Category: people

Swedish icons 2: Ingrid Bergman

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Swedish actor Ingrid Bergman is considered one of Sweden’s best, and most famous, actors ever. Born in 1915 in Stockholm, she moved to USA in 1939 and took the world by storm. Her poise, her beauty and her talent were showcased in classic films such as Casablanca, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Notorious and The Bells of St Mary’s.

The mother of actor Isabella Rossellini, Ingrid Bergman was highly decorated, winning three Oscars for best actress in Gaslight and Anastasia and for supporting actress in Murder on the Orient Express. She has been described by the American Film Institute as one of the world’s Top 50 most significant actors throughout history.

Ingrid Bergman died of breast cancer in 1982 in London and she is buried in Stockholm.

Swedish ice batheing

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

This winter, taking an outdoor ice bath has become very fashionable in Sweden. Disrobing and lowering yourself into frozen lakes at below zero temperatures is considered very healthy for the body and its ability to repair itself.

Spring has now arrived and the ice is melting but die hards are still squeezing the last out of the ice batheing season. Like this guy featured on TV, who regularly sits in the frozen lake – for 20 minutes at a time!

This may seem like a long time, but actually it is nothing compared to the world record. The world record for ice submersion is held by Austrian Josef Koerbel who, in 2020, held himself under ice for 2 hours and 30 minutes. In his case, it was in an ice box on a public square in the town of Melk.

Brrrr.

So, what about you? Do you feel enticed by the concept of plunging into the chilly depths to take an ice bath? Or would you rather keep yourself wrapped up warm and toasty on the bank of the lake?

Swedish Icons 1: Anita Ekberg

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Swede Anita Ekberg, from Malmö in Skåne, played an iconic leading role in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1961). She is notably remembered for the scene where she bathed in la Fontana di Trevi. Born in 1931, she won the Miss Sweden title at the age of 20, and then went to USA to compete in Miss Universe. Although she didn’t win, she worked as a model and a hostess and got small film roles.

She was famously opinionated and refused to change her surname saying that if she became famous everybody would learn her name, and if she didn’t it wouldn’t matter.

Ekberg appeared in many films, but interestingly never a Swedish one. She retired from acting in 2002 and died in 2015 at age 83 in Rome.