As Time Goes by: The Life of Ingrid Bergman

Leamer interviewed people who knew Bergman well, and he presents here a convincing portrait at odds with the idolized image of the screen. The author (The Paper Revolutionaries, etc.) covers the late actress's life and career from her birth in 1915, through her early successes in Sweden and Hollywood, up to her death of cancer at age 66. Revered in America as the devoted wife of Dr. Petter Lindstrom and mother of their young daughter Pia, as well as for the noble movie innocents she played, Bergman was quite the opposite, according to Leamer. She was away from home often, drank heavily and was sexually active with her fellow actors and directors. He describes Bergman's years following the scandal when she left her husband and child to live with Roberto Rossellini in Italy, the failure of their film Stromboli, the chaotic consequences of their eventual marriage and divorce, the effects on their children and the deserted Pia. Although a self-absorbed woman, as Leamer also notes, she earned three Oscars and fame as a professional, working almost to the end of her life. Photos not seen by PW. 50,000 first printing; $65,000 ad/promo; first serial to People magazine and the National Inquirer; BOMC alternate; author tour. (March 19)