a personal hist or y of ingela keiller roy wa tts

The Butcher’s Daughter
Preface by the author
Ingela didn’t want to write this book, feeling that she hadn’t done anything
to justify recording her history. Kenneth, who had written his own
memoirs, felt that she had lived an interesting life, and that she should
regard the exercise as being a photograph album with text – a storehouse of
images and memories. The process involves a tape recorded interview each
day, and that in turn is converted into script. This is not unlike a session
with a psychoanalyst,
except that the objective is
an accurate record rather
than healing of the psyche.
Strangely enough reflecting
about all the major events
that go into a lifetime
has a cathartic effect, and
after initial reluctance,
she responded with
characteristic enthusiasm.
En route I also gained
insight into the many
facets that encompass
her being, none of which
would surprise her close
friends, but may come as a
revelation to others. Chief
of these was the fact that
her very strong personality
masks a vulnerability that
Roy Watts.
few would suspect. Early on in the exercise she became very emotional on recalling a difficult
and fairly loveless childhood when she received little or no affirmation.
If our formative years are the crucible from which our dispositions are
formed, then Ingela’s youth explains much about her attitudes and beliefs.
It was also a time during which she developed great strength of character
in coping with and ultimately confronting an abusive and alcoholic father.
Having watched her mother put up with constant ill treatment and neglect,
she vowed that she would never tolerate any serious shortcomings in her
relationships. She also ponders over the fact that all of her husbands were
men who grew up without paternal influence, and she wonders if her
strong character was part of the attraction.
Regrets, she’s had a few, foremost being the fact that she never got to
flex her entrepreneurial muscles. That she had unerring business instincts
is borne out by the tremendous success she has enjoyed in her many
property transactions, culminating in the magnificent home the Keillers
share in Indian Wells. Offset against this is the immense pride she has in
her children which she regards as her greatest achievement. When asked
who her favorite is, she replies that they have all occupied the number one
spot at different stages of her life, and for differing reasons. The twins
because they were so unique, Alana for her sweet temperament, and Ryan
who marched so fiercely to the beat of his own drum. It was he, who most
closely resembled her in temperament, determination and intellect.
As the book progressed, it was intriguing to learn how she grew apart
from Sweden, and wholeheartedly embraced her life in California becoming
a dedicated American patriot in the process. She has no doubt that her life
would have been vastly different if she hadn’t moved to Palm Springs when
she did. Ingela was eventually brought back to an appreciation of her roots
when Kenneth introduced her to a different Sweden to the one she had
left as a young woman. Now she looks forward to their annual migration
to Särö, believing that they enjoy the very best of both worlds. As an
interesting sidebar, her great aunt with whom she boarded on her arrival in
Palm Springs, spent 45 years in America, and never enjoyed the assimilation
that Ingela achieved in her first month there.
Finally, for me there was much fascination in learning how interwoven
the celebrity world was 45 years ago, and how different things are today
for the rich and famous. Ways back then you were just as likely to run into
Frank Sinatra at the supermarket as at the Racquet club - whereas today
you would have to get past a phalanx of bodyguards publicists and all the
usual hangers on. It would now be impossible for a young, beautiful and
charismatic immigrant to tap into the world that Ingela strolled into in
1960. Her list of friends, contacts and even casual acquaintances might
seem to some like a marathon name dropping exercise. To those who know
her well, and I include myself amongst them, it is just Ingela telling it like it
was in her inimitable fashion…………………..
Foreword
Frankly, I was dead against writing a book as I
didn’t believe that I had accomplished anything
important enough to justify a biography. After
relentless encouragement from Kenneth, I
decided to go ahead, realising that my own
family knew very little about my past. With
the format he developed in his own biography
- featuring pictures relevant to each phase on
every page, I reasoned that this was in fact a
photograph album with text – and a nice record
for generations to come.
Initially, I was uncomfortable with a process
that involved daily taped interviews which
were turned into text. My childhood was not a
happy one, and recalling the past was difficult
and extremely emotional. Gradually as the
story progressed into better times, I relaxed
and began to enjoy the process - even finding
it cathartic. It was also a time to celebrate the
various phases of my life, and to acknowledge
the great contributions made by my partners,
children and friends.
First up was handsome Bill Hays who
introduced me to adulthood after I arrived
in America as a naïve Swedish teenager. He
was also the conduit to the exciting social life
that prevailed in Palm Springs in those far-off
days of the ‘sixties’. Although the marriage
was not a great success, he provided me with
my adorable twins Thomas and Michael.
They inherited his good looks, and his athletic
physique. Always the centre of attraction, they
were well loved by all my suitors and friends.
Next was the nurturing Victor Rothschild
who was responsible for the biggest growth
period of my life. He encouraged my
involvement in business, and gave me free reign
in developing and decorating various homes.
Best of all, he gave me the beautiful Alana, and
the free spirited, charismatic Ryan. Victor was
a great father who instilled wonderful family
values, and we remain close to this day.
Then there is Kenneth – the perennial partyin-progress whose glass is always half full. It
was he, a fellow Swede, who re-introduced me
to my birthplace. Through him I learned to
really love and appreciate the country that held
so many bad memories from my childhood. We
return every year to our lovely home in Särö
and our wonderful circle of Swedish friends.
