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Monday 9 July 2012

Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid Bergman was born on August 29, 1915 in Stockholm, Sweden, to a Swedish father, Justus Bergman, and his German wife, Frieda (née Adler) Bergman. She was named after Princess Ingrid of Sweden.

When Ingrid was three years of age, her mother died. Her father, who was an artist and photographer, passed away when she was thirteen. After his death, she was then sent to live with an aunt, who died of heart complications only six months later.

Ingrid Bergman at 14

Educated at the Royal Dramatic Theater School, Stockholm, Bergman quickly became a star in Swedish films. Her performance in Intermezzo (1936), her 11th movie, brought the actress to the attention of American film producers. 

Bergman's first acting role in America came when Hollywood producer David O. Selznick brought her to the US to star in Intermezzo: A Love Story, an English language remake of her Swedish film, Intermezzo. It was an enormous success and as a result Bergman became a star.

Bergman's nickname on set early in her career was ‘Betterlater’, owing to her saying after nearly every take: :I’ll be better later."

According to one of her biographers, Charlotte Chandler (2007), Bergman had at first considered the Nazis only a "temporary aberration, 'too foolish to be taken seriously.” After Germany initiated World War II, Bergman "felt guilty because she had so misjudged the situation in Germany."

Bergman appeared in a variety of American and European films over the next five decades, including For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946), Stromboli (1950), Cactus Flower (1969), and Autumn Sonata (1981). 

Bergman co-starred with Humphrey Bogart in the classic film Casablanca, which premiered in New York City on November 26, 1942 and remains her best-known role. She did not consider Casablanca to be one of her favorite performances. "I made so many films which were more important, but the only one people ever want to talk about is that one with Bogart.”

Publicity photo for film Gaslight (1944)

Bergman became a smoker after needing to smoke for her role in Arch of Triumph.

Having married dentist Petter Lindström in 1937, Bergman was forced to return to Europe twelve years later as a result of the scandalous publicity surrounding her affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini during the filming of Stromboli. In the same month the film was released she gave birth to a boy, Robertino. A week after her son was born she divorced Dr. Lindstrom and married Rossellini in Mexico. She remained in Italy for the next seven years.

Ingrid Bergman's divorce from Dr. Lindstrom in 1950 to marry Roberto Rossellini was so scandalous a US Senator proposed a bill that would require films to be rated not just for on screen content, but the moral character of the actors involved as well.

Bergman could speak Swedish (her native language), German (her second language, learned from her German mother and in school), English (learned when brought over to the United States), Italian (learned while living in Italy) and French (her third language, learned in school). In addition, she acted in each of these languages at various times.

She won three Academy Awards (Gaslight (1944), Anastasia (1956), and Murder on the Orient Express (1973)) , two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress.


Bergman died on August 29, 1982 on her 67th birthday in London, England, following an eight year battle with breast cancer. Her body was cremated at Kensal Green Cemetery, London and her ashes taken to Sweden.

Source Wikipedia

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