CAUSE: Berry Berenson Perkins was murdered aged 53 on a bright September morning in 2001 when the American Airlines Flight 11 aeroplane she was flying on was hijacked by Moslem fanatics and deliberately crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York. She had been returning to her California home after a holiday in Cape Cod.
Ingrid Bergman
Born August 29, 1915
Died August 29, 1982
Swedish scandalite. Although a fine and gifted actress it seemed likely that at one stage 5́ 9˝ Ingrid Bergman’s career would be virtually overshadowed by her stormy private life. Born at 3 Strandvägen in Stockholm, she was named after Sweden’s then two-year-old princess. Her mother, Frieda Adler, died aged 33 on January 19, 1918, when Ingrid was just two. Her father, Julius, succumbed to stomach cancer on July 29, 1929, leaving Ingrid an orphan at 13. She studied at the Royal Dramatic Theatre School (other pupils included Garbo, Max Von Sydow, Mai Zetterling and Viveca Lindfors) and soon began making films. Her first was an uncredited role in Landskamp (1932) before a major part in Munkbrogreven (1934) as Elsa Edlund. She became the protégée and lover (her first) of actor-director Edvin Adolphson, a married man and at 41 more than twice her age. After using him she became involved with 6́ 2˝ dentist Petter Aron Lindstrom (b. Stöde, Sweden, March 1, 1907). They were married in Stöde, Sweden, at 4pm on July 10, 1937, and had one daughter, Friedel Pia (b. Stockholm, Sweden, September 20, 1938). Bergman’s films included Valborgsmässoafton (1935) as Lena Bergström, Swedenhielms (1935) as Astrid, På Solsidan (1936) as Eva Bergh and Dollar (1938) as Julia Balzar. Associates of producer David O. Selznick saw Bergman’s film Intermezzo (1936) in which she portrayed Anita Hoffman and told him about the lead actress. When he saw the film for himself he was impressed and offered her the chance to work in America. He also suggested she Anglicise her name to Berryman as well as have plastic surgery on her eyebrows and teeth. At this time Bergman was also working in Nazi Germany (a fact Selznick was understandably desperate to hide) in films such as Die Ver Gellen (1938) and was much admired by Joseph Goebbels. In Berlin she had no compunction about giving the Nazi salute, although she declared herself apolitical. She eventually decided to further her career in America rather than Germany and flew to the land of the free leaving her husband to look after their daughter. It was a wise career choice. However, in America she rarely worked for Selznick, who loaned her out to various studios. Her first American film was a remake of Intermezzo called Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939) co-starring Leslie Howard. She appeared in a number of films, including Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde (1941) as Ivy Peterson, Rage In Heaven (1941) as Stella Bergen and Adam Had Four Sons (1941) as Emilie Gallatin, before Michael Curtiz cast her on April 20, 1942, as Ilsa Lund Laszlo in Casablanca (1942), the film that was to make her an international star. The original choice for the lead female role was Hedy Lamarr, but that changed after Curtiz saw Bergman. Filming began on May 25, 1942, and lasted until July. The movie was shot at Van Nuys Airport and on the Warner Bros lot and was something of a mishmash. The ‘sides’ (pages of the script) given to the cast had been written sometimes only minutes beforehand and the film was shot in the order it appears on screen as opposed to the usual procedure, i.e. shoot all scenes with the same set together, irrespective of where they fit in the finished film. Off-set Humphrey Bogart was constantly accused by his third wife (Mayo Methot) of having an affair with Bergman. He never did and, if anything, she was intimidated by him. He was four inches shorter than her and wore wooden blocks strapped to his shoes to make the two of them appear the same height in front of the camera. The film’s last scene (at the airport) was shot on Stage 21 at Warners with fog created by machines; many of the aeroplanes in the background were, in reality, small models. The film was rush-released on November 27, 1942, to coincide with the Allied capture of Casablanca. (Bogart never said, “Play it again, Sam.” The line “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By’” was actually spoken by Bergman. Anyway, pianist Dooley Wilson couldn’t actually play the piano [he was a drummer] and mimed to Elliot Carpenter’s playing. The song was almost