If one believes as I do - that there are different
people for the various phases in one’s life then Kenneth is the right man for me right
now. Each of my three husbands has had a big
influence on shaping my ideals, personality and
character, and I salute them all.
Although I have many great friends, it is
not possible to acknowledge them all in a
foreword. I must make an exception however
for my special friend, the late Marilyn Mitchell.
She opened many doors and introduced me
to some very dear friends in the United States.
Much of her time was devoted to caring for my
four children with whom she had a particularly
close bond.
Finally, a vote of thanks to my good friend Roy,
who played a role somewhere between a priest
in a confessional, a psychiatrist listening intently
to my recall of the past, and a biographer who
cobbled it all together. It’s been an amazing
ride, and to quote the immortal Edith Piaf –
‘Non, je ne regrette rien’ – ‘No regrets’.
My love to you all
Ingela
Index
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
Growing up in Gothenburg
High School
Palm Springs
The New World
Anyone for tennis?
The twins
Victor
Hancock Park
Bumps in the road
A return to (SW)EDEN
Kenneth
The Seychelles
Beginnings
Indian Wells
Family matters
The Americanization of Ingela
Särö
Cape Town
6
10
11
14
20
24
29
41
44
48
50
52
54
57
59
64
68
69
Chapter
19:
The Toscana Country Club
72
elected to live a totally separate life because
his father was a confirmed alcoholic. As a
result of this, the boy was farmed out to a
succession of relatives, and up to the age of 13
when he moved in with his father, had lived in
more than a dozen homes.
Axel had four sisters
and seven brothers,
five of whom
were butchers
dotted around
Gothenburg.
Their father and
mother died
within a week of
each other, and
at their double
funeral the brothers
split into two groups
of four pallbearers to
convey each parent
Ingela´s father Sven with grandfather
to their final resting
Axel Svensson 1935.
place. This made
headlines in the Gothenburg newspapers at the
time.
Axel carried on the tradition set by most
of his
family by becoming a butcher,
with the American
shipping lines
being some
of his major
clients. It was
only after
he became
successful
that he
lived
under
the same
roof as his
son, and
it doesn’t
need Sigmund
Freud to fathom
the degree of
emotional scarring
1: Growing up in
Gothenburg
I
first met Ingela for lunch in a Stellenbosch
restaurant in February 1987. She had come
to South Africa for the first time to sort out
some business matters for Kenneth, and it was
not the most festive occasion. This was some
fourteen months before she married Kenneth,
and as I had been a friend of the Keillers for
some time, she probably felt that she was deep
in enemy territory. And of course from my side
of the bridge, I spent the afternoon in a rather
glacial atmosphere. So there was nowhere else
to go but up from there, and I’m pleased to say
that she went on to become a close and valued
friend. In the intervening years, and during the
course of gathering background for this story, I
realized that Ingela is one book you can’t judge
by its cover.
If our childhood is the crucible from which
we are formed, it must be said that much
of Ingela’s strength of character was forged
by coping with a difficult and rather lonely
upbringing. She was born in Lerum, a small
village outside Gothenburg in 1943 to Sven
and Maiki Svensson. They were reluctant
parents forced into a marriage by an
unplanned pregnancy, and ill equipped
emotionally for such an event. Although
Sweden was neutral at the time, the war
was raging in Norway and Sven spent
the next two years on the country’s
western border. During this time,
Maiki commuted to Gothenburg where
she worked as a florist, and it was only
two years later when the war ended that
Ingela’s father came into her life. He was the
dominant factor in her childhood and teen
years, and to understand him we need to take a
look at his lineage.
Sven was the illegitimate child of Axel
Svensson and Olga Anderson, and his mother
Karl Axel Larsen with his six children, from left Oscar, Tekla, Lydia,
Erik, Annie and Sara (Eleonore).
6
that Sven must have suffered from the lack
of love and stability. It also fuelled great
insecurity and a constant need for acceptance,
which he garnered by developing a fast wit
and gregarious personality - thus ensuring
admiration and popularity in later years.
Ironically, with emotions cauterized by his
troubled childhood, he passed the same lack
of affirmation on to Ingela in an emotionally
remote
upbringing. It
must be said
that he was
a reluctant
father, who
didn’t want a
daughter, and her
problems were
compounded
later when he
carried over a
genetic defect
from his father
by sliding into
Ingela one year old.
alcoholism
himself. After the war the Svenssons moved
into an apartment in Gothenburg, and Sven
followed family convention by opening a
butchery in a very affluent area of town. Ingela
was denied a normal childhood, and when
she was four would be sent several blocks to
a fishmonger to buy the evening meal. She
was held accountable for both the quality of
the fish, and the price as well. At the age of
five, when most kids are terrified of dentists,
she was sent off in search of one, armed with
an address that she had to match up with the
scribbled shape of the letters as she couldn’t
read. Rounding off the rather bleak influences
of her early years were the grandparents. Axel
the drunk was very fond of her, but he died
from the ravages of alcoholism when she
was seven. Olga, her paternal grandmother
tried to assuage her guilt for rejecting her son
by bestowing a certain amount of affection
on her granddaughter. And Ingela’s maternal
Grandfather, an extremely bright and musically
gifted singing coach, was widowed when she
Ingela six years old.
was an infant, offered little by way of affection.
