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Ingrid Bergman was one of the most popular motion-picture actresses in the United States from the 1940s until her death in 1982. She was also an international star across Europe.
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Play NowIngrid Bergman. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:50, May 26, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/ingrid-bergman-9208952.
Ingrid Bergman. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ingrid-bergman-9208952 [Accessed 26 May 2013].
"Ingrid Bergman." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 26 2013, 02:50 http://www.biography.com/people/ingrid-bergman-9208952.
"Ingrid Bergman," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/ingrid-bergman-9208952 [accessed May 26, 2013].
"Ingrid Bergman," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/ingrid-bergman-9208952 (accessed May 26, 2013).
Ingrid Bergman [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 26] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ingrid-bergman-9208952.
Ingrid Bergman, http://www.biography.com/people/ingrid-bergman-9208952 (last visited May 26, 2013).
Ingrid Bergman. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/ingrid-bergman-9208952. Accessed May 26, 2013.
Synopsis
Ingrid Bergman was one of the most popular motion-picture actresses in the United States from the 1940s until her death in 1982, and was an international star across Europe. Her first introduction to American audiences came with her role in Intermezzo (1939). In the U.S., Bergman quickly became "the ideal of American womanhood." In addition to Academy Award-winning roles, she won accolades for stage performances.
Quotes
"Happiness is good health and a bad memory."
"I've gone from saint to whore and back to saint again, all in one lifetime."
"I cannot understand why people think I'm pure and full of nobleness. Every human being has shades of bad and good."
Early Life
Known for her naturally luminous beauty, actress Ingrid Bergman was born on August 29, 1915, in Stockholm, Sweden. Bergman experienced several major losses in her early years. Her mother, originally from Germany, died when she was only a toddler. Her father ran a photography shop and supported her interest in creative endeavors. In her early teens, Bergman lost her father, eventually ending up in the care of an uncle and his family.
Bergman attended private school, where she performed in numerous plays. In the early 1930s, she enrolled at the Royal Dramatic Theater School in Stockholm. Bergman left after a year and began her professional career. In 1934, she made her film debut in Monkbrogreven. Bergman soon landed more movie roles in her native Sweden, including the 1936 romantic drama Intermezzo. The following year, she married Swedish doctor Petter Lindstrom. The couple eventually had a daughter together, Friedel Pia.
Top Film Actress
After seeing Ingrid Bergman in Intermezzo, American film producer David O. Selznick hired her to star in the English language remake of the film. Following this film's successful release in 1939, Selznick signed Bergman to a multiyear contract. She made a stop on Broadway before tackling Hollywood, appearing in a 1940 production of Liliom.
Her early American film work presented Bergman as a woman of virtue. She played a devoted governess in Adam Had Four Sons (1941), and portrayed a loyal wife in Rage in Heaven (1941). In 1942, Bergman gave a stellar performance as a woman torn between two men—played by Humphrey Bogart and Paul Henreid—during wartime in Casablanca. Her character, Ilsa Lund, puts the good of a political resistance movement ahead of her own heart in this popular film.
With the success of Casablanca, Bergman quickly became a full-fledged movie star. She co-starred with Gary Cooper in the popular film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). With Gaslight (1944), the actress won widespread acclaim for her performance as a young wife whose husband attempts to drive her insane. She won her first Academy Award for her work on this movie, which was directed by George D. Cukor.
Working with Alfred Hitchcock, Bergman starred in two of his thrillers: Spellbound (1945) with Gregory Peck, and Notorious (1946) with Cary Grant. She was especially praised for her portrayal of a spy in Notorious, which is considered one of her greatest performances. Movie-goers also loved Bergman in more heart-lighted fare. In 1945, she played a nun opposite Bing Crosby in The Bells of St.
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