She played a villain in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and starred as the Black Witch in the 1990s Italian film series Fantaghirò.

She is the daughter of Hanne, a librarian, and Svend Nielsen, an engineer,[1] and the ex-sister-in-law of film director Nicolas Winding Refn.

[6] Nielsen's exploits were well-covered in the entertainment media in the 1980s, and the world press started referring to her as an "Amazon"[7][8][9] because of her tall stature.

In 1985, Nielsen began her acting career in the fantasy film Red Sonja alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In 1987, Nielsen played Karla Fry in the film Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), alongside Eddie Murphy.

In 2008, German record label Edel Music re-released her 1991 album I'm the One... Nobody Else and the 1987 Every Body Tells a Story under the title Brigitte Nielsen.

[citation needed] In 2009, she published her first autobiography in Scandinavia titled "Gitte Nielsen – Du har kun ét liv – sådan fandt jeg tilbage til mig selv" ("You only have one life – this is how I found myself again").

[23] She guest starred for an episode of the German TV series Stuttgart Homicide, aired by ZDF on 28 March 2011,[24] guest-hosted the British chat show Loose Women on 7 December 2010.

In January 2005, she was a contestant in Britain's Celebrity Big Brother, along with her former mother-in-law, Jackie Stallone, coming third in the final public vote.

She was filmed during those surgeries by RTL and she had her own television show Aus alt mach neu – Brigitte Nielsen in der Promi-Beauty-Klinik.

[29] In 2009, Nielsen appeared as a panel speaker to a new group of addicts at the Pasadena Recovery Center, anticipating the two-year mark of her sobriety that coming July.

[30] In 2010, Nielsen appeared as one of the celebrity contestants of TF1 reality show La Ferme Célébrités, the French version of the TV series The Farm.

[33] That same year, she also took part of Celebrity Come Dine with Me in Denmark (Til middag hos... ),[34] and in Germany (Das Perfekte Promi Dinner).

[38] In October 2012, Nielsen was featured in the Danish version of Maestro broadcast on DR1 in which celebrities competed for the chance to conduct a classical orchestra.

[39] From August 2016, she has also presented the dating show "Wirt sucht Liebe" ("Is Looking for Love") for the German TV channel RTL II.

During a 2012 interview on the German reality TV show Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!, she confessed to having had a one-night stand with Sean Penn in Cannes back in May 1991.

[53] Nielsen's husband Mattia Dessì (born 1978) lived with her in Italy as shown on Strange Love, which was filmed prior to their marriage.

[42][56] On 9 July 2007, Nielsen checked herself into the Cri-Help rehabilitation facility in North Hollywood following what some reports claim was a family intervention.

"[citation needed] As of 22 July 2007, Nielsen was out of rehabilitation to attend the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.

[59] In a January 2010, TV Guide story on her success with sobriety, Celebrity Rehab producer John Irwin stated, "She's sober, and she quit smoking.

"[55] In mid-2008, Nielsen starred in the reality show Aus alt mach neu, broadcast by German TV station RTL.