The only other person in her circle was Bengt
Petersen, a boy of similar age, who lived nearby
and became her solitary friend.
Ingela worshipped her father, despite
his indifferent attitude, doing her utmost to
gain his approval. His main passion in those
days was racing a motorbike on the Kaparna
speedway circuit - a pursuit in which he
excelled, and which satisfied his craving for
recognition and acceptance. Allied to this was
the fact that he would have preferred a son,
and this partiality was rewarded by the birth
of Thomas when she was five. Her brother
instantly became the obvious favorite of her
father, soaking up all the love and attention that
she had always been denied. He turned out to
be a hyperactive, and accident prone handful,
Maiki and Sven Svensson married 1943.
7
notching up
a string of
mishaps most
notable of
which were
the imbibing
of a solid
dosage of
ammonia, a
brush with
typhoid, and
Ingela as St Lucia and her brother Thomas in
a seriously
Sweden 1953.
mangled
hand which he caught in a meat grinder as
he cavorted around the butchery. All of this
severely reduced what limited attention she
received, and she exacted revenge by whacking
him when her parents were out of range. In
later years they became quite close, but in those
early years he was a terrible thorn in her side.
Relief from the passionless desert at home
came when she started school along with her
friend Bengt Petersen. Because she had spent
the previous years without the stimulation of
any outside relationships,
she remained aloof from
all her fellow students. In
the same class was Heini
Andersson, an extremely
ugly Jewish boy – a refugee
from Germany who became
the focus of an anti-Semitic
wave of harassment and
intimidation. She rescued
him from complete
isolation by becoming his Heini Andersson 6th grade
friend – an act to which Otterhällan 1955.
he responded with unbounded adoration. They
were both outsiders, and he and Bengt were her
only companions.
Ingela was a very bright student, and she
received affirmation for the very first time
from a math teacher who demonstrated a
definite partiality towards her in recognizing
her aptitude for numbers. Nobody had ever
had singled her out for praise before, and
she was aglow from the experience. Another
major event occurred when a couple came
to the school looking for a boy and a girl to
feature in an advertisement for Volvo motor
First Class in Otterhällan, Ingela middle row last right 1949.
cars. She was chosen, beginning a career in
modeling that stretched into adulthood. From
cars she moved on to bicycles, a retail chain
called ICA and even a calendar which became
an annual event. Apart from giving her much
needed confidence, this entrenched in her the
importance of appearance.
On entering the first grade at the age of
six, an incident at home signaled the start
of a traumatic and sinister phase of her life.
Battling to grasp the elements of reading,
her father became frustrated and gave her a
severe thrashing. The beatings continued and
spread to include all minor misdemeanors,
real or imagined. Gradually her father’s
imbibing progressed from social drinking
to weekend binges and eventually on to full
blown alcoholism. As his dependence on liquor
increased, so did the severity and incidence of
the abuse. The affable personality and quick
Tekla (died 1946) and Joel Odenjung (died 1972) both born 1892,
8
wit that had won over so many friends and her
earlier admiration also disappeared. Whilst her
mother was in hospital giving birth to Claes, her
youngest brother five years later, she received
a particularly severe hammering that left her
face badly bruised. She threatened to run off to
the maternity ward to show her mother, but as
unaccompanied children were not allowed, she
was thwarted from doing so. Ingela moved into
her teens with a constant fear of her father, and
his violence was eventually brought to a head at
age sixteen when she retaliated by kicking him
on the shins whist wearing heavy ski boots. He
crumpled in a heap with a severely injured leg,
and she ran off to a friend where she sought
refuge for the night. This brought an end the
ten year reign of cruelty.
Thinking back she can only recall two
incidents involving her father with any degree
of affection. At the age of eight, he taught
her to drive, and in Sweden in those early
days there didn’t seem to be any laws or even
speed limits to hamper motoring aspirations.
Then later whilst in her teens, and hankering
after a 50cc moped, he offered to match any
money she raised in an effort to buy one. With
characteristic fervor she dug up potatoes,
picked strawberries and delivered newspapers in
From top, uncle Begt, Sven, uncle Gösta, grandfater Joel, Maiki,
grandmother Tekla, aunt Sonja, Ingela and Bo, 1946,
achieving her much desired mobility. But these
were the only happy memories that she can
recall in an emotionally bleak and traumatic
relationship. When he committed suicide ten
years later at the age of forty five, he left a note
saying that he couldn’t live with his conscience
when sober, and he hated himself when he was
drunk.
Ingela's Confirmation picture with the family priest Sven Johansson.
9
had a pervasive negativity and a bad habit of
incessant chatter linked to inflexible opinions
that would have got her down in the end. After
splitting Jan Lindgren went on to become a
successful businessman owning several
optomotry stores.
2: High School
O
n entering high school, Ingela experienced
quite a few changes that made life on some
levels, a lot more interesting. Chief of these
was the discovery that she was a natural athlete.
