Age, Biography and Wiki
Ingrid Bergman was born on August 29, 1915, in Stockholm, Sweden, to a Swedish father and German mother. She began her acting career in Swedish and German films before transitioning to Hollywood. Bergman's career spanned five decades, earning her numerous awards, including three Academy Awards.
| Occupation | Autobiographer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 29 August 1915 |
| Age | 109 Years |
| Birth Place | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Horoscope | Virgo |
| Country | England |
| Date of death | 29 August, 1982 |
| Died Place | London, England |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Bergman stood at approximately 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) tall. Details about her weight are not widely documented, but she was known for her natural beauty and grace on screen.
| Height | 5 feet 9 inches |
| Weight | |
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Dating & Relationship status
Ingrid Bergman was married three times: to Petter Lindström (1937-1950), Roberto Rossellini (1950-1957), and Lars Schmidt (1958-1979). Her relationship with Roberto Rossellini, with whom she had three children, was particularly significant, as it influenced her career and personal life.
Born in Stockholm to a Swedish father and German mother, Bergman began her acting career in Swedish and German films. Her introduction to the U.S. audience came in the English-language remake of Intermezzo (1939). Known for her naturally luminous beauty, she starred in Casablanca (1942) as Ilsa Lund. Bergman's notable performances in the 1940s include the dramas For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Gaslight (1944), The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), and Joan of Arc (1948), all of which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress; she won for Gaslight. She made three films with Alfred Hitchcock: Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946), and Under Capricorn (1949).
Her parents married in Hamburg on 13 June 1907. She was named after Princess Ingrid of Sweden. Although she was raised in Sweden, she spent her summers in Germany and spoke fluent German.
When she was two and a half years old, her mother died. She learned to create imaginary friends as a child. Justus Bergman had wanted his daughter to become an opera star and had her take voice lessons for three years. He sent her to the Palmgrenska Samskolan, a prestigious girls' school in Stockholm where Bergman was reportedly neither a good student nor popular.
Justus was a photographer and loved documenting his daughter's birthdays with his camera. He made his daughter one of his favorite photographic subjects. She enjoyed dancing, dressing up, and acting in front of her father's lenses. "I was perhaps the most photographed child in Scandinavia," quipped Bergman in her later years. In 1929, when Bergman was around 14, her father died of stomach cancer. Losing her parents at such a young age was a trauma that Bergman later described as "living with an ache", an experience of which she was not even aware.
After her father's death, Bergman was sent to live with her paternal aunt, Ellen, who died of heart disease six months later. Bergman then lived with her paternal uncle Otto and his wife Hulda, who had five children of their own. She also visited her maternal aunt, Elsa Adler, whom the young girl called Mutti (Mom) according to family lore. She later said, "I have wanted to be an actress almost as long as I can remember", sometimes wearing her deceased mother's clothing, and staging plays in her father's empty studio.
Bergman starred in Ocean Breakers, in which she played a fisherman's daughter, and then in Swedenhielms, where she had the opportunity to work alongside her idol Gösta Ekman. Next, she starred in Walpurgis Night (1935). She played Lena, a secretary in love with her boss, Johan, who is unhappily married. Throughout, Lena and the wife vie for Johan's affection, with the wife losing her husband to Lena at the end.
In 1936, in On the Sunny Side (På Solsidan), Bergman was cast as an orphan from a good family who marries a rich older gentleman. Also in 1936, she appeared in Intermezzo, her first lead performance, where she was reunited with Gösta Ekman. This was a pivotal film for the young actress and allowed her to demonstrate her talent. Director Molander later said: "I created Intermezzo for her, but I was not responsible for its success. Ingrid herself made it successful." In 1938, she starred in Only One Night, playing an upper-class woman living on a country estate. She didn't like the part, calling it "a piece of rubbish". She only agreed to appear if only she could star in the studio's next film project, En kvinnas ansikte. She later acted in Dollar (1938), a Scandinavian screwball comedy. Bergman had just been voted Sweden's most admired movie star in the previous year and received top billing. Svenska Dagbladet wrote in its review: "Ingrid Bergman's feline appearance as an industrial tycoon's wife overshadows them all."
