INGRID BERGMAN
Handwritten letter by the Academy Award winning actress, saying "Of course I can see you ... I thought you would come the same day you saw the play"
Autograph Letter signed: "Ingrid Bergman", 1p, 5½x7. London, Thursday [1966 February 10]. On letterhead of the Connaught Hotel to Lorna. In full: "Of course I can see you after some matiné (sic) As a matter of fact I thought you would come the same day you saw the play". Lightly stained on verso, light show through at 1 word. Fine condition. Accompanied by original envelope, 5½¾x3. British stamp affixed, postmarked London, February 11, 1966. Addressed by Bergman to: "Mrs Lorna Butler/8A Courtenay Drive/Emmer Green/Reading/Berks". Slightly creased, lightly soiled. Stained on verso. Torn open at upper edge. Overall, fine condition. The play to which Bergman refers was A Month in the Country, in which she co-starred with Michael Redgrave. Swedish-born actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three: Best Actress in 1944 (Gaslight) and 1956 (Anastasia) and Best Supporting Actress in 1974 (Murder on the Orient Express). In 1950, she had accepted Roberto Rossellini's offer of the lead role in Stromboli. During the production, the actress and director fell in love and she became pregnant with his child while she was still married to her first husband, Swedish doctor Peter Lindstrom. Although she married Rossellini shortly after divorcing Lindstrom, the damage had been done. Stromboli was banned in many markets and boycotted in others and the actress found herself and her work shunned by audiences. It was not until 1956, when she made Anastasia, that she made a successful comeback. Among her other notable films are Intermezzo (1936), Casablanca (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943; Best Actress Oscar nomination), The Bells of St. Mary's (1945; Best Actress Oscar nomination), Spellbound (1945), Joan of Arc (1948; Best Actress Oscar nomination), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1965) and Autumn Sonata (1978; Best Actress Oscar nomination). Two items.