She won a sprint event the first time she ran it,
and went from zero to hero in the short space
of 60 meters. Suddenly she was propelled from
being the class wallflower into the celebrity
status that all schools accord their star athletes.
Throughout her high school career, she
managed to keep a grip on the sprint events,
even beating competitors from rival schools
around Gothenburg. Added to this, was a
new-found confidence as she graduated from
cute to beautiful – a potent mix in the realms
of teen age desirability. With her emerging
popularity, she started interacting with the
opposite sex, but nothing serious cropped up
until she went on a week long skiing excursion
with her class, and returned with the ski
One of Ingela's ads in Sweden age 14.
On the home front the situation was
deteriorating along with the march of the
demon drink. Her mother, who was rather
weak, didn’t help much as she used her
as both a shield, and a tool, pushing her
into influencing her father away from his
addiction. With her new status and confidence
level at school, she became much more
confrontational, leading to a permanently
tense atmosphere. The one small respite in
the stand off between father and daughter
was his immense pride in her athletic prowess.
Ingela with Jan Lindgren her first boyfriend Sweden 1959.
instructor. This turned out to be Jan Lindgren,
her first love and a great source of annoyance
for her father who disapproved of the match
from the beginning. Ingela always thought that
his disapproval stemmed from the age gap - he
was 24 to her 15, but had good prospects being
an optometrist who taught skiing as a sideline.
Meeting him later in life, she realized that he
Ingela at Liseberg in Gothenburg, 1960.
10
But this didn’t translate into a softening in
attitude however, as his moods were dictated
from the depth of a bottle.
In the year before entering high school,
Maiki Svensson gave birth to Claes and this
brought Ingela’s nurturing instincts to the fore.
He was born with a serious ‘cross eyed’ optical
defect, which gave him a weird visage that was
to cause him much trauma, and the same lack
of acceptance she had endured for the previous
spend some time in Palm Springs. Her father
agreed to this mainly because it would get Jan
Lindgren out of her life. And so at the age
of seventeen she arrived in the desert resort
town to spend several months with Carl and
Eleanor Anderson in the trailer park that they
owned called Ramon Trailer Park. These were
the days before air conditioning, and Palm
Ingela's graduation in Sweden 1959.
eleven years. They became extremely close, as
Thomas continued to be favored whilst they
were severely marginalized. Once he was old
enough he underwent an operation to try to
rectify the fault, but it was a complete disaster
and all that happened was an eye that now
swiveled outwards instead of inwards, making
him look even more peculiar. The good eye was
even ‘milked off ’ in an attempt to get him to
use the other defective one. This accidentally
carried a big bonus when he was nineteen,
and Ingela, who was living in Los Angeles at
the time, sponsored another operation which
succeeded in straightening his eyesight. Against
all expectations, the previously restless eye
enjoyed normal vision.
Ingela's great aunt Eleonore Sara Andersson.
Springs literally closed down between Easter
and November due to the extreme heat. When
she arrived in October, it was a ghost town for
a month before the regulars returned, the most
notable of who were Bing Crosby, Bob Hope,
Janet Leigh, Johnny Weissmuller, Frank Sinatra,
Kirk Douglas and Dinah Shore.
Her first foray into the job market was as
a maid to an elderly orthodox Jewish couple.
They were most unpleasant and after five days
of housekeeping within the strict confines
of a kosher household, she packed it in.
Although she understood English she didn’t
feel comfortable speaking it, so she enrolled in
a night class at the local high school to correct
this.
Robinson’s was the biggest department
store in Palm Springs, and her aunt managed
to get her a job there as a sales assistant selling
hosiery, gloves and handbags. On Xmas eve a
tall very good looking gent came to her counter
3: Palm Springs
O
nce she graduated from high school, Ingela
accepted an invitation from her great aunt to
11
to buy some
last minute
presents,
and before
leaving he
asked her if
she would
like to have
dinner
with him.
Her ears
ringing with
her aunt´s
warning that
one must be
introduced
before
Ronda Fleming with Bill and Ingela Hays 1962.
accepting
a date. Returning to work after the Yuletide
celebrations, a man approached her and
formally introduced himself as being one Frank
Esham. With that out of the way, he then said
he would like to introduce her to Bill Hays, one
of his friends. At that moment the handsome
man who had asked her out on Xmas eve
stepped up. Ingela was highly amused by this,
and accepted subject to being able to bring
her aunt as a chaperone. He was taken aback
by this, but as she was only seventeen, and he
a thirty nine year old divorcee, agreed to this
most un-American courtship.
Bill was extremely handsome, with a razor
sharp wit that found expression in an ongoing
succession of one – liners. He was born in
Tulsa (Oklahoma) and was one of five kids,
three boys and two girls. His father died when
he was three, leaving his mother with the titanic
struggle of raising and educating the family on
very little money. She was a staunch Catholic,
mired in religious dogma rather than generosity
of spirit. To her great credit, all her children
went on to successful careers. His youngest
brother Sam rose to the top ranks at Pfizer, Bill
and Robert became lawyers, Peggy a nun, and
Kathryn a personal assistant to J Paul Getty
junior. Perhaps the battle in bringing up and
putting her children through college was the
reason behind her Permafrost personality. With
money being really tight, Bill got a job at the
local ice rink where he scooped learner skaters
off the frozen surface, and helped them on
their way. This was also the arena, in which he
developed the charm that served him so well
in later life. At the time of their meeting at the
glove counter, he was divorced, and already had
two children.
