Brigitte Nielsen was born July 15, 1963 in Rødovre, Denmark. Upon graduating from high school, she went to France and Italy in pursuit of her modeling career. She modeled for famous designers including Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace and Gianfranco Ferré. She was also photographed by prominent lens men Helmut Newton and Francesco Scavullo.
In 1984, she was chosen to play lead in the action/adventure/fantasy film
Red Sonja, which was directed by Richard Fliescher. It was Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis who personally hired her for the role. She co-starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the said movie.
Because of the success of Red Sonja, Nielsen was approached by Marvel Comics to pose as She-Hulk. Putting on the hero's costume, Nielsen engaged in photo ops and imitated the character from the comic book. The company originally planned to create a movie out of the comics but only a few investors were interested, so Marvel eventually shelved the project.
In 1985, she met and married Sylvester Stallone. They did two movies namely
Rocky IV and
Cobra before ending their relationship.
Nielsen also attempted a career in the music industry. Her debut album was entitled
Every Body Tells A Story. In 1992, she released another album called
I'm the One…Nobody Else. Both albums didn't chart and Nielsen did not do well as a singer.
Nielsen guest-starred on countless TV shows including
Murder on the Moon, Fantaghiro, The Mole, The Surreal Life, Flavor of Love and
Celebrity Big Brother to name a few. She also acted on several films such as
Beverly Hills Cop II, Bye Bye Baby, Domino, The Double O Kid, Galaxis and
Doomsdayer. Nielsen was executive producer for the action film
Hostile Environment and associate producer for the independent comedy film
She's Too Tall.
Brigitte Nielsen can be seen on VH1's reality TV series
Celebrity Rehab. The show documents the experiences of celebrities as they undergo drug, alcohol and addiction treatment program. It chronicles their journey towards rehabilitation and recovery. Brigitte is seeking help for her addiction to alcohol and she wants to get clean for the sake of her children.
(Photo courtesy of moldova.org)