Inger, May, and Ingrid

Ingrid Goude, May Britt, and Inger Stevens. Life Magazine, 1957.

In 1957, Life Magazine featured a photo profile of three new-to-Hollywood actresses. All three were Swedish-born, blonde, and beautiful. Photographer Don Ornitz described their personalities in the following terms:

Ingrid Goude: Earthy wholesomeness and outdoor beauty
May Britt: Impishly unpredictable and puckish glance
Inger Stevens: Country club polish and cool reserve

Inger at Malibu Beach. Life Magazine, 1957.

Ingrid Goude won the 1956 Miss Sweden beauty pageant. She was in the films The Big Beat, Once Upon a Horse..., Night Passage, and The Killer Shrews as well as television shows.

May Britt acted in films such as War and Peace, The Young Lions, The Hunters, The Blue Angel as well as television. May was married to Sammy Davis, Jr.

Source: Sumptuous Swedish Smorgasbord: Imported Blondes Compose Varied Feast for Hollywood. August 12, 1957.

Inger Stevens on Aging

In 1969, Inger talked to journalist Lydia Lane about how women cling to unrealistic obsessions about youth in her profession. Inger said:

It is regrettable to undervalue maturity. A woman who knows who she is, where she wants to go and what she had to offer has a charm that comes from this experience and understanding.

Those who successfully retain the spirit of youth never lose the child within them, their sense of wonder and enthusiasm for life. But this is something quite different from clinging to an image you have, or should have, outgrown. It is infantile not to accept yourself realistically and struggle to be something you are not.

You can´t stop the flow of time and there is no point in trying, but you can feel young indefinitely. This projects because it is a part of you, and it is felt as strangely as happiness is felt, without having to be announced. 

There is nothing that leads to failure faster than trying too hard. There is wonderful truth in the saying, ¨Let go and let God.¨

Source: 
Lane, Lydia. ¨Wrong to Undervalue Maturity, Believes Actress Inger Stevens.¨ South Bend Tribune. April 6, 1969.