Bill was a partner in a Los Angeles law firm,
and had a house in Hollywood Hills. He also
had a small home in Palm Springs, and as this
was only 2 hours away by car, spent most of
his weekends there. Early on in their courtship,
he introduced her to the Racquet Club, the
social hub of the town started by veteran actors
Ralph Bellamy and Charlie Ferrall. Tall, athletic
Bill was a champion tennis player, as a well as a
prominent lawyer, two important attributes in
a club which boasted of having every celebrity
in town as a member. It was here that she also
met Carl
Deutsch,
an
attractive
youth
not much
older than
herself,
and started
dating him
during the
week, and
Bill on
weekends.
He ran an
aircraft
Charles Rombeau, Janet Leigh and Bill Hays 1962.
parts
business, and also had a flying license. All
this was a far cry from her plodding social
life in Sweden, and she took to the USA with
unbounded enthusiasm.
One day, walking down Palm Canyon
Avenue she was approached by a talent scout
who asked her if she was interested in being
a model. This was one of the oldest pick-up
lines in America, and both she and her aunt
were skeptical. He turned out to be genuine,
and she got the job as a house fitting model
12
for a clothing company called Lanz, based in
Los Angeles. Carl Deutsch flew her up for her
first assignment, which turned out to be a big
success. From then on she had to make her
way to L.A. every Wednesday where she earned
$100 dollars a day – considerably more than
she made at the department store in a week.
Getting there was always a bit of a challenge,
and her uncle sometimes stepped into the
breach to drive her to work. Occasionally Carl
Deutsch flew her there, and once she went
in the splendor of a Rolls Royce when she
got a lift from Herb Hutner, a very wealthy
businessman who later married Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Eventually she responded to an advertisement in the Desert Sun, calling for an inhouse model for a chain of fashion stores
owned by Waltah Clarke, two of which were in
Palm Springs. Her application was successful
and in no time her leadership qualities and
determination lead to an appointment as head
model in charge of five girls. Apart from
thoroughly enjoying her job, she also had a
Vini Rurac, tennis pro at the P.S. Tennis Club.
great deal of rapport with Waltah and his wife
Gretchen who had a Swedish father.
After a few months of courtship, things
were getting hot and heavy with Bill Hays, and
her brief flirtation with Carl Deutsch began to
fade. Bill introduced her to a celebrity based
social life that was light years from her previous
existence in Gothenburg. Before returning to
Sweden in May, they toured San Francisco and
Lake Tahoe in his powerful Ford Thunderbird,
confirming that they were en route to a deeper
relationship. Back home in Gothenburg, they
kept up the momentum with long distance
telephone calls, and in July he appeared on her
doorstep with a marriage proposal. Her folks
were not keen on a betrothal built around a
twenty two year age gap, but gave their hesitant
permission realizing that Ingela had slipped
out of their sphere of influence and become
fiercely independent. The wedding was planned
for December, shortly after she would turn
eighteen – the legal limit in America. Before
returning to the States Bill took Ingela on a
brief holiday to Antibes via Hamburg and
Munich. Here they ran into Jack Warner who
had a palatial spread in this famous coastal
town on the French Riviera. Every day they
played tennis there, rubbing shoulders with
the visiting glitterati. Gothenburg must have
seemed a dreary alternative when she returned,
and years later she realized that it was the
Ingela 1961.
13
Ingela on Waltah Clark´s float at the Palm Springs New Years Parade, the grand marshall was William Holden
and the singer Frankie Avalon, 1961.
exciting life that Bill had introduced her too,
as much as the man himself, that fuelled her
romance.
After his departure, Ingela started work in
a newly launched travel agency, which was run
on crisis management lines. After a month,
she quit and joined Dress - a coat and suit
outfit run by Rune Breding who marketed his
range through modeling exhibitions in various
hotels. This saved her from the tedium of
Gothenburg, and she got on very well with
him as well. The travel agency must have got
its act together, as it is one of the biggest in
Sweden today. Eagerly she looked forward to
her forthcoming marriage, and a large part of
her anticipation was the impending return to
America and the lifestyle she had experienced
months before.
4: The New World
I
ngela and Bill’s wedding went off without
a hitch in December1961 with most of the
usual traditions in place – 80 guests, rituals by
the family priest, Sven Johansen, a song from
her maternal grandfather, and back in L.A.,
a mother-in-law from hell. She was violently
opposed to the match, being a staunch Catholic
who didn’t believe in divorcees re-marrying.
A big surprise came in Bill’s speech, a good
portion of which was delivered in Swedish
– a feat made possible by his extraordinary
photographic memory, and a crash night course
in the language at UCLA. It was only on the
flight home that a serious bout of buyer’s
remorse set in when she was suddenly beset
14
Ingela and Bill Hays wedding write up
in Sweden Dec. 1961.
with grave doubts about
the whole affair.
