# Brigitte Nielsen
**Brigitte Nielsen** (born Gitte Nielsen; 1963) is a Danish actress, model, presenter, and singer who became an international star in the mid-1980s through the films *Red Sonja*, *Rocky IV*, and *Beverly Hills Cop II*, and later found a second career on reality television.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963, Rødovre, Denmark; birth name Gitte Nielsen[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/) |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/) |
| Breakthrough | Film debut as Red Sonja (1985), produced by Dino De Laurentiis, co-starring Arnold Schwarzenegger[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/) |
| Signature role | Ludmila Drago in *Rocky IV* (1985), reprised in *Creed II* (2018)[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/) |
| Marriages | Five marriages, including Sylvester Stallone (1985–1987); married Mattia Dessi in 2006[3](https://www.immobiliare.it/news/mercato-immobiliare/case-ville-e-condomini/dove-vive-oggi-brigitte-nielsen-489901//) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/) |
| Children | Five; her daughter Frida was born in 2018, when Nielsen was 54, after more than a decade of failed IVF attempts[3](https://www.immobiliare.it/news/mercato-immobiliare/case-ville-e-condomini/dove-vive-oggi-brigitte-nielsen-489901//) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/11/brigitte-nielsen-on-giving-birth-at-54-i-was-trying-until-there-were-no-embryos-left) |
| Languages | English, Danish, German, and Italian[5](https://www.cdastudiodinardo.com/curriculum_Brigitte_Nielsen_2517_1_1.pdf) |
## Early life and modeling
Nielsen was born in Rødovre, a suburb of Copenhagen, the daughter of a librarian and an engineer. As a child she wore a corset to correct scoliosis and orthopedic shoes because her right leg was longer than her left; at 1.85 m and very thin, schoolmates called her "giraffen" (the giraffe). She planned to become a librarian like her mother, but left home at sixteen to model[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/11/brigitte-nielsen-on-giving-birth-at-54-i-was-trying-until-there-were-no-embryos-left).
Her height and athletic build made her a striking representative for leading fashion houses, and she walked and shot for [Giorgio Armani](https://www.edgepedia.org/giorgio-armani), Gianni Versace, and Gianfranco Ferré, dividing her time among New York, Paris, Milan, and Berlin, and working with photographers such as [Helmut Newton](https://www.edgepedia.org/helmut-newton) and [Herb Ritts](https://www.edgepedia.org/herb-ritts)[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/) • [6](https://www.vogue.de/artikel/brigitte-nielsen-interview). In 1981, on an errand before a shoot in the Seychelles, she was among more than 40 hostages taken by mercenaries during an attempted coup and held over 12 hours at the airport before escaping[4](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/11/brigitte-nielsen-on-giving-birth-at-54-i-was-trying-until-there-were-no-embryos-left).
## Film stardom in the 1980s
Producer [Dino De Laurentiis](https://www.edgepedia.org/dino-de-laurentiis) flew her to Hollywood to star in his fantasy film *Red Sonja*, where she made her acting debut in 1985 opposite [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://www.edgepedia.org/arnold-schwarzenegger); he also changed her professional name from Gitte to Brigitte[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/11/brigitte-nielsen-on-giving-birth-at-54-i-was-trying-until-there-were-no-embryos-left). The same year she appeared in *Rocky IV* as Ludmila, the Soviet wife of [Dolph Lundgren](https://www.edgepedia.org/dolph-lundgren)'s Ivan Drago, meeting her future husband Sylvester Stallone on the production[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/).
She followed with *Cobra* (1986) opposite Stallone and a starring role alongside [Eddie Murphy](https://www.edgepedia.org/eddie-murphy) in *Beverly Hills Cop II* (1987)[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/) • [7](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/255085-Brigitte-Nielsen). Her screen performances, however, were repeatedly nominated for the Golden Raspberry ("Goldene Himbeere") anti-award[6](https://www.vogue.de/artikel/brigitte-nielsen-interview). Her marriage to Stallone ended in 1987 amid allegations including infidelity on her part, and her film career declined rapidly once the divorce was finalized[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/).
In her autobiography *You Only Get One Life*, Nielsen described herself as a creature "Frankensteined into fame" by the modeling agent [John Casablancas](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-casablancas) and Dino De Laurentiis. After the divorce she cut up her green card and moved to Europe for nearly two decades[4](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/11/brigitte-nielsen-on-giving-birth-at-54-i-was-trying-until-there-were-no-embryos-left).
## Music and European work
Nielsen recorded the [Giorgio Moroder](https://www.edgepedia.org/giorgio-moroder)-penned single "Body Next to Body" with the Austrian singer Falco, reaching the [Top 40](https://www.edgepedia.org/top-40) in Germany and Austria, and released the albums *Everybody Tells a Story* (1988) and *I Am the One… Nobody Else* (1992)[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/) • [1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/).