Bergman's first acting role in the United States was in Intermezzo: A Love Story by Gregory Ratoff which premiered on 22 September 1939. She accepted the invitation of Hollywood producer David O. Selznick, who wished her to star in the English-language remake of her earlier Swedish film Intermezzo (1936). Unable to speak English, and uncertain about her acceptance by the American audience, she expected to complete this one film and return home to Sweden. Her husband, Petter Aron Lindström, remained in Sweden with their daughter Pia (born 1938). In Intermezzo, she played the role of a young piano accompanist, opposite Leslie Howard, who played a famous violin virtuoso. Bergman arrived in Los Angeles on 6 May 1939 and stayed at the Selznick home until she could find another residence.
According to Selznick's son Danny, who was a child at the time, his father had concerns about Bergman: "She didn't speak English, she was too tall, her name sounded too German, and her eyebrows were too thick". Bergman was soon accepted without having to modify her looks or name, despite some early suggestions by Selznick. "He let her have her way", notes a story in Life magazine. Selznick understood her fear of Hollywood make-up artists, who might turn her into someone she wouldn't recognize, and "instructed them to lay off". He was also aware that her natural good looks would compete successfully with Hollywood's "synthetic razzle-dazzle". During the following weeks, while Intermezzo was being filmed, Selznick was also filming Gone with the Wind. In a letter to William Hebert, his publicity director, Selznick described a few of his early impressions of Bergman: "Miss Bergman is the most completely conscientious actress with whom I have ever worked, in that she thinks of absolutely nothing but her work before and during the time she is doing a picture ... She practically never leaves the studio, and even suggested that her dressing room be equipped so that she could live here during the picture. She never for a minute suggests quitting at six o'clock or anything of the kind ... Because of having four stars acting in Gone with the Wind, our star dressing-room suites were all occupied and we had to assign her a smaller suite. She went into ecstasies over it and said she had never had such a suite in her life ... All of this is completely unaffected and completely unique and I should think would make a grand angle of approach to her publicity ... so that her natural sweetness and consideration and conscientiousness become something of a legend ... and is completely in keeping with the fresh and pure personality and appearance which caused me to sign her." Intermezzo became an enormous success and as a result, Bergman became a star. Ratoff, said, "She is sensational." This was the "sentiment of the entire set", wrote a retrospective, adding that workmen went out of their way to do things for her and that the cast and crew "admired the quick, alert concentration she gave to direction and to her lines". Film historian David Thomson notes that this became "the start of an astonishing impact on Hollywood and America", where her lack of make-up contributed to an "air of nobility". According to Life, the impression that she left on Hollywood, after she returned to Sweden, was of a tall girl "with light brown hair and blue eyes who was painfully shy, but friendly, with a warm, straight, quick smile".
Casablanca, by Michael Curtiz, opened on 26 November 1942. Bergman co-starred with Humphrey Bogart in the film; this remains her best-known role. She played the role of Ilsa, the former love of Rick Blaine and wife of Victor Laszlo, fleeing with Laszlo to the United States. The film premiered on 26 November 1942 at New York's Hollywood Theater. The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "The events are shot with sharp humor and delightful touches of political satire." It went into more general release, in January 1943. Casablanca was not one of Bergman's 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." In later years, she stated, "I feel about Casablanca that it has a life of its own. There is something mystical about it. It seems to have filled a need, a need that was there before the film, a need that the film filled". Despite her personal views regarding her performance, Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that "Bergman was surprisingly lovely, crisp and natural ... and lights the romantic passages with a warm and genuine glow". Other reviewers said that she "[plays] the heroine with ... appealing authority and beauty" and "illuminates every scene in which she appears" and compared her to "a youthful Garbo."
