Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, A Personal Biography [Hardcover]

Charlotte Chandler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2007

Ingrid Bergman was one of the biggest and most glamorous stars in Hollywood - until she became one of the most controversial, when an international scandal threatened to end her career. She had starred in several now-classic films such as Casablanca, Spellbound, Notorious and Gaslight, and her co-stars included such Hollywood icons as Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, and Gregory Peck. In this insightful new biography, Charlotte Chandler draws on her extensive conversations with Bergman herself to describe what happened from Bergman's point of view, revealing a complex and fascinating woman who lived life intensely. Already a movie star in her native Sweden, Ingrid Bergman became an instant sensation for David O. Selznick in Hollywood and the number-one box-office star in the world. But the most dramatic event in her life took place off the screen when she made a film in Italy and began a passionate romance with her director, Roberto Rossellini. The scandal that followed left her exiled from America, ostracized by Hollywood, vilified in the press, denounced by clergy, censured in the U.S. Senate - and separated from her young daughter. She was able to make films only with Rossellini. In the words of those who were involved, Chandler describes Bergman's life before, during, and after the scandal. Among those Chandler spoke with were Alfred Hitchcock, George Cukor, Sidney Lumet, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Greta Garbo, and Liv Ullmann. She spoke with Roberto Rossellini; their twin daughters, Isabella and Isotta Ingrid; Rossellini's son, Renzo; Ingrid's daughter Pia Lindstrom; and others who knew Ingrid well. This extraordinary access makes Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, a Personal Biography the most perceptive and revealing book ever written about the charismatic Hollywood legend.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author of many Hollywood biographies, Chandler (Hello, I Must Be Going: Groucho Marx) offers a straightforward account of one of the more intriguing Golden Age stars. Bergman died young of cancer on her 67th birthday in 1982. Her husbands, lovers, children, and the directors and actors with whom she worked, have been generous in granting interviews, and while there's not much new or exciting—aside from the well-known scandal Bergman caused when she deserted her dentist husband (Petter Lindstrom) for Italian director Roberto Rossellini (father of her twin daughters Isabella and Isotta)—there's a lot of warm reminiscences . Chandler's book will be nicely timed with Turner Classic Movies, which has made March Bergman month. 40 b&w photographs not seen by PW. (Mar.)
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Review

"Over the years, writer Charlotte Chandler's friendships with an impressive array of figures of the American and European cinema have resulted in a series of revealing and engaging biographies on Federico Fellini, Billy Wilder and others. Her latest is "Ingrid," a personal biography of Ingrid Bergman. Chandler avoids analyzing her subjects and their careers, instead bringing them to life through their words and those of relatives, friends and colleagues gathered over many years.

Chandler also has amassed in this book a treasure trove of revelations...Bergman and Rossellini emerge as individuals of much passion and generosity of spirit."

-- "LA Times"

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1St Edition edition (February 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743294211
• ISBN-13: 978-0743294218
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #492,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Personally..., March 17, 2007

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, A Personal Biography (Hardcover)

Ingrid Bergman was that actress in a million who really enjoyed acting, was brilliant at it, and who seemed as pleasant as her public image would suggest, even when hypocrisy almost destroyed her career.

Charlotte Chandler tries to add a more human dimension to Bergman in "Ingrid Bergman: A Personal Biography," which contains in-depth interviews with Ingrid and many others who knew her. Chandler's style is pleasant and easy, but the book moves a bit too quickly at times -- I mean, how long were these marriages?

Daughter of a photographer and his beloved wife, Bergman originally got into acting when her late dad's girlfriend got a small role in a movie. In just a few years, she became a major star in Sweden, and married a rather humorless doctor. When a studio head saw her movie "Intermezzo," he invited her to come to Hollywood, and star in the English-speaking remake.

Her down-to-earth beauty, kindly personality and massive talent made her a massive star. But when Ingrid went to make a movie with her favorite director, Roberto Rossellini, they began an affair and she became pregnant, shocking hypcocritical Hollywood and causing her to be blacklisted. But Bergman remained honest and open, as she went through divorces, children and many more wonderful movies.

Donald Spoto already wrote the definitive Ingrid Bergman biography, but Charlotte Chandler does manage to provide some intriguing new information and details. And it definitely lives up to the "personal" aspect of it, which was more than most biographies manage to do.

If there's a flaw, it's that it goes by too quickly -- each of Ingrid's marriages seems to take place in just a few years, tops. But Chandler manages to retell Bergman's story with a warm, easy style, full of filming details and pleasant little anecdotes, such as Bergman pretending to be one of the hired help at a Hollywood banquet. And it also approaches less-handled aspects of Bergman's life, such as her daughter Isabella's fight with scoliosis.

What's more, Chandler does manage to make this biography personal -- it has many interviews not only from Bergman, but with her children, costars, friends, and many others. And not only does it focus on Bergman as a person, but on her own thoughts, such as how she never regretted leaving her first husband, since it led to the birth of her son and twins. And Chandler offers some perspectives on the people around her, from Charles Boyer to Rossellini himself.

"Ingrid Bergman: A Personal Biography" is rather bare-bones as a biography, but offers fascinating looks at Bergman's personality, and anecdotes about her life. Definitely worth reading.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ingrid Bergman, a Personal Biography, April 6, 2007

By 

Barbara J. Schroeder "bookworm" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, A Personal Biography (Hardcover)

This was a well-written story about Ingrid Bergman...I had seen her in several movies but did not know about her background. Just things I had read and heard about her. The author really captured her fascinating life in detail from her birth until her death...and revealed how Ingrid Bergman felt about the things that were happening to her throughout her life. I thought the book was a page turner and I couldn't put it down.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ingrid...A true view!, August 31, 2007

By 

jpfeinberg "Joe Feinberg" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, A Personal Biography (Hardcover)

Having had a close, sweet friendship with Ingrid the last 12 years of her life, I can easily say that Ms Chandler's remembrances of Ingrid, marked by numerous interviews of family, friends & collegues rings very true!
Being privy to many personal aspects of Ingrid's life, visits to Choisel, dinners in Paris & London, etc., I was swept with nostalgia & memories of dear Ingrid as I read this marvelous story picturing Ingrid as she really was in her life.
Following a less than nice review of a play in London, Ingrid was appearing in, she wrote to me about that notice & said: "Let the dogs bark
the caravan moves on!" Typical Bergman.
Unpretentious, caring, sweet, natural, I loved Ingrid dearly, as a friend!
This book says it all!