In Italy she worked in television and in Lamberto Bava's five-film *Fantaghirò* fantasy franchise, playing Strega Nera, the Black Witch[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/11/brigitte-nielsen-on-giving-birth-at-54-i-was-trying-until-there-were-no-embryos-left). She also appeared in low-budget American productions such as *Chained Heat II* (1993), moved into producing with *She's Too Tall* (1998) and *Hostile Environment* (1999), and appeared in [Michael Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jackson)'s "Liberian Girl" video in 1989[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/) • [1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/).
## Reality television and later career
Reality TV became what Nielsen has called her salvation. She appeared on *The Surreal Life* (The WB/VH1, 2003–2006), where she and Public Enemy co-founder [Flavor Flav](https://www.edgepedia.org/flavor-flav) began a volatile relationship documented in *Strange Love* (VH1, 2005)[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/11/brigitte-nielsen-on-giving-birth-at-54-i-was-trying-until-there-were-no-embryos-left). After a widely reported 2007 stint in treatment for alcohol dependency, she joined the VH1 series *Celebrity Rehab* (2008–2012)[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/).
Her screen return came with the 2007 television film *Voyage: Killing Brigitte Nielsen* by [Alki David](https://www.edgepedia.org/alki-david), followed by appearances in series including *Raising Hope* and *SOKO Stuttgart*, the action film *Mercenaries* (2014) with [Zoë Bell](https://www.edgepedia.org/zoe-bell), Vivica A. Fox, and [Kristanna Loken](https://www.edgepedia.org/kristanna-loken), and several episodes of *The Guardians of Justice*[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/). In *Creed II* (2018), the eighth film of the Rocky saga, she reprised Ludmila Drago more than three decades after the original[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/).
## Personal life
Nielsen has been married five times and has five children[3](https://www.immobiliare.it/news/mercato-immobiliare/case-ville-e-condomini/dove-vive-oggi-brigitte-nielsen-489901//). Her first marriage, in 1983, was to the Danish musician Kasper Winding, with whom she had her first son, Julian; she left that marriage for her acting career[8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000557/bio/). Later marriages included director-photographer Sebastian Copeland and Raoul Meyer[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/).
She married Mattia Dessi in 2006. After more than a decade of failed in-vitro fertilization attempts, the couple's daughter Frida was born in 2018, when Nielsen was 54; the couple had been told the treatment had only a 2.5 percent chance of success, and Nielsen kept the pregnancy secret until the 27th week[4](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/11/brigitte-nielsen-on-giving-birth-at-54-i-was-trying-until-there-were-no-embryos-left). In interviews for her 63rd birthday in 2026, she credited her daughter with giving her life a durable happiness after the turbulence of her earlier decades[9](https://www.bunte.de/family/stars-und-ihre-familien/nach-flop-ehen-alkoholentzug-dank-tochter-frida-8-ist-brigitte-nielsen-heute-gluecklicher-denn-je_9b55f090-14c7-4121-8c9f-b3a17d84ec36.html).
## References
1. [Brigitte Nielsen : Sa biographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-5681/biographie/)
2. [Brigitte Nielsen – Actress, Model, Singer, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/brigitte-nielsen/)
3. [Dove vive oggi Brigitte Nielsen, Immobiliare.it](https://www.immobiliare.it/news/mercato-immobiliare/case-ville-e-condomini/dove-vive-oggi-brigitte-nielsen-489901//)
4. [Brigitte Nielsen on giving birth at 54, The Guardian (2019)](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/11/brigitte-nielsen-on-giving-birth-at-54-i-was-trying-until-there-were-no-embryos-left)
5. [Brigitte Nielsen, curriculum vitae, Studio Di Nardo](https://www.cdastudiodinardo.com/curriculum_Brigitte_Nielsen_2517_1_1.pdf)
6. [Brigitte Nielsen im VOGUE-Interview, Vogue Germany](https://www.vogue.de/artikel/brigitte-nielsen-interview)
7. [Brigitte Nielsen, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/255085-Brigitte-Nielsen)
8. [Brigitte Nielsen – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000557/bio/)
9. [Dank Tochter Frida (8) ist Brigitte Nielsen heute glücklicher denn je, BUNTE (15 July 2026)](https://www.bunte.de/family/stars-und-ihre-familien/nach-flop-ehen-alkoholentzug-dank-tochter-frida-8-ist-brigitte-nielsen-heute-gluecklicher-denn-je_9b55f090-14c7-4121-8c9f-b3a17d84ec36.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Nordic actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license