Ingrid Bergman was the undisputed face of romance in Hollywood during the 1940s. She was the woman of every man’s dream. Her breathtaking persona, including her wide eyes and warm smile, suggested a kind of love that could literally survive war, doubt, and even death.
Her off-screen elegance mirrored her on-screen aura, where she felt natural and fearless, whether as Isla Lund torn between two men in ‘Casablanca‘ or a devoted wife pushed towards madness in ‘Gaslight.’ American audiences embraced her as the ideal woman, graceful and touched with sadness. However, her own love story turned into a public scandal that nearly destroyed her reputation.
Ingrid Bergman’s Journey From Swedish Starlet To One Of Cinema’s Greatest Icons
Many are unaware that Bergman did not arrive in Hollywood in 1939 as a damsel, seeking to captivate hearts or win the attention of high-profile male stars. She was already married to a young Swedish dentist, Petter Lindstrom.
Related: Top 10 Ingrid Bergman Movies Every Classic Film Fan Must See
Their marriage was quiet and dutiful. Bergman had a daughter, Pia, in 1938, and continued to work her way up in the highly competitive industry at a relentless pace. Six years later, her hard work finally paid off when she won her first Oscar for ‘Gaslight‘ and became one of the highest-paid actresses in the world.
She seemed to have everything, whether it was talent, fame, or even a stable home. Yet something seemed to be missing in her life. As she later put it, “I was living in a cage.“
Ingrid Bergman’s Fateful Meeting With Roberto Rossellini
While at the peak of her fame, David O. Selznick sent Bergman to Italy in 1949 to make ‘Stromboli‘ with Roberto Rossellini, one of the most prominent Italian directors of that era. Little did anyone know that everything would change the moment they met.
You see, Rossellini was Catholic and married, while Bergman was also still legally married to Lindstrom. Within weeks, they began a love affair, so intense that a letter penned by Bergman, claiming she “found a new life,” would later appear in the courtrooms and newspapers.
The affair soon became a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode. In late 1949, when she became pregnant during filming on the island of Stromboli, the scandal finally broke into the public view.
In case you missed it: The Classic Thriller That Put Alfred Hitchcock On FBI’s Watchlist
The Explosive Scandal That Shook Hollywood
Hollywood was still shaped by conservative societal and post-WWII values and strict moral codes at that time. Soon, public opinion turned against her with brutal backlash.
It is reported that on the floor of the US Senate, Colorado Senator Edwin C. Johnson called Bergman “a powerful force of evil.” Ed Sullivan refused to have her on his show. Even theaters, the same places that had earned cheque after cheque by cashing in on Bergman’s popularity, pulled her films just to follow suit with public sentiment.
Related: Classic Hollywood Stars Who Said No To Marriage
As one would expect, Lindstrom filed for divorce and took custody of Pia, whom Bergman wouldn’t be able to see for many years. Rossellini’s marriage also bit the dust.
On February 2, Bergman gave birth to their son, Robertino, in a Rome clinic while paparazzi waited outside. At just 34, Bergman was exiled, but for the first time in her life, she probably felt free.
The Painful End of Ingrid Bergman’s Real Love Story
The price was steep. Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini went on to make five films together, but none of them found commercial success. Their marriage, often intense, turbulent, and of course, scandalous, produced twin daughters in 1952, Isabella Rossellini (who starred in David Lynch’s ‘Blue Velvet‘) and Isotta Ingrid Rossellini.
The same passion that brought them together eventually pulled them apart, and they divorced 8 years later, in 1957.
Bergman returned to Hollywood in 1956 with Anastasia, after which she won 2nd Oscar and slowly rebuilt her career. She later married Swedish producer Lars Schmidt and found a quieter happiness, even though her wound never fully healed. Her daughter, Pia, who had grown into a teenager by then, was finally reunited with Bergman, but the meeting felt uneasy and never fully bridged the distance between them.
Bergman once said, “I have no regrets. I wouldn’t have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say.” She died of Breast cancer on her 67th birthday in 1982, with her three children by her side.
You might also like to read: Top 25 Oscar-Winning Films Of All Time