On arriving in Los
Angeles, they proceeded
to his home at Kings
Road in Hollywood
Ingela and Bill Hays wedding 1961.
Hills where they were
welcomed by Bill’s
housemate of several years, Marty Goldfarb.
He was a prominent cardiologist, and had lived
there for most of the time since Bill’s divorce.
Marty turned
out to be an
all-round good
fellow, but his
presence on
the doorstep
of their new
life together
came as quite a
shock. His lady
at the time was
Connie Hines,
the star of ‘Mr.
Ed’ a popular
TV show, and
Connie Hines 1962.
they became
15
firm friends. Although small in stature,
Connie’s constant battle with her weight
introduced Ingela to the great American
obsession with fitness and diet.
Palm Springs continued to be a popular
weekend feature in their lives, Bill having
retained his house there. After a game
one afternoon, Janet
Leigh invited them to
her house pursuant to
getting some advice about
her forthcoming divorce
from Tony Curtis. Like
the Hayses she frequently
spent weekends at her
holiday home in the
middle of Palm Springs.
Bill was not a family
lawyer, but pointed her
in the right direction by
recommending someone
suitable. The girls hit it
off, and the famous movie
star became a close friend.
Shortly after her divorce,
Janet married Bob
Brandt and they bought
a home off Hutton
Drive, in Beverley Hills,
so named because of its proximity to Barbara
Hutton the infamous Woolworths heiress.
They demolished the house and rented a place
across the road whilst they set about building a
spectacular replacement. The property also had
a tennis court, and this immediately became the
venue for weekend games. Watching from the
sidelines were Janet’s enormous Great Danes -
Connie Hines and Marty Goldfarb 1962.
Karl and Eric. Eventually, a spectacular edifice
rose from the ground, and on a visit from
Sweden, Ingela’s mother was overwhelmed by
the walk-in closet that featured a vast array of
clothes, all immaculately stored and color coded
in a manner
that wouldn’t
have looked
out of place at
Bloomingdale’s.
Janet was
a member of
Share, a charity
organization
that amongst
other things,
held a lively
themed party
every year to
raise funds. This
was a glittering
event in which
the stars strutted
their stuff,
singing, dancing
and generally
showcasing
their talents.
Share Party May 1962.
Apart from
being incredibly beautiful, Ms Leigh had a
wonderful figure, and was a great dancer
as well. So this was something they all
looked forward to with great anticipation.
Eventually their paths separated, when the
Brandts moved to a house in the prestigious
Trousdale Estate. But Janet’s daughters,
Jamie Lee and Kelly were at the Hawthorne
Ingela in advert for Lantz 1962.
Elementary School at the same time as the
Hays twins, so they still saw each other
periodically. Ingela only saw her once more
during the later years, shortly before she died
in 2004. But she always remembers her as
the sweet charming woman, totally lacking a
traditional Hollywood ego, and unaffected by
her fame and celebrity.
Ingela’s other great friend in those early days
was Dinah Shore, the Emmy Award winning
singer and actress who hosted The Dinah
Shore Show - the highly esteemed TV variety
programme that ran for seven years. They
had also originally met at the Racquet Club
in Palm Springs during her first visit, but they
only became close after her marriage. At the
time, she was married to George Montgomery,
a vintage western star. His obsession at the
time centered round developing a rather weird
back-to-front-chair that had people leaning on
Bill and Ingela dressed up for Share Party 1962.
16
a support rather than inclining against a backrest. They divorced soon after, and George
Montgomery rode into the sunset with his
chair.
Dinah introduced Ingela to Hollywood
shopping and pistachio nuts - the latter being
unknown in Los Angeles in those days, but
a staple in Texas where she grew up. Buying
shoes was always a fascinating exercise as
Ms Shore had different sized feet due to the
Polio she suffered as a child. Consequently
she always had to purchase two identical pairs,
and sprawled across California there must be
a collection of discarded oddly-matched shoes
that have never seen active duty! Because of
the Polio deformity, Dinah always wore slacks
– even when playing tennis, but there was
nothing wrong with her mobility around the
court.
Some time in the summer of ’63, Ingela
and Bill attended a spectacular ‘Hollywood’
wedding when Dinah married Maurice Smith,
a plasterer she had met at the Racquet Club.
This seemed to be an unusual match as he was
short, and although fairly presentable, was not
in her social league. But Smitty, it turned out,
was a first class tennis player, and that was
enough to vault him into the domain of the
rich and famous in those days. The reception
for over 300 guests was held at the magnificent
home of Sydney and Bea Korshak in Bel Air,
an even more affluent suburb than Beverley
Hills. He was a well known lawyer famous for
defending Mafia king pins. Among the many
Ingela in advert for Aziza Eyemaker 1962.
guests were a Swedish miss Sweden Ingrid
(Goude) Ohrbach and her husband Jerry.
Predictably, the marriage didn’t last, and some
time later Dinah set the tabloids alight with her
highly publicized romance with Burt Reynolds,
20 years her junior. As with Janet Leigh, their
destinies diverged and they drifted apart. They
met again for the last time in 1994 at a charity
concert at UCLA where the ailing star put up a
brave but inferior performance. She was in the
final throes of a struggle with cancer, and died
a few months later.
