Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, A Personal Biography [Paperback]

Charlotte Chandler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2008

The first time in paperback, this book is a personal biography of the beloved star of Casablanca. Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) was perhaps best known for her roles in Casablanca and Notorious, but she won three Oscars for Gaslight, Anastasia, and Murder on the Orient Express, and was a seven-time nominee. She also won two Emmy Awards and a Tony. In 1949, though married and a mother, she fell in love with director Roberto Rossellini and conceived a child with him. Her fans were shocked and she was denounced on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Chandler interviewed Bergman, Roberto Rossellini, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Cary Grant, Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, and Gregory Peck for the book, which contains synopses of all her films, including the Swedish ones.

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.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Reading Ingrid, I found myself crying tears of sadness and joy. On the pages of this book, Charlotte Chandler portrays my parents as the beautiful people they were and still are."

-- Isabella Rossellini

"I can never forget Roberto [Rossellini] or the grace of Ingrid Bergman. Evviva Ingrid, this new book of Charlotte Chandler, for bringing their spirit back to life."

-- Michelangelo Antonioni

"Ingrid Bergman remains one of cinema's greatest stars. Charlotte Chandler's 'personal biography' offers us a window into the remarkable life of a remarkable woman."

-- John Landis

"Once again Charlotte Chandler opens the door to the personal life of an iconic movie star. I was bewitched by Chandler's book, almost as much as I was by Bergman herself."

-- David Brown

"I live next door to Ingrid Bergman's old Benedict Canyon house. I've never seen her ghost, but she beautifully haunts Charlotte Chandler's Ingrid. On every page, Ingrid says 'Boo!'"

-- Arthur Hiller

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155783735X
• ISBN-13: 978-1557837356
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 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: #462,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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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!