Gaslight opened on 4 May 1944. Bergman won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. Under the direction of George Cukor, she portrayed a "wife driven close to madness" by her husband, played by Charles Boyer. The film, according to Thomson, "was the peak of her Hollywood glory." Reviewers noted her sympathetic and emotional performance, and that she exercised restraint, by not allowing emotion to "slip off into hysteria". The New York Journal-American called her "one of the finest actresses in filmdom" and said that "she flames in passion and flickers in depression until the audience—becomes rigid in its seats".
| Parents | |
| Husband | Petter Lindström (m. 1937-1950) Roberto Rossellini (m. 1950-1957) Lars Schmidt (m. 1958-1975) |
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Net Worth and Salary
At the time of her death in 1982, Ingrid Bergman's net worth was approximately $6 million, equivalent to $20 million today when adjusted for inflation. However, recent estimates for the combined net worth of the Rossellini/Bergman family are at least $50 million.
Career, Business and Investments
Bergman's career was marked by iconic roles in films such as "Casablanca," "Gaslight," and "Autumn Sonata." She worked with prominent directors like Alfred Hitchcock and was awarded numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards. While specific details about her investments are not available, her legacy continues to be celebrated through her films and the influence she has on younger generations of actors.
Ingrid Bergman (29 August 1915 –29 August 1982) was a Swedish actress. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cinematic history. She won numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, four Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Award, and a Volpi Cup. She is one of only four actresses to have received at least three acting Academy Awards (only Katharine Hepburn has four). In 1999, the American Film Institute recognised Bergman as the fourth-greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood Cinema.
Bergman signed a three-picture contract with UFA, the German major film company, although she only made one picture. At the time, she was pregnant, but, nonetheless, she arrived in Berlin to begin filming The Four Companions (Die vier Gesellen) (1938), directed by Carl Froelich. The film was intended as a star vehicle to launch Bergman's career in Germany. In the film, she played one of four ambitious young women, attempting to set up a graphic design agency. The film was a light-hearted combination of comedy and romance. At first, she did not comprehend the political and social situation in Germany. Later, she said: "I saw very quickly that if you were anybody at all in films, you had to be a member of the Nazi party." By September, she was back in Sweden, and gave birth to her daughter, Pia. She was never to work in Germany again.
Bergman appeared in eleven films in her native Sweden before the age of twenty-five. Her characters were always plagued with uncertainty, fear, and anxiety. The early Swedish films were not masterpieces, but she worked with some of the biggest talents in the Swedish film industry, such as Gösta Ekman, Karin Swanström, Victor Sjöström, and Lars Hanson. It showcased her immense acting talent, as a young woman with a bright future ahead of her.
Selznick appreciated her uniqueness. Bergman was hailed as a fine new talent, and received many positive reviews. The New York Times noted her "freshness and simplicity and natural dignity" and the maturity of her acting which was nonetheless, free of "stylistic traits—the mannerisms, postures, precise inflections—that become the stock in trade of the matured actress". Variety noted that she was warm and convincing, and provided an "arresting performance" and that her "charm, sincerity" ...and "infectious vivaciousness" would "serve her well in both comedy and drama". There was also recognition of her natural appearance, in contrast to other film actresses. The New York Tribune critic wrote: "Using scarcely any make-up, but playing with mobile intensity, she creates the character so vividly and credibility that it becomes the core of [the] narrative." Bergman made her stage debut in 1940 with Liliom opposite Burgess Meredith, at a time when she was still learning English. Selznick was worried that his new starlet's value would diminish if she received bad reviews. Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times said that Bergman seemed at ease, and commanded the stage that evening. That same year she starred in June Night (Juninatten), a Swedish language drama film directed by Per Lindberg. She plays Kerstin, a woman who has been shot by her lover. The news reaches the national papers. Kerstin moves to Stockholm under the new name of Sara, but lives under the scrutiny and watchful eye of her new community. Öresunds-Posten wrote, "Bergman establishes herself as an actress belonging to the world elite."
