007, she starred in a new British docu-reality called Killing Brigitte Nielsen aired on Sky Travel
Nielsen was the guest host for an episode of The Friday Night Project for Channel 4 in March 2005.
According to IMDB, she returned to acting in 2007 following an approximately 7 year hiatus. Most notably, in the 2018 film, Creed II, she reprised her role of Ludmilla Drago, which she originated in the 1985 film, Rocky IV.
Nielsen's first marriage was to Danish musician Kasper Winding, with whom she had a son, followed by a marriage to actor Sylvester Stallone, her co-star in Rocky IV and Cobra. She later became engaged (but not married) to American football player Mark Gastineau, with whom she had a son. She then married Swiss racecar driver Raoul Meyer from 17 December 1993 to 2005, and they had two sons: Douglas Aaron and Raoul Jr. Ayrton (named after her friend Ayrton Senna). It is often claimed that she married photographer / director Sebastian Copeland (Orlando Bloom's cousin) but she says that it was not a legal marriage.
Nielsen married for the fifth time in March 2005 to twenty-eight year old bartender Mattia Dessi, who appeared briefly on Strange Love. The marriage was not official, because her divorce from her previous husband was not finalized. But on July 8, 2006 they married legally, following her divorce from her previous husband. Her maid of honor was Ivana Trump.
On July 20, 2007, Nielsen has checked herself into a rehabilitation clinic, by her own "free will". She has checked into rehab for treatment of an undisclosed condition, her manager confirmed Thursday. "All I know is it's something she did on her own free will and we're proud of her and wish her very well," her manager, Steven Tempone, told The Associated Press. He declined to say what the actress was being treated for or where she was staying. He said he didn't know when she checked in.
Nielsen's trip to rehab was first reported by CelebTV.com. "When she gets out we'll have a big birthday party, and Coca-Cola only," Tempone said.
(Just a quick update for her, I'm sure, many fans: According to wikipedia, she was treated in 2007, and released, for alcoholism, and is now clean and sober. Her career success since (it's visible in her filmography, etc.) would seem to bear this out. We wish her all the best in her continuing journey toward the self-empowered life, and request at least one pictorial where she decks herself out in full Cossack gear. Least you can do for us, Brigitte! Think about it. :) )
