Brigitte Nielsen (born July 15, 1963 in Rødovre, Denmark) is a Danish actress who became very popular in 1980s B-movies, most notably as the titular character in Red Sonja, due to her stature (she stands at 6'1", or 1.86 metres, tall) and sultry looks. Because of these attributes, she was termed an "amazon" by the world press. Nielsen reached the height of her fame in 1987, when she played the assassin Karla Fry in Beverly Hills Cop II. She became famous for her love life as well, marrying actor Sylvester Stallone (her co-star in Rocky V and Cobra, then becoming engaged to football player Mark Gastineau, with whom she had a son. Nielsen has 3 more children by two of her 4 ex-husbands, photographer/director Sebastian Copeland (Orlando Bloom's cousin), and actor Raoul Meyer.

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 appeared on the third season of the VH1 reality show The Surreal Life, which was filmed in July and began airing in early September 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 the 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 January 2005 she appeared in the UK TV programme Celebrity Big Brother along with her former mother-in-law Jackie Stallone and the writer Germaine Greer.

Nielsen married for the fifth time in March 2005 to 26 year old Italian barman Mattia Dessi, who appeared briefly on Strange Love. The marriage is not official, because her divorce from her previous husband is not finalized.

Filmography

• Red Sonja (1985)
• Rocky IV (1985)
• Cobra (1986)
• Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
• Bye Bye Baby (1988)
• Domino (1988)
• (1991)
• The Double 0 Kid (1992)
• Mission of Justice (1992)
• Chained Heat II (1993)
• Galaxis (1995)
• Compelling Evidence (1995)
• (1995)
• Snowboard Academy (1996)
• Hostile Environment (1998)
• She's Too Tall (1998) (also associate producer and writer)
• Paparazzi (1998)
• Doomsdayer (2000)

External Links

Brigitte Nielsen at the International Movie Database

Brigitte Nielsen marries for the sixth time