'Dolce Vita' star Anita Ekberg in Rome hospital

Anita Ekberg, 77, the curvaceous Swedish-born film star who famously frolicked in the Trevi fountain in "La Dolce Vita," has been admitted to a hospital in Rome, a medical official said.

Ekberg, who has lived in Italy for many years, was checked into the San Giovanni hospital, said the official in its neurosurgery department who declined to give details.

Italy's domestic ANSA news agency said she had fallen ill in her home in Genzano, near Rome, and that while her condition was not considered serious, she had been put under observation.

Ekberg, a one-time Miss Sweden, broke into movies in Hollywood in the 1950s, but enjoyed her greatest role in "La Dolce Vita" in 1960 in which director Federico Fellini cast her as Marcello Mastroianni's unattainable love interest Sylvia Rank, an American actress.

The pair spend an evening together that ends with blonde bombshell Sylvia, leaping into the Trevi fountain at dawn in a black shoulderless gown, beckoning to her admirer: "Marcello! Come here! Hurry up!".

Ekberg and Mastroianni reunited for Fellini in 1987 for the drama "Intervista".