Ingrid Bergman

The Swedish actress and triple Oscar winner Ingrid Bergman was born on August 29, 1915 in Stockholm. Her mother came from Germany, her father was an artist and photographer. Ingrid early became an orphan. When she was only three years old her mother died and her father passed away when she was thirteen.

Before he died he had let his daughter have singing lessons. But Ingrid always knew she wanted to become an actress. After her parents' death she grew up with relatives. When she was 17, she was accepted at the Royal Dramatic Theater School in Stockholm. The studies were never completed though since the young Ingrid soon got one movie role after another.

In 1937, when she was 21, she married the dentist (later the neurosurgeon) Petter Lindström. Together they had a daughter, Pia Lindström. Two years later Ingrid was offered the role in an American version of the Swedish film "Intermezzo", in which she had previously played against Gösta Ekman. The American version with Leslie Howard was a great success and Ingrid Bergman immediately made a strong impression on the American audience with her natural beauty and great acting talent.

Scene from "Casablanca" with Humphrey Bogart

Most of all she is famous for her role in the movie "Casablanca" (1942), in which she plays against Humphrey Bogart. Other acclaimed performances were films like "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Gaslight," and the Hitchcock productions "Spellbound", "Notorious" and "Under Capricorn".

In 1950 Ingrid Bergman got a role in the Italian director Roberto Rossellini's film "Stromboli". It was a huge scandal when it was discovered that she had also become his mistress. She divorced her former husband and remarried Rossellini, with whom she had three children. The American audience was extremely shocked and disappointed and she got no roles in Hollywood for years. But in 1957 she was back with the movie "Anastasia" for which she received an Oscar. A number of American successes followed, such as "Indiscreet", "Cactus Flower" (with Walter Matthau and Goldie Hawn) and "Murder on the Orient Express."

After her marriage with Rossellini, she married in 1958 the Swedish producer Lars Schmidt, a marriage that lasted until 1975. Some years later she came to participate in Ingmar Bergman's "Autumn Sonata" with Liv Ullman. Her last role was in the television series "A Woman Named Golda" (1982) about the Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. She was seriously ill with breast cancer during the shooting and died - on her 67th birthday! - four months after the recording was finished.

Ingrid Bergman is remembered as one of the greatest actresses ever. In the U.S., she is seen as a unique star with her natural, unstained beauty and her ability to portray her roles with a perfect blend of poetic grace and quiet realism.

Two years before her death, her autobiography was published, "Ingrid Bergman: My Story," which was written in collaboration with Alan Burgess. Here she tells about her life, her childhood and the magnificent career.

Her birth chart looks like this:

Ingrid Bergman, 29 August 1915 03:30, Stockholm, Sweden

(Source: Astro DataBank)

Most prominent signs are Virgo (with the Sun and Venus in the First House and Mercury in the Second), Leo (the Ascendant, Neptune, the South Lunar node) and Cancer (with Mars, Saturn and Pluto in the Eleventh House).

We immediately recognize the great actress and Hollywood star reflected in her Leo Ascendant and Sun in conjunction with Venus in Virgo in the First House! The Sun rules the Ascendant, and Venus on the first degree of Virgo rules via Taurus the highest point of the ecliptic, the Midheaven.

It cannot be stressed enough, what a clear and precise image this gives of the actress Ingrid Bergman, of her perfect, natural beauty (Venus in Virgo in conjunction with the Sun in the first house), of her charisma and great fame (Sun in conjunction with Venus in the First House with the Leo Ascendant and Midheaven in the Venus-sign Taurus).

To the American - and international - audience of that era her pure and natural Nordic beauty represented the highest ideal of the female. The birth chart reflects this by Venus in Virgo, the sign of purity and perfection. That she appeared unstained in her natural and vital beauty was something very unusual in the world of Hollywood. In the horoscope it is shown through Venus (beauty) in Virgo (purity) and Midheaven (fame) in Taurus (naturalness).

Her “Virgo” nature is also evident in the Hollywood producer David O. Selznick's words about her: "Miss Bergman is the most completely conscientious actress with whom I have ever worked, in that she thinks of absolutely nothing but her work before and during the time she is doing a picture...”.

Earth is the most prominent of the elements, followed by Fire and Water. Dominating houses are the First (with the Sun and Venus), the Ninth (with the Moon in Aries) and the Eleventh (with Mars, Saturn and Pluto in Cancer). The first quadrant and the eastern hemisphere also dominate, reflecting an independent person, able to map out her path in life. The Moon phase is waning and suggests a desire to share her own experiences.

Her Ascendant is in charismatic Leo, the creative sign of the artist and actor, and demonstrates her strength, warmth, charisma and generosity. Midheaven in Venus-ruled Taurus reflects stability and power and, as already noted, that the fame was very much based on her natural beauty (Taurus).

The Moon in Aries in the Ninth House mirrors adventurousness and ambition. The trine to Venus in the First House enhances her beauty and charm as well as her artistic and creative side. Moreover, the Moon forms a square to Neptune, the planet of cinema and theater, in Leo in her Twelfth House. The square can probably also be said to reflect the early loss of the mother, especially since Neptune in the Twelfth House of loss and grief also rules the Eighth House of death. At the same time Neptune in Leo also forms a trine with the successful planet Jupiter in Neptunic Pisces, which in its turn via Sagittarius rules the Fifth House of creativity and artistry.

The Sun in the first house forms sextiles to the Moon-disposed Mars and Pluto in Cancer in the Eleventh House, which shows strength, determination and an abundance of extra power. That also Venus is in sextile with Pluto indicates strong intensity and passion in intimate relationships. This is likewise demonstrated by Pluto in conjunction with Mars, which also reveals a volcanic temper. Mars forms a sextile with Midheaven and Mars and the Moon support each other through mutual reception (in each other's signs).

The Moon in Aries in the Ninth House, in a wide conjunction with MC and in a trine to the Ascendant in Leo and Venus in Virgo - and also squaring Neptune in Leo in the Twelfth House - gives an indication of the strong urge for adventure and discovery that made Ingrid Bergman take the daring step to begin an uncertain career in Hollywood, even though she had a home, husband, daughter as well as movie roles in Sweden.

The Fourth House of home and family is in transformative Scorpio and reflects the early loss of her parents, as well as the major and certainly painful upheavals in her adult family life - moving to the U.S., divorce, marriage and family life with Roberto Rossellini, the new divorce and new marriage. The Fourth House ruler Pluto is also in the family sign Cancer in conjunction with Mars.

Pars Fortunae, point of happiness and fulfillment, we find in Saturn's sign Capricorn in the Fifth House of creativity, acting and self-expression. That the creative life as a film actress was her great joy and satisfaction is no doubt. But it seems that the "Part of Fortune" stands in stark contrast to the planets in Cancer (home, family, maternity, children) in the Eleventh House – the disadvantage of a creative and artistic life. The Fifth House with Pars Fortunae is also the house of children, so she certainly rejoiced much over her children, even if her family life was shadowed by her life as a celebrated artist.