Ingrid Bergman: My Story [Complete] [Hardcover]

Ingrid Bergman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1980

Ingrid Bergman - winner of three Academy Awards - tells her own story both onstage and off. The book describes her relationships with the characters she knew and worked with, including Selznick, Garbo, Bogart, Gary Cooper and Ingmar Bergman. Above all, she reveals the story of her personal life - her childhood in Sweden, her marriages (including her dramatic and controversial elopement with Roberto Rossellini), and, in more recent years, her battle against cancer. She died in 1982.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 504 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; 1ST edition (1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440032997
• ISBN-13: 978-0440032991
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #890,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Her Story, Completely, December 30, 2004

By 

Classical Sepia (Sparks, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ingrid Bergman: My Story (Hardcover)

I was tempted to read one of the many biographies out there depicting the life of Ingrid Bergman before I found "My Story", and I am incredibly grateful that I found her story before the others. This book shines with Ingrid's own personal voice, and in so much of the book you can clearly hear her lilting charm creeping into your brain, so familiar and real that you could almost swear she was talking to no one else in the world but you at that moment. It takes a truly gifted person to transfer that much of themselves and their life's story onto simple pages in a book.

And what a story. Orphaned at a young age, she struggled with her incredible shyness throughout her childhood until she found solitude and happiness on the stage and in front of the camera. America and David O. Selznick wooed her over the Atlantic after a blossoming film career in Sweden, when several American reviewers poked humourous fun at the fact that Swedish movies of that time were rapidly becoming far superior to their American counterparts, thanks to the acting skills of one fair lady. Of course, the world knows about her now infamous illicit affair with Roberto Rossilini when she reigned in American movies with Selznick (she was comdemned on the Senate floor afterward for being so unwholesome in her choice), but her story doesn't revolve around excusing what she did. She explains the simple facts of the matter, with a bit of why, and she moves on, just as the American people did when they welcomed her back after a 7-year exile in Europe in her Oscar-winning performance as Anastasia. I don't even know how they resisted her that long, really.

But her life is an incredibly invoking read, with her ability to place herself within the pages as well as her fascinating history interweaving to form an unforgettable tale. This is one book that I can assure will not be forgotten easily. As she herself said "I went from saint to [...] and back again, all in one lifetime." Not many can say that, and not many can tell it with such grace. Truly a remarkable woman.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I can't believe this book is out of print, September 1, 2002

By 

Mrs Baldwin (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ingrid Bergman: My Story (Hardcover)

What shall I say about this book? I always enjoy autobiographies about people I like, and although I didn't know too much about Ingrid Bergman prior to reading this book, my interest in her life became stronger after finishing it. I made a list of all her movies and have been seeing them as I can get hold of them.

Profound statement: Ingrid tells about her life in this book. (duh)

She does a very good, coherent job, and moves along steadily. There is humour as well as sadness. I liked the part when she told David O Selznick at their first meeting that she would not wear makeup and would not change anything about her appearance, and if he didn't like it she would go back to Sweden on the next train. I personally am glad he decided she could remain as she was.

I recommend this book as a good introduction to Ingrid. I enjoyed reading this very much and I think everyone should read it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bergman led an up and down life filled with emotion, February 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Ingrid Bergman: My Story (Hardcover)

"My Story" provides an excellent insight into the tumultuous existence of Ingrid Bergman. Her interaction With David Selznick, Roberto Rosselini, and her children provide excellent reading. And in large print, too!