Ingrid Bergman was as controversial as she was talented

BERGMAN. Her incandescent beauty had universal appeal.

Recently, my brother-in-law, Domingo, asked his wife, Lydia, about a film starring the youthful Ingrid Bergman, directed by Roberto Rossellini.

The movie must have been one of the films the actress made with the Italian director after they began their torrid affair. Thereafter, a pregnant Bergman tried to divorce her husband, Peter Lindstrom, but the situation became so scandalous that she was roundly condemned by Hollywood and “exiled” to Italy for close to two decades. She didn’t return to Los Angeles until she won her second Academy Award for “Anastasia.”

I have vivid memories of the blonde and ethereal Bergman in “Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde,” in which Spencer Tracy drove her mad and she upstaged Lana Turner. I also recall her luminous beauty in “For Whom the Bells Toll.” She was a brunette in “Saratoga Trunk,” alongside Gary Cooper, with whom (it is said) she also had an affair.

Leading men

In fact, she is said to have had affairs with all of her leading men, except Humphrey Bogart, whose wife at the time kept close guard during the filming of “Casablanca.” In an interview, Gregory Peck also admitted to a youthful fling with the actress.

Bergman was one of the favorite actors of Alfred Hitchcock, who described the actress as “icy hot.” Being nearly 5’10” tall, she was often paired with lanky actors like Cooper, Peck and Cary Grant.

Isabella Rosselini is one of Bergman’s twins with Roberto. However attractive Isabella may be, she does not possess the incandescent beauty and charisma of her mother, who may well represent the classic beauty of Hollywood’s golden era: She was dignified and sexy at the same time!