INGRID BERGMAN A NATURAL BEAUTY!
The 1940’s introduced us to the actress, Ingrid Bergman, with all of her natural untouched but by Hollywood’s standards slightly flawed beauty.
Named after Princess Ingrid of Sweden, Ingrid was born in Stockholm, Sweden on Sunday, August 29th, 1915 to her German mother Frieda Henrietta Augusta Louise (nee Adler) and her Swedish father, Justus Samuel Bergman.
At an early age, Ingrid experienced the loss of her mother who died when Ingrid was just two years old, leaving her to be raised by her father.
Her father owned a photography shop which allowed him to tap into his creative side. As Ingrid got older her father believed that Ingrid was talented and as a result, he wanted to nurture the creative side that he saw in her. In an effort to do so, he enrolled Ingrid for voice lessons so that she could become an opera singer. However, though Ingrid took lessons for three years her dreams were far removed from that of becoming an opera singer because her dream was to become an actress, a dream that was later to become her reality.
However, by the time Ingrid turned eleven years old, her father died, leaving the pre-teen to be raised by her elderly uncle and his family. And with both parents gone, her life began to take her on the path that would later lead her on a journey to become the actress that she dreamed of becoming.
Her uncle enrolled her in a private school and it was there that her love of acting began to bloom as she played different roles in numerous plays. Her uncle did not stand in the way of her dreams and encouraged her to reach for the stars and to pursue her need to become an actress, unfortunately, during Ingrid’s teenage years, her uncle died too.
By the early 1930’s Ingrid enrolled at the Royal Dramatic Theater School in Stockholm, where she spent a year.
Then in the latter part of the 1930s, Ingrid headed to Hollywood with one suitcase and “no #makeup kit.” As soon as Irene Selznick who was the wife of producer David Selznick’s saw the plain looking beauty, shocked she boldly asked Ingrid in total disbelief “You mean you have nothing on your face?”
Sure enough, the answer that Ingrid gave, was far from pleasing to Irene, who later told Ingrid that they would take her to the makeup department the following morning so that something could be done about Ingrid’s eyebrows which she considered to be much too thick and Ingrid’s teeth which in Irene’s, were not good.
Ingrid however, immediately forth back by telling them that “I think you’ve made a big mistake.” She said to the man who requested that she come to Hollywood after spotting her in a promising Swedish film. “You shouldn’t have bought the pig in the sack.” “I thought you saw me in the movie Intermezzo and liked me, and then sent your agent Kay Brown across Sweden to get me. Now you’ve seen me, you want to change everything. So I’d rather not do the movie, instead, I’ll take the next train and go back home.”
Four years later with her thick brows and not so good teeth, A light flick of eyeliner and a single application of mascara on her upper lashes, all of which allowed her flawlessly natural beauty to continue to dominate, along with her acting skills, all of which secured her place in film history.
Well known for her role as Ilsa Lund in the movie classic Casablanca, Ingrid co-starred alongside the Actor Humphrey Bogart. who said these famous words to her in the movie. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” A phrase that was first said in 1942 and which is still used today in 2018 some 76 years later.
When it came to beauty, unlike many actresses during that time, Ingrid preferred her natural beauty over makeup and only wore makeup in movies that required it for her roles.
However, when it came to grooming, it is said that she would shave a centimeter off her hairline so that her forehead would appear larger.
Ingrid was married to the Swedish neurosurgeon doctor Petter (Aron) Lindstrom, Roberto Rossellini the Italian film director and screenwriter and Lars Schmidt a Swedish producer She had four children, Pia Lindstrom who was her firstborn. Isabella and Isotta Rossellini the twins, Renato Roberto Giusto Giuseppe Rossellini.
Sadly Ingrid died in Chelsea, London England, after losing her fight with cancer., she died on August 29th, 1982 at the age of 67, August 29th, the day that she was born.
