This actress was for Americans a symbol of purity and holiness. They idolized her and loved every role. Her name was Ingrid Bergman. The biography of this artist is a mixture of happy and tragic episodes, like her heroines in the movie.
Sad childhood
The girl was born in August 1915 in the capital of the country - Stockholm. She was named after the Princess of Sweden - Ingrid. Her mother was Friedel. Father - Justus Bergman. Ingrid could grow up a carefree child surrounded by motherly affection and fatherly care. But that did not happen. The mother of the future actress died when the girl was only three years old. Later Ingrid will regret to say that she does not remember her mother at all, even her face.
Justus was the owner of a store that sold cameras. He was one of the first in the city to become the owner of a personal movie camera, on which he often shot his only daughter. It was Justus Bergman who put the idea in her daughter’s head that she could become a great actress. It was he who brought her for the first time to the theater, where she, fascinated, looked at the acting. Then Ingrid finally realized what she wants to do in life.
When the girl was twelve years old, a new tragedy broke into her life. His beloved father died - Justus Bergman. Ingrid began to live with her aunt, who tried to protect the baby from all the hardships. But this kind woman soon died.
Youth
The girl was taken by distant relatives, but there was no hope for an abundance of attention. The house already had five children.
Ingrid did not give up her dream for a second. And as soon as she turned seventeen, she entered the acting academy, which was sponsored by the Royal Drama Theater of Sweden. But only a year managed to study at the most prestigious school in Europe. She was captured by a new passion - cinema.
She played her first role in 1932. It was a tiny episode without words. Then she was offered a more significant role in the film "Count of Munkbru" directed by E. Adolfson.
At the Academy, everyone condemned Bergman. Ingrid was considered a promising theater actress, and cinema in those days was not attributed to art, it was considered something frivolous.
At this time, the girl meets her first husband - Peter Lindstrom. Many found this union strange. Indeed, she spins in theatrical circles, is almost famous, and he is a simple dentist, not a member of her circle. Nevertheless, they got married in 1936, a year later their daughter Pius was born.
Discovery of America
The actress managed to star in a dozen Swedish films when she was noticed by Hollywood directors. Ingrid Bergman, whose personal life was developing successfully, was afraid to decide on something. But since she was already cramped in the framework of Swedish cinema, the family council decided to go to America.
Ingrid left alone, leaving her husband and little Pia in Sweden. In the United States, she starred in a remake of the Swedish film Intermezzo. He received positive reviews from film critics and public approval. Actress Ingrid Bergman has signed a new contract for the film "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." By this time, she had already reunited with her family, who had fled from war-torn Europe.
Peter went about his business, quite successfully, and also took on the role of manager of his wife. With his practicality and pragmatism, Ingrid managed to get profitable contracts.
Career takeoff
In 1942, the Warner Brothers Film Company began launching a new project called Casablanca. Ingrid hesitated for a long time. The role seemed to her doubtful, and she knew about the film only from the words of the director. The script was not completely ready, even when work on the painting began. No one on the set knew how this film would end. But as it turned out, Ingrid Bergman played her most famous role that year, and the film received an Oscar and was recognized as one of the best in film history.
For this role, the actress was not awarded a single award. In the future, she did not like to remember and talk about her, believing that her portfolio contains much more remarkable works.
Then there were the films “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (an adaptation of Hemingway’s novel) and Gas Light. The latter in 1945 brought Bergman the long-awaited Oscar. She became the most popular actress in America and, importantly, the highest paid.
Saint Bergman
The actress had many fans. After she starred in several Hitchcock films, their number increased. She was valued for her naturalness and dissimilarity to others. He loved to repeat: "Be yourself. The world worships the genuine."
The films "The Bells of St. Mary" and "Joan of Arc" elevated her to the podium of innocence and purity. Now Ingrid was thought of as a person divinely beautiful and highly spiritual, incapable of evil deeds. Her talent was such a force that the viewer began to identify the heroines on the screen with Ingrid herself.
The personal life of the actress during this period gave a crack. Relations with Peter went wrong. It became known that Ingrid has an affair on the side. Of course, fans didn't want to believe in this gossip. But soon the “goddess” herself confirmed all their fears and anxieties.
Italian love
In 1946, Ingrid Bergman, whose films were already known to the whole world, saw an Italian film Rossellini called "Rome - an open city." And I realized that she wants to be removed from this person. She wrote him a letter with a proposal for cooperation, and a few years later, in 1949, Roberto found a role for her.
Ingrid flew to Italy, personally met the director Rossellini and fell in love with him. Soon the whole world spoke of their romance. The "yellow press" was full of headlines about this "vicious connection." All Americans took up arms against the once beloved actress.
The first joint film Ingrid and Roberto was boycotted in America. Many argued for the general prohibition of paintings with a Swedish actress. But in Congress they seriously talked about introducing into the legislation a draft on the moral behavior of movie stars, in particular Ingrid Bergman.
Quotes from newspapers spread all over the world. Later, the actress said that everyone ganged up on her, fans became enemies.
Peter finally agreed to a divorce, but forbade his ex-wife to see her daughter. He and Pia met only eight years later!
Ingrid could now be truly happy. But it was not there. Neither the audience nor the critics appreciated their collaboration with the spouse. For a while, Ingrid completely surrendered to family worries (the couple had three children: son Robertino and twin daughters Isotta and Isabella). By the mid-1950s, relations with Roberto were completely upset, and Ingrid returned to the States.
Return
At first, in America she was not happy, but the actress proved with her work that she is worthy of love and respect. For the film Anastasia, she received her second Oscar and was forgiven by offended fans. To this, Bergman said: "Popularity is a punishment that looks like a reward."
In 1958, Ingrid Bergman, whose films once again raised her podium, got married for the third time. This time for the Swedish producer. The marriage with Lars Schmidt was the longest in the life of the actress, but not the happiest. They divorced in 1975.
Ingrid continued to act actively, having played nine diverse roles in films during this period, including in the film "Murder on the Orient Express", which brought her the third Oscar.
Bergman played the role of an accomplice in the murder, which was investigated by the famous detective Hercule Poirot.
Last years
Ingrid, despite her age, was not going to leave the cinema. Even after she was diagnosed with cancer in 1973, she did not leave the set. One of the latest films of the actress was "Autumn Sonata". Ingrid Bergman agreed to this role, because the film was shot by a Swedish filmmaker, and besides her namesake.
This film is about the complex relationships in the family between mother and daughter. In many ways, she was a reflection of the personal situation of the actress. After all, for many years she did not communicate with her eldest daughter.
In 1973, Ingrid became one of the members of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. Also from that time on, she began to work on her autobiography, which was co-authored with Alain Burgess under the title "My Life".
For nine years, the actress fought cancer. In the end, the disease prevailed. Ingrid passed away in 1982, on his birthday. She was buried in London. At a modest farewell ceremony, there were only her relatives and several closest friends. The news of the death of America’s most beloved actress was modestly covered by the New York Times.