Ingrid Bergman Biography

Childhood & Early Life

Ingrid Bergman was born on 29 August 1915 in Stockholm, to a Swedish father, Justus Bergman, and his German wife, Frieda. Her father was an artist and photographer who documented all her birthdays. Her mother died when Ingrid was just two years old. Her father too died within a few years and the little girl was sent to live with the family of an uncle and aunty. She received her primary education from private schools. As a young girl, she developed an interest in acting and performed regularly in her school plays. She received a scholarship to the state-sponsored Royal Dramatic Theatre School in the 1930s. She excelled at the school and proved herself to be a naturally talented actress. She received prominent roles in plays within one year of her joining. She was hired by a Swedish film studio during her first summer break and left the theatre to embark on a full-time acting career.

Major Works

Ingrid Bergman won much acclaim for her role as Paula Alquist Anton in the mystery-thriller ‘Gaslight’ in which she played the role of a woman whose husband slowly manipulates her into believing that she’s going insane. Her portrayal of a suicidal amnesiac in the historical drama film ‘Anastasia’ won her several awards and accolades. The film marked Bergman’s successful return to Hollywood after working for several years in Italy with her then-husband, Roberto Rossellini.

Awards & Achievements

Ingrid Bergman won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her roles in ‘Gaslight’ (1944) and ‘Anastasia’ (1956). She also won the award for Best Supporting Actress for ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ (1974). She was the recipient of four Golden Globe Awards, including Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for ‘The Bells of St. Mary’s’ (1945), Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for ‘Anastasia’ (1956), and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for ‘A Woman Called Golda’ (1982).

Personal Life & Legacy

Ingrid Bergman married Petter Aron Lindström, a medical professional, in 1937. The couple had one daughter. She developed an affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini while still being married to Lindström and even gave birth to Rossellini’s child. Following the birth of this child, she divorced Lindström in 1950 and married Rossellini in Mexico. She had two more children with Rossellini before divorcing him in 1957. In 1958, Ingrid Bergman married Lars Schmidt, a theatrical entrepreneur, and divorced him in 1975. She suffered from breast cancer during the later years of her life and died on 29 August 1982 on her 67th birthday.

Career

Ingrid Bergman’s first acting role was a small part in 1935’s ‘Munkbrogreven’. She was well liked by the Swedish audiences and went on to act in many other movies over the following years. In 1936, she appeared in the romantic drama ‘Intermezzo’. Her brilliant performance in the film caught the attention of American film producer David O. Selznick who hired her to star in the English language remake of the film. She made her Hollywood debut in 1939 with a role in ‘Intermezzo: A Love Story’. Initially she was not much confident as she was not fluent in English. But the film went on to become a commercial as well as critical success, and this gave Ingrid the confidence to stay in Hollywood. In 1942, she appeared with Humphrey Bogart in the classic film ‘Casablanca’ in which she portrayed the character of Ilsa, the beautiful Norwegian wife of Victor Laszlo. The role would become one of her best known ones. She played the role of Maria in ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ (1943) which was her first color film. The movie was based on Ernest Hemingway’s novel of the same title, and Hemingway had insisted that only Bergman should play the role of “Maria” as he was much impressed by the actress’s skills. Ingrid Bergman often collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock and appeared in several of his films including ‘Spellbound’ (1945), ‘Notorious’ (1946), and ‘Under Capricorn’ (1949). Her portrayal of Alicia Huberman in ‘Notorious’ was critically acclaimed. The 1950s were marked by numerous personal scandals in her life and she was not much active on the professional front during the early years of the decade. After being away from Hollywood for a while, she returned to American films with a starring role in ‘Anastasia’ (1956). She was more active on the stage during the 1960s and appeared in the film ‘Cactus Flower’ (1969), with Walter Matthau and Goldie Hawn after a long hiatus away from the screen. In 1974, she played one of the suspects in the British mystery film ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ based on a novel by Agatha Christie. Bergman portrayed a middle-aged Swedish missionary returning to Europe on a fund-raising trip for her mission in Africa. She appeared in her final film role in Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Autumn Sonata’ in 1978. After quitting the big screen, she was offered the starring role in a television mini-series, ‘A Woman Called Golda’ (1982), about the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. This was to be her final appearance on any kind of media.