Bergman was loaned out of David O. Selznick's company, to appear in three films which were released in 1941. On 18 February, Robert Sherwood Productions' released her second collaboration with Gregory Ratoff, Adam Had Four Sons. On 7 March, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released W. S. Van Dyke's Rage in Heaven. On 12 August, Victor Fleming's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, another Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production, had its New York opening. Bergman was supposed to play the "good girl" role of Dr Jekyll's fiancée but pleaded with the studio that she should play the "bad girl" Ivy, the saucy barmaid. Reviews noted that "she gave a finely-shaded performance". A New York Times review stated that "the young Swedish actress proves again, that a shining talent can sometimes lift itself above an impossibly written role". Another review said: "she displays a canny combination of charm, understanding, restraint and sheer acting ability."
Social Network
Although Ingrid Bergman passed away in 1982, her legacy lives on through social media platforms and film communities dedicated to her work. Fans and admirers continue to celebrate her contributions to cinema.
On 30 July 1941 at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, Bergman made her second stage appearance in ''Anna Christie. '' She was praised for her performance as a whore in the play based on Eugene O'Neill's work. A San Francisco paper said she was as unspoiled as a fresh Swedish snowball. Selznick called her "The Palmolive Garbo", a reference to a popular soap, and a well-known Swedish actress of the time. Thornton Delaharty said, "Lunching with Ingrid is like sitting down to an hour or so of conversation with an intelligent orchid."
For Whom the Bell Tolls had its New York premiere on 14 July 1943. With "Selznick's steady boosting", she played the part of Maria, it was also her first color film. For the role, she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The film was adapted from Ernest Hemingway's novel of the same title and co-starred Gary Cooper. When the book was sold to Paramount Pictures, Hemingway stated that "Miss Bergman, and no one else, should play the part". His opinion came from seeing her in her first American role, Intermezzo. They met a few weeks later, and after studying her, he declared, "You are Maria!". James Agee, writing in The Nation, said Bergman "bears a startling resemblance to an imaginable human being; she really knows how to act, in a blend of poetic grace with quiet realism, which almost never appears in American pictures." He speaks movingly of her character's confession of her rape, and her scene of farewell, "which is shattering to watch". Agee believed that Bergman has truly studied what Maria might feel and look like in real life, and not in a Hollywood film. Her performance is both "devastating and wonderful to see".
Education
Bergman's early education is not extensively documented, but she began her acting career by attending the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school in Stockholm. Her education in acting was largely practical, learned through her early roles in Swedish theater and film.
Ingrid Bergman's enduring legacy is a testament to her talent and dedication to her craft. Despite her passing, her influence on Hollywood and the Rossellini/Bergman family's continued success ensure her name remains prominent in the film industry.
Bergman spoke Swedish and German as first languages, English and Italian (acquired later, while living in the U.S. and Italy), and French (learned in school). She acted in each of these languages at various times.
Bergman received a scholarship to the state-sponsored Royal Dramatic Training Academy, where Greta Garbo had some years earlier earned a similar scholarship. After several months, she was given a part in a new play, Ett Brott (A Crime), written by Sigfrid Siwertz. This was "totally against procedure" at the school, where girls were expected to complete three years of study before getting such acting roles. During her first summer break, Bergman was hired by Swedish film studio Svensk Filmindustri, which led her to leave the Royal Dramatic Theatre after just one year to work in films full-time.
The Bells of St. Mary's premiered on 6 December 1945. Bergman played a nun opposite Bing Crosby, for which she received her third consecutive nomination for Best Actress. Crosby plays a priest who is assigned to a Roman Catholic school where he conflicts with its headmistress, played by Bergman. Reviewer Nathan Robin said: 'Crosby's laconic ease brings out the impishness behind Bergman's fine-china delicacy, and Bergman proves a surprisingly spunky and spirited comic foil for Crosby'. The film was the biggest box office hit of 1945.
