Ingrid Bergman, Isabella Rossellini and Elettra Weidemann
I thought I’d try something new and look at a grandmother-mother-daughter. There is such great irony in the similarities of their circumstances and yet, the world has changed completely. What used to be a complete scandal is now passe and much more than in the past, women are celebrated for being smart and beautiful.
Ingrid Bergman and Italian film maker Roberto Rossellini began an affair while Ingrid was married to Dr. Petter Lindstrom and had a son, Roberto. For this act, her reputation was tarnished and she was basically exiled to Italy when the U.S. Congress labeled her “an assault on the institution of marriage.”
After her divorce from Lindstrom, she married Rossellini and had twin daughters, Isabella and Isotta. It was only after her separation from Rossellini that her popularity returned in the United States. She starred in “Anastasia” for which she received an Academy Award. Ingrid remained an actress until breast cancer claimed her life at the age of 67. Her last film, “A Woman Called Golda” earned her an Academy Award the year that she died. Elettra never met either of her grandparents, who both died before she was born.
Fast forward roughly 30 years from the birth of Isabella. While married to Martin Scorsese, Isabella Rossellini became pregnant with Elettra while having an affair with Jon Wiedemann, a model she met on the set of Calvin Klein. They married, divorced and he later became an executive with Microsoft! And Isabella, who had been a model, later turned to acting. Her first film appearance was with her mother but she did not take up acting seriously until after her mother’s death.
Elettra grew up with her mother in New York after her parents divorced. While Isabella’s romantic companions were some of the great legends of film making, Elettra is very much in charge of her own destiny. She is one of the most sought after models on the catwalk but she leaves nothing to chance– she is a graduate student at the London School of Economics. Like her mother, Elettra is very involved in causes of our era such as environmentalism and the plight of women and children in third world countries.
When Ingrid first came to the United States the first thing that the men wanted to do was to “fix her imperfections” with plastic surgery. A very practical and self confident woman, she would have no part of it. Her extraordinary talent and screen presence made her beauty iconic. She actually wore very little makeup and was followed in this practice by Isabella, who ironically, became the top model for Lancome in the early 80s. Adding to the family ironies was the fact that Isabella and Elettra, who both have stunning modeling portfolios, suffered from scoliosis and spent their teenage years wearing a back brace. And queen of the catwalk Elettra is rumored to be quite the klutz, often tripping over her own beautiful long legs!
Irony… smart, beautiful irony.
Tags: Academy Award, Elettra Weideman, extraordinary talent, Ingrid Bergman, Isabella Rossellini, self confident woman, smart and beautiful, top model