Ingrid
Bergman My Story - A Classic Book Review
Ingrid
Bergman My Story - A Classic Book Review
Book Review:
Ingrid Bergman My Story
Some
of the best books you will read were not written today, or yesterday or even
last year, but if you look carefully you will find treasures written many years
ago. Such is the case with the book
Ingrid Bergman My Story published in 1980. The book is told for the most
part through the eyes of the beautiful and talented Swedish born actress Ingrid
Bergman and complimented by the sometimes narrative of Alan Burgess or the words
of those who worked with and knew Ingrid Bergman personally, including one of
her daughters Pia Lindström.
Through Ms. Bergman’s eyes and heart we experience her
childhood and the tragedies she endured from an early age, as her mother died
when Ingrid was three years old and her father passed away when she was twelve.
The aunt she then went to live with died in her arms one year later. Ingrid
Bergman knew from very early in life that she wanted to be an actress and
eventually she auditoned for entrance into the Royal Dramatic Theatre in
Stockholm, Sweden. Misreading the body language and intent of the judges, she
went to the harbor and contemplated ending her life. Instead, Ingrid Bergman
gave audiences in both cinema and live theatres outstanding performances for
most of the 20 th century, including the last years of her life, before breast
cancer finally took her away from us on August 29, 1982.
Ingrid Bergman does not whitewash her life. This is not
a santized story that only makes you feel good, but it talks about the errors
she feels she sometimes made both personally and professionally and it lays bare
the fondness and the difficulty for her three husbands Petter Lindström (her
first and father of Emmy Award winning newscaster Pia Lindström), Italian film
director Roberto Rossellini (father of actress Isabella Rossellini) and Swedish
theater director and producer Lars Schmidt. Some
would reasonably argue that her marriage to Petter Lindström was emotionally
abusive and could credibly present a case that her subsequent affair and
marriage to Rossellini was even moreso. Many of Ingrid Bergman’s personal
letters are reproduced in this book and you can often feel the heartbreak of a
mother who was adored by millions and yet who so often her work separated her
from the children that she loved.
If you have ever moved to a country where your native
language is not spoken you will feel the frustration early in Ingrid Bergman’s
career, as she moves to America and then later to Italy, France and England. Yet
her tremendous abilities, as an actress and her determination clearly defined
her as the most prolific actress of the 20 th century.
You feel sadness that an American senator convinced
congress and the American media to viciously condemn her for her affair with
Roberto Rossellini and becoming pregnant with his child, while still married to
Petter Lindström, the intent of this writer is to neither condone her actions
nor to pass judgement, but simply to wonder out loud if she would have been
treated as harshly today. For many years she never set foot in America, because
of the harsh treatment that she received.
There is laughter and surprise that come through in so
many ways, like Pia as a child correcting her mother’s use of the English
language, or some of the unintentional comedic occurrences on stages throughout
the world during her performances or the surprise 70 th birthday party for
Roberto Rossellini long after they had been divorced.
It was at the bidding of her four children that Ingrid
Bergman penned her biography, so as in the words of her son Robertino she was
not left at the mercy of unscrupulous writers who might base their books on
nothing more than press clippings, second hand stories and gossip. What comes
through is an account of warm, generous lady, who was an iconic stage and film
actress and a very strong person.
Everyone should find something to enjoy from reading this book, but we would
certainly recommend that whether you are at the beginning of your career in the
entertainment world, at the mid-point or nearing the end that you should
consider reading Ingrid Bergman My Story. We picked up our copy at a quality
used book store, but although the book is out of print there are many copies for
sale online.