Brigitte Nielsen

Brigitte Nielsen is a Danish actress, model, and singer who rose to international prominence in the 1980s. Born Gitte Nielsen, she is known for her tall stature and her roles in feature films such as Red Sonja, Rocky IV, Cobra, and Beverly Hills Cop II. Over her multi-decade career, she has appeared in numerous films, television series, international reality television shows, and musical releases.

Nielsen began her career as a model in the early 1980s, standing 1.83 meters tall. During this period, she was photographed by photographers Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton. She featured on the cover of Playboy magazine in December 1987 and posed for photos dressed as the comic book character She-Hulk for Marvel Comics. Her physical stature led the international press to refer to her as an "Amazon."

Nielsen made her feature film debut in 1985 starring in the fantasy film Red Sonja alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. That same year, she played Ludmilla Drago in Rocky IV. In 1986, she starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in the action film Cobra. The following year, she portrayed the villain Karla Fry in the action-comedy film Beverly Hills Cop II alongside Eddie Murphy.

Throughout the 1990s and beyond, Nielsen starred in various movies and television projects. From 1992 to 1996, she played the Black Witch in the Italian fantasy film series Fantaghirò. Her other film credits include 976-Evil II, The Double 0 Kid, Chained Heat II, Galaxis, and Snowboard Academy. In later years, she provided voice work for the Danish animated comedy Ronal the Barbarian, appeared in Mercenaries and Exodus, and reprised her role as Ludmilla Drago in Creed II in 2018. In 2022, she joined the TV series The Guardians of Justice as Anubis Queen.

In 1987, Nielsen launched a music career with her debut album, Every Body Tells a Story, and recorded the duet "Body Next to Body" with Austrian singer Falco. She released a second album, I'm the One... Nobody Else, in 1992. Under the pseudonym "Gitta," she released several dance tracks, including "No More Turning Back," "Tic Toc," and "You're No Lady" featuring RuPaul. In 2009, she published her autobiography in Scandinavia, which reached the top five on Denmark's bestseller list and was published in the United Kingdom as You Only Get One Life in 2011.

Nielsen has established an extensive television career across Europe and the United States. She hosted Italian programs such as Festival and the Sanremo Music Festival, along with her own Danish talk show Gitte Talks. She also became a prominent figure in reality television, appearing on productions such as The Surreal Life, Celebrity Big Brother, Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, and the German competition Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!, which she won in 2012.

Fluent in Danish, English, German, and Italian, Nielsen has been married five times and has four sons and one daughter. Her marriages include Kasper Winding, Sylvester Stallone, Sebastian Copeland, Raoul Meyer, and Mattia Dessì. She also had a high-profile relationship with American football player Mark Gastineau.