Parties also became a staple of their social
diet, and they attended one thrown by a
good friend Dick Elwood to celebrate his
‘coming out’ of a recent divorce. His date at
the time was Judy, a stunning brunette with
luminescent blue eyes and a wonderful figure.
Later that night they went on to a night club
on the Sunset Strip where Chubby Checker
was performing and adding fuel to the ‘Twist’
craze raging at the time. As they walked in, he
acknowledged them by announcing “Ladies and
Gentlemen – Miss Judy Cambell”, to a round
of enthusiastic applause. The reason emerged
Joyce and Richard Ralphs 1963.
17
Ingela hopped
next door to
borrow a cup of
sugar, and was
confronted by
two burly, surly
bodyguards.
Brushing past
them she knocked
on the door which
was opened a
crack by a hesitant
Judy. There
followed a muted
discussion within
the apartment,
and after a few
seconds she
Celebrating Dinner in New York 17 Sept. 1962 getting Bob Whittaker´s company on the New York Stockexchange.
was admitted.
much later. Dick and Judy went on to become
Judy then introduced her to a man sitting on
regular friends, and they often met on the social
the couch “Ingela, I’d like you to meet the
circuit. At one party Ingela noticed a label with
President of the
the inscription ‘I love you Judy – Frank’ sewn
United States – Mr.
into a fabulous mink coat lying on a chair.
John Kennedy!” The
When asked if this was Sinatra she replied “is
president it seems
there any other Frank?”
was mixing DNA
Three is always a crowd - especially in a
with Frank Sinatra
budding marriage, and they soon moved from
and a few Mafia
the house into an apartment in Fountain
Bosses, a fact which
Ingela and Bill at a Thalian
Avenue. As it happened, their new neighbor
was revealed much
at the Beverly Hilton
just happened to be Judy Cambell. One evening
later in several books, party
Hotel.
including
Judy’s own autobiography.
Either Dick Elwood or his
wealth must have had extraordinary
magnetism, because his next and final
romantic liaison after Judy Cambell
was Rhonda Fleming. His fortune had
been dramatically boosted by the sale
of his manufacturing company to a
Washington concern for a huge sum
of money, thus freeing him to enjoy
retirement at a relatively early age. His
relationship with Rhonda continued
for several years, and Bill Hays got
quite involved with her in sorting out
some disputed fire insurance claim.
Vera Ellen, Victor Rothschild, Ingela and Bill with Lee and Jim Hickey at the Portofino
Restaurant in Acapulco 1963.
Gradually her relationship with Dick
18
began to deteriorate,
that she was going
around which time
to help him run his
he suffered a heart
business. Fortunately
attack. Whilst in
she was well equipped
hospital he was given a
to do so, having learnt
newspaper headlining
typing, shorthand
the news that Rhonda
and book-keeping at
had married Ted
school. Although he
Mann, chairman of
had a full staff at the
the renowned theatre
time, he also tended
chain (which included
to store a lot of stuff
Hollywood’s famous
in his photographic
Chinese Theatre).
memory, and she
Whether he died
managed to download
Bill and Ingela, Marty Goldfarb with girlfriend Joyce.
because his time was
much of this into an
up, or on cue from the newspaper report will
efficient filing system. She also became adept at
never be known.
converting court tapes into suitable briefs.
One of the big adjustments came about
With her involvement at Bill’s office, her
when Bill resigned from a large corporate
equilibrium returned, and as he got on top
practice to set up on his own in prestigious
of his workload they resumed all their social
premises on the corner of Hollywood and
activities. This included the resumption
Vine. This meant long hours and hard work,
of weekend excursions to Palm Springs.
leaving
There were two major social rallying points
early and
at the time, the Racquet Club, and weekly
returning
extravaganzas hosted by the immensely
late at
wealthy Bob Whittaker (founder of Whittaker
night.
Corp) in his magnificent manor. Living
Quite
with him was Kem Dibbs, a perennial bit
soon
after they
moved
into the
Vera Ellen and Ingela in Acapulco 1963.
Fountain Avenue apartment, Ingela was beset
by a deep debilitating depression. This was
triggered by the realization that the doubts
that surfaced shortly after the wedding were
well founded, and the marriage at that stage
was not what she had hoped for. Whilst Bill
was at the office, she would get up late, and lie
around watching TV as a formidable collection
of dirty crockery piled up in the sink. He never
remarked on this as he was so busy at the office
that he never saw the dishes, and was a total
stranger to the kitchen. After several months
she got up, tidied herself and marched the
four miles to his office where to Bill’s great
surprise and initial reluctance, she announced
Bill and Ingela in Newport Beach 1966.
19
a decade and in parting gave her stock in his
company, a car and an apartment. Although he
already had five children of his own, his new
wife persuaded him to adopt four more. She
also moved swiftly in parting him from his old
habits, and the weekend parties passed into
Palm Springs folklore. Kem went on to the
sanctity of a marriage to a wealthy widow.