cut but had to be included because of continuity. Bergman had restyled her hair for her next part in For Whom The Bell Tolls [1943] and vital scenes could not be re-shot without the song.) Casablanca went on to win three Oscars. Bergman’s next films were For Whom The Bell Tolls (1943) as María, which won her her first Oscar nomination, Gaslight (1944) as Paula Alquist, a role that gave Bergman her first Academy Award, Saratoga Trunk (1945) as Clio Dulaine, The Bells Of St. Mary’s (1945) as Sister Benedict and another Oscar nomination, Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945) as Dr Constance Peterson and Notorious (1946) as Alicia Huberman, Arch Of Triumph (1948) as Joan Madou and the lead in Joan Of Arc (1948), which was her fourth Oscar nod. Bergman had been portrayed to the public as a “normal, healthy, non-neurotic career woman, devoid of scandal and with an idyllic home life”. That was all to change in the late Forties. On September 23, 1948, she had written to a friend: “Over the weekend I’ll meet Roberto Rossellini. I look forward to it so much.” That meeting was to light a spark that would shock Hollywood and, ultimately, the world. At the time, Rossellini was involved in a tempestuous relationship (which had begun in 1939) with the fiery Italian actress Anna Magnani. Bergman had recently played Joan of Arc and the characteristics of the French saint were gradually ascribed to the actress, who was occasionally referred to in the press as ‘Saint Ingrid’. The truth was very different. Bergman was a woman of voracious sexual appetites (“She’d do it with doorknobs,” said Alfred Hitchcock) and often had several lovers on the go simultaneously. One morning, not long after the end of their honeymoon, she told Lindstrom: “I’d like to make love to one man of each race.” The world was shocked when she began an affair with Rossellini who, ladies’ man though he undoubtedly was, was plump with tiny hands and feet, a beaked nose, thinning hair and reeked of talcum powder and perfume. In the spring of 1949 Bergman flew off to make a film with Rossellini. Petter Lindstrom remained at their Hollywood home, 1220 Benedict Canyon Drive. After seeing his wife off at the airport Lindstrom returned home to discover she had removed nearly all her wardrobe as well as her precious collection of press cuttings and photo albums. Lindstrom then realised that his wife had not only flown out of the country – she had also flown out of their marriage. The couple stayed at a former monastery where, in a fit of pique, Anna Magnani had once thrown a plate of spaghetti in Rossellini’s face. It was an ironic setting – a former monastery where celibacy was a way of life – to start properly the affair that would cause Ingrid Bergman to be ostracised from Hollywood for many years. The affair caused the film they were due to make, Stromboli, to be delayed for almost a week. Rossellini’s myriad other affairs had merely been distractions but his love for Ingrid threatened to ruin his film-making. Said his cousin, Renzo Avanzo, “The family disapproved but not from a moral point of view. Nobody gave a damn about that. We disapproved because we knew, with her, he was through making the kind of films he should be making … They were enamoured with the idea of what they could do together artistically … and it was a lousy idea.” If Rossellini’s family disapproved because of the fear that it would ruin Rossellini’s career, the rest of the world, it seemed, disapproved because the affair was, to their eyes, shameful. Telegrams began to arrive from Hollywood. Joseph Breen, head of the motion picture capital’s all-powerful Production Code Administration, cabled Ingrid with the warning “These stories may very well destroy your career.” Studio boss Walter Wanger added, “Do not fool yourself by thinking that what you’re doing is of such courageous proportions or so artistic to excuse what ordinary people believe.” Despite having written to Lindstrom asking for a divorce, Ingrid still had much to discuss with him and so she arranged to meet him on neutral ground. Messina in Sicily was chosen and Ingrid arrived with Rossellini, who was determined to show Lindstrom that he was now the man in Ingrid’s life. Lindstrom would have none of this and pushed Ingrid into a hotel room locking Rossellini outsid
