Ingrid Bergman Centennial Festival

The iconic Swedish actress would have been 100 years old this summer, and the Washington, DC area is celebrating her life.  

  • Encouraged by her father, who was a photographer, Ingrid Bergman (pictured here age 14) got an early start to her education in theater and film in Sweden.

  • The triple Oscar-winner will be featured in a three-month long film festival and special exhibition. Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) is one of the world’s few actors ever to win three Oscars, a Tony, and two Emmy Awards.

  • Ingrid Bergman in "Gaslight," 1944.

  • This international superstar was fascinating on and off screen. The film festival, opening July 2, 2015 features a range of her most famous to least-known movies - from very early films made in Sweden to her final one, also made in Sweden 40 years later, "Autumn Sonata," directed and written by compatriot Ingmar Bergman (who was no relation to Ingrid).

  • Ingrid Bergman with three of her children, Roberto and twins Isabella and Isotta Rossellini.

  • The exhibitions at the Embassy of Sweden, "Ingrid Bergman - in Sweden!" by the Swedish Film Institute, and "The Saga of Ingrid Bergman" by the Swedish Institute, both begin Aug. 29, 2015. Details of the free, weekend-only exhibits and the embassy's related programs are coming soon. One of the embassy's programs will host the unveiling of the Bergman stamps in September; she becomes the 19th Hollywood legend in the stamp series.

  • The well known image from the film "Casablanca", in which Ingrid Bergman starred with Humphrey Bogart. It premiered on November 26, 1942 in New York City.

  • For more information and tickets:
    Ingrid Bergman Centennial movies at AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road at Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland, 301-495-6700.
    The two exhibitions beginning Aug. 29 are at Embassy of Sweden's House of Sweden, 2900 K Street, N.W., Washington D.C., 202-467-2600. They are free exhibitions are open weekends only.

  • One other famous version of that story, properly titled "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" was made in 1941, starring Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Spencer Tracy.

  • -------

  • Ingrid Bergman, born to a Swedish father and German mother in Stockholm, Sweden on August 29, 1915, was encouraged by her father to pursue her creative interests. She studied theater and film as a teenager, then attended the Royal Dramatic Theater School in Stockholm, landing her first speaking role in 1935 in "Munkbrogreven," a film by Swedish director Gustaf Molander. In 1936, she made the film that would change her life, "Intermezzo." Written and directed by Molander, Ingrid’s performance caught the attention of Hollywood film producer David O. Selznick, who bought the rights to remake the film in Hollywood with Ingrid in the starring role – beginning a career that would span five decades, win her three Oscars, two Emmys and a Tony Award.

  • Ingrid's natural beauty and her acting in wholesome roles won her the adoration of audiences that would follow her throughout the 1930s and 1940s. She married a Swede and had a daughter, contributing to the adoration of her fans in Sweden, America and the world.

  • Her most famous role came in 1942, when she played Humphrey Bogart's long-lost love, Ilsa, in the wartime romance "Casablanca." The film was a box office success at the time and has become a beloved classic.

  • In 1949, Ingrid wrote a fan letter to Italian director Roberto Rossellini, expressing her desire to work in one of his films. This changed the course of her work - and her personal life. He wrote a part for her in his 1949 film "Stromboli," and during production, he and Ingrid began an affair. Her marriage hadn’t been happy for many years, Ingrid became pregnant, and she and Rossellini married. They lived together in Italy, away from Hollywood’s eye, had three children and made five movies between 1950 and 1955.

  • Ingrid did return to Hollywood in 1956 to star in "Anastasia," and her marriage to Rossellini ended in 1957. In the years since her separation from Rossellini, Ingrid regained the adoration of her American fans. In 1975, however, Ingrid found out she had breast cancer. Despite her failing health she continued to work and completed her last film, Ingmar Bergman's "Autumn Sonata," in 1978. Her last acting role was in the award winning 1982 television miniseries "A Woman Called Golda." But on August 29, 1982, her 67th birthday, Ingrid lost her years’ long battle with cancer, and died in her London home.

  • Ingrid Bergman has left fans around the world with an enduring legacy of over 50 films that are evidence of her lifelong dedication to the art of acting.