Biography

Inga Neilsen was born on July 1, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is an actress, known for Funny Girl (1968), Grave of the Vampire (1972) and In Like Flint (1967). She was previously married to Dick Orr.

Towering height and classic beauty

Made countless uncredited appearances on The Carol Burnett Show (1967). For most of that series' run, she was the go-to girl whenever a sex object was needed for ugly-duckling Carol to unfavorably compare herself to.

Half-Swedish (from father's side) and half-Polish (from mother's side).

Based on her dazzling proportions and Amazonian height (6'2" in stocking feet), she was often employed as a living sight gag for ogling comics, ranging from Zero Mostel (in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum [1966]) to Barbra Streisand (in Funny Girl [1968]).

"My mother is only 5 feet tall, and my father-he's dead- was only 5 feet 7... When I ask my mother how I got so tall, she tells me that my father's mother was an even 6 feet. That's where I got the height from... In many ways it's been an asset and in many ways a liability. " (PARADE Magazine, July 11, 1971)

"I still hope that I can be cast in a weekly TV series just to show what I can do as an actress, but if it doesn't come along I won't have a nervous breakdown. I've learned to live with things. I guess it's my Scandinavian temperament, although I'm only half-Scandinavian. My father came from Sweden and my mother came from Poland." (PARADE Magazine, July 11, 1971)