e. The Italian went into a jealous frenzy and even called the police. However, they decided it was a domestic matter and left the participants to sort things out between themselves. Rossellini jumped into his sports car and began racing around the hotel. Recalled Ingrid: “He never stopped all night long, hour after hour. It was a nightmare.” Things became worse for Ingrid on December 11, 1949 when the Los Angeles Herald Examiner broke the news that Ingrid was pregnant with Rossellini’s child. The condemnation of Ingrid, which had previously been fierce, now became vicious. She even found herself condemned by the Vatican. Gossip columnist Louella O. Parsons, however, drew comparison between Ingrid and historical figures. “Few women in history or men either,” wrote Parsons, “have made the sacrifice the Swedish star has for love. Mary, Queen of Scots, gave up her throne because of her love for the Earl of Bothwell. Lady Hamilton, beautiful queen of English society, gave up her position in the London social world to bear a child out of wedlock to Lord Nelson … King Edward VIII renounced his throne to marry the woman he loved.” Parsons’ story had an impact as dramatic as the journalist had hoped. It knocked President Truman’s announcement of the development of the hydrogen bomb off the front pages. People were horrified still by the Swede who was thumbing her nose at the sexual mores of the country that had made her a star. On February 2, 1950, Ingrid gave birth to Robertino Rossellini in the Villa Margherita Clinic, Rome. The press tried to speak to the mother but Ingrid gave no interviews and Rossellini went so far as to punch an American reporter who he felt had gone too far in the interests of getting his story. One enterprising hack had a pregnant wife and he enlisted her help in obtaining pictures of Ingrid’s newest offspring. The wife booked into the same clinic with a suitcase but when the nuns discovered that the holdall actually contained a selection of cameras rather than swaddling clothes the woman was asked to leave. Twelve days after the birth Ingrid left the clinic at 4am. The nuns did not like patients checking out in the middle of the night and they chased after the proud parents. Joining in the scramble was the motley collection of press photographers. A car chase ensued and the paparazzi would have finally clicked their shutters on Ingrid and the baby as she rushed into her home, had it not been for one of Rossellini’s friends blocking off the road with his car. Ingrid’s divorce did not become final until February 9 (in Mexico, where divorces were easier to obtain, and not at all in the United States) so she could not officially be registered as the baby’s mother. (Lindstrom had begun to drag his feet over the divorce; in any case, the divorce legally didn’t have to become final in the United States.) Probably the most famous infant in the world that year, Robertino’s birth certificate, incredibly, reads “Father: Roberto Rossellini. Mother: Unknown.” On March 14, Ingrid and Rossellini were denounced on the floor of the US Senate. Ingrid was described as a “cheap, chiselling female … a powerful influence for evil” and Rossellini found himself lambasted as “the vile and unspeakable Rossellini who sets an all-time low in shameless exploitation and disregard for good public morals.” The film on which they had been working, Stromboli, opened on February 15. One might have expected to see nuns and priests and other clerics picketing the film. In fact, only ten people turned up to the Broadway opening. The public was vastly outnumbered by the press. The film was a commercial disaster both in Europe and in the States. It was described by The New York Times as “incredibly feeble, inarticulate, uninspiring and painfully banal.” Meanwhile, Ingrid received thousands of letters, many in support of her, although she did receive at least one death threat. As so often in these matters, the public and press gradually lost interest in the scandal and by the end of March Ingrid could look out from her Rome apartment without seeing hordes of reporters waiting for her. Ingrid’s friends begged her to go to Mexico and marry Roberto but she refused and decided to marry by proxy. An attorney representing her and one for Rossellini flew to Mexico City where in Juarez at 10.30am on May 24, 1950, Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini were married. At the same time in Rome Ingrid decided to exchange private vows with the man she loved in a small church. It was early evening in Rome as Ingrid waited for her husband-to-be to return from a day’s filming. She waited and she waited and she waited. The church had long shut its doors by the time Rossellini