Britt Ekland became famous as a result of her whirlwind romance with British actor and comedian, Peter Sellers, who proposed after seeing her photograph in the paper; they had one daughter, Victoria, before divorcing. She later had a much-publicised romance with "bad-boy" rock star Rod Stewart, and in 1984 she married rock musician, Slim Jim Phantom, who was almost twenty years her junior; they also divorced.

She appeared in the 1974 James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun. Other film appearances include The Night They Raided Minsky's, Get Carter and The Wicker Man (for which her voice was dubbed by another actress).