When I was young, living in London, my parents took me to see Ingrid Bergman in Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife at the Albery Theatre. I remember very little of the play (a drawing room comedy first staged in 1926 with Ethel Barrymore in the lead) but what I do remember is Ms. Bergman. She made her entrance on crutches, to a standing ovation, as she had just sprained her ankle. At once she was radiant, shimmering, and performing with wit and verve. I’m sure they must have altered the staging so she could perch, rather than pace, yet the injury seemed to have no impact on the production at all.
After that my mom made sure I saw each of Ingrid Bergman’s new films as they were released; From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), A Matter of Time (1976), Autumn Sonata (1978).
And, I don’t need to list her earlier performances because they are the stuff Hollywood legend.
A trouper, an inspiration, a star for all time.
Cheers, to one hundred years of Ingrid Bergman!