turned up. The Italian found another church and there he and Ingrid held hands, knelt and repeated the vows. As a wedding gift Rossellini gave Ingrid a gold charm bracelet with a small policeman’s whistle. The honeymoon was spent on Capri. More controversy followed when it was revealed that Bergman’s American divorce did not become final until November 1, 1950. Gradually, as people realised that Bergman and Rossellini’s love was not just a brief fling, the couple became accepted. America was still, however, very wary of Ingrid. The birth of her twins (Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna weighing 7lb 3oz, Isotta Ingrid Frieda Giuliana weighing 8lb 5oz) in Rome on June 18, 1952, went some of the way to assuaging her ‘guilt’. However, the odd piece of hate mail still occasionally arrived. Ingrid later told her friend Kenneth Williams that the British people had been very kind to her during her troubles and she had always time to stop and chat to a British fan. However, the marriage to Rossellini was destined not to last and they separated on November 7, 1959. The scandalous match that wrecked two marriages and brought three people into the world was over. By contrast, thirty-eight years after her mother’s elopement, Isabella Rossellini, herself twice married (once to Martin Scorsese), began an affair with another film director, David Lynch. The affair elicited virtually no adverse press comment. Still Ingrid was ‘exiled’ from the States for some years. Then she was chosen to play the lead in a film about the life of the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, Anastasia (1956), or rather the faker Anna Anderson, who claimed to be the Grand Duchess. Her performance won her a second Oscar and she had an affair with co-star Yul Brynner. Chat show host Ed Sullivan asked his audience to vote as to whether Bergman should be allowed on his show. The vote was close, but favoured the ’no’s. It appeared that not all of America had forgiven the ‘loose woman’. Her films became fewer. She won the role of missionary Gladys Aylward in The Inn Of The Sixth Happiness (1958) after Audrey Hepburn rejected the part. Bergman also appeared in Indiscreet (1958) as Anne Kalman, The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1965) as Gerda Millett, Cactus Flower (1969) as Stephanie Dickinson, Murder On The Orient Express (1974) as Greta Ohlsson, winning her third and final Academy Award and a BAFTA, Autumn Sonata (1978) another Oscar nomination and her final role (in a TV movie), which won her numerous plaudits, A Woman Called Golda (1982) as Golda Meir. Bergman married for the third time at Caxton Hall Register Office, London, at 11.15am on December 21, 1958. Her new husband was the divorcé Lars Reinhold Schmidt (b. 11 June 1917). They were divorced in 1975.
CAUSE: In November 1973 while lying in bed in her flat in Mount Street, Mayfair, Bergman discovered a lump in her left breast. In May 1974 she was advised by her doctor to go into hospital for a biopsy but she demurred, flying instead to New York to see her first grandson. She saw a doctor there who also insisted she enter hospital. Again, she refused. Finally, on June 15, 1974, she was admitted to the London clinic where she underwent the mastectomy of her left breast. A lump grew in a lymph node under her arm and it was removed in 1977. However, it was malignant. In July 1978 her right breast was also removed in an operation at the Harley Street Clinic and she began undergoing radiation therapy. Not long afterwards she bought a new home at Flat 4, 9 Cheyne Gardens, London SW 3. The film company that made A Woman Called Golda were unable to get insurance to cover the film because of Ingrid’s illness. Ingrid spent her last Christmas in Choisel, France. Cancer had rendered her right arm useless and she learned to write with her left hand. In June 1982 she flew to New York to celebrate her twins’ 30th birthday. On July 3 she returned to London. Later that summer she flew to Sweden to say goodbye to her homeland. On August 21, 1982, she collapsed getting out of the bath; the disease had spread to her spine. To ease her pain she was given heroin. Eight days later, her right lung collapsed and only th
e top third of her left was still working. Cancer claimed her in her London home that afternoon. It was her 67th birthday. “I have no regrets,” she reflected. “I wouldn’t have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say.”
Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries Page 30
