Ekland's father was a successful retailer in Stockholm, Sweden (her birthplace). She has three younger brothers. Her mother died after a long battle with Alzheimers.[citation needed]

Ekland was the leading Bond girl in the 1974 James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun. Other notable film appearances include The Night They Raided Minsky's, Baxter, The Double Man, Get Carter (in the 1999 BBC television series I Love the '70s she hosted the 1971 episode in homage to her role as "Anna" in the film), and the 1973 cult film The Wicker Man (for which her voice was dubbed to disguise her Swedish-accented English).[citation needed]

She also portrayed biographical characters, such as the one based on real-life actress Anny Ondra (boxer Max Schmeling's wife) in the television movie Ring of Passion (1978), and prostitute Mariella Novotny in the feature film Scandal (1989) about the Profumo affair.

Ekland published a beauty and fitness book in 1984, followed by a fitness video in 1992. Ekland credits her personal trainer, Herb Genendelis, for a workout regimen that has kept her in "show biz shape".[citation needed]

She appeared on stage as a cast member in Grumpy Old Women Live, in December 2007 participated in the Swedish reality show Stjärnorna på slottet (The stars at the castle) along with Peter Stormare, Arja Saijonmaa, Jan Malmsjö and Magnus Härenstam, and in December 2007 and January 2008 she starred in Cinderella at Swindon's Wyvern Theatre. She appeared as a guest on the top rated British daytime television show Loose Women, in January 2008. In 2009/10 she played the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at Princess Theatre, Torquay.

Ekland became famous overnight as a result of her 1964 whirlwind romance and marriage to British actor and comedian, Peter Sellers, who proposed after seeing her photograph in the paper and them meeting in London. She stood by him after he suffered a series of massive heart attacks shortly after their marriage. Ekland was stepmother to Sellers' children Sarah and Michael (who died of heart attack at about the same age as his father). In January 1965 they had a daughter, Victoria. The couple made two films together, After the Fox in 1966 and The Bobo in 1967, before divorcing the following year (1968).

In June of 1973, she had a son, Nic Adler, with record producer Lou Adler. She also had a much-publicized romance with rock star Rod Stewart; they were introduced in 1975 by Joan Collins and lived together for over two years, with Ekland giving up her career to focus on the relationship.[citation needed] From 1979-1981 she dated and became engaged to Girl frontman and future L.A. Guns singer Phil Lewis.[citation needed]In 1984 she married rock musician Slim Jim Phantom, who was almost two decades her junior. They had a son, Thomas Jefferson (born in 1988), and divorced in 1992.[citation needed]

In the 1970s Ekland was one of the most photographed and talked about celebrities in the world and in 1980 her best-selling autobiography, True Britt, was published.

A close friend of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, she is still a regular fixture on the rock'n'roll social scene.[citation needed]

In 2004 Ekland was portrayed by Charlize Theron in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. Theron invited her to be her date at the Cannes Film Festival, where she became highly emotional when she saw the film.