Bill Hays, Hugh Stewart, Bengt Petterson and Seven Svensson (Ingela`s
father).
player at the end of his movie career, whose
sole purpose was to recruit the starlets and
beautiful people who populated his weekend
parties. The house itself was geared for such
events, boasting a spectacular entertainment
area specially designed for its purpose of
hosting a constant stream of luminaries. Bob
had a vast and extremely opulent bedroom,
Kem occupied a space that was only slightly
less luxurious, and there were at least a dozen
suites all with exterior access available to the
rich and famous that flocked to Palm Springs.
Bob
Whitaker’s
wife was
mentally ill
at the time,
and she was
cared for in
a separate
home, thus
preventing
him from
marrying
Aja Jostens,
a beautiful
Aija and Bob Whitaker 1962.
girl from
Estonia - his long term love interest, . She was
ever hopeful of becoming his wife one day.
Ironically after his spouse died he happened to
meet Susan, a striking woman thirty five years
his junior, fell desperately in love and married
her in a ceremony attended by Bill and Ingela
within two weeks. He acknowledged that Aja
had been a wonderful companion for nearly
Bill and Ingela at there second marraige in Las Vegas 1968.
5: Anyone for
tennis?
C
elebrity in the sixties was a very different
phenomenon from what it is now. Today’s icons
are surrounded by a phalanx of bodyguards,
personal assistants and press agents all working
to shield them from the public, and to regulate
the flow of publicity. There was none of this
back then, and the Racquet Club was probably
the most popular destination for the leading
20
lights of America at the time. Palm Springs
with its unique climate and culture became a
magnet for presidents, politicians, newsmakers,
film stars, sportsmen and the super rich. Nearly
all of them wound up at the Racquet Club at
some stage, many as guests, as it had a large
and luxurious lodge to accommodate those
that could afford it. The price of admission
was fame, fortune, great personal charisma,
or superior tennis skills. The attractive Hays
couple qualified on quite a few counts, and
found themselves rubbing shoulders with the
glitterati of the time. Ingela, with her natural
athletic ability soon became a good and sought
after player, finding herself partnering people
like Barbara Marx (later to become Mrs. Frank
Sinatra) and increasing her social circle all the
while. One significant contact at the time was
Victor Rothschild, a wealthy oilman and scion
of the British half of the famous dynasty. He
was married to Vera Ellen the actress, and
often stayed at the club. More about him later,
as he was destined to become Ingela’s second
husband. Back then, however, he was just a
friend with whom they traveled to Acapulco
along with Richard and Joyce Ralphs – heir to
the renowned Ralphs Supermarket chain.
Perhaps the Racquet Club’s most famous
legacy is that it spawned The Pacific Life Indian
Wells Tournament, the most famous tennis
spectacle in the world outside of the Majors. It
takes place in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden a desert oasis rimmed by the breathtaking Santa
Rosa Mountains and surrounded by exotic
landscaping. Boasting a 16,000 seat stadium
ringed by an upper deck of luxurious suites, it
showcases the world’s premier tennis talent – in
2006 it was won for an unprecedented third
time by Roger Federer.
Way back in the sixties, Julie Copeland, a
hostess at the Racquet Club, Charlie Pasarell
and South African Ray Moore were the driving
force behind a tournament that attracted the
rising talent at the time. These were promising
players like Arthur Ashe, who were just
beginning their march to tennis immortality.
Such was the initial success of this competition
that it became an annual event. It was moved
to the suburb of Mission Hills, renamed
The Pacific Life and experienced an increase
in the scale and depth of talent taking part.
The evolution of the tournament continued
apace, and its next move was to a stadium
in neighboring La Quinta. By this time the
world’s top players were all taking part, and
it had become a major feature on the ITT
calendar. It also moved from being a male only
tournament, to one which included the top
women players at the time. With burgeoning
world attention on the event, the organizers
recognized that this focus drew heavily on
the mystique and charisma of its singular
locality. Capitalizing on this they designed
a stadium at Indian Wells that encapsulated
the extraordinary beauty of the surrounding
panorama. The result is a unique sporting arena
unlike any other in the world, hosting an event
that generates almost as much interest and
attention as the Majors from the international
tennerati. And it is still run by two of the
founders, Charlie Pasarel and Ray Moore, Julie
Copeland having passed away several years ago.
Back in their primary home, The Los
Angeles Tennis Club was also a tremendous
social hub. Every year it held the internationally
famous Pacific South West Tournament, and
was bigger than any other competition outside
of the majors at the time, although it would
later be overhauled by the Indian Wells event.
It was also a venue for younger players, like
Arthur Ashe from U.C.L.A. who became a
good friend of Ingela’s. Being black, he was
consigned to the back courts, as the L.A. Club
was under the auspices of the USA Lawn
Tennis Association whose president Perry T.
Jones enforced segregation, despite the fact that
they did not practice it at the time. Ashe went
on to win three majors including Wimbledon,
and on principle never went back to the club.
She kept contact with him during his march
to fame, and saw him shortly before he died
of the Aids he contracted from contaminated
blood used during a heart operation.
Apart from the stars, there was also a host
of colorful members like Gorgeous Gussie
Moran, she of the lace frilled panties that set
21
Wimbledon agog in the forties. On a couple
of occasions