She was one of the most famous actresses of her time and often drew large crowds of fans.

Ekelund studied at the Royal Dramatic Training Academy from 1930 to 1933, after which she acted in both theatre and film.

She worked at Vasateatern from 1934 to 1936, Oscarsteatern from 1938 to 1939 and the Malmö City Theatre from 1944.

[1] Her big film breakthrough came as a comic actor in Hasse Ekman's Med dej i mina armar in 1940 and as a character actor in Anders Henrikson's A Crime in 1940.

In 1961 she was hired as the first female producer and director at the Radio Theatre [sv][2] and remained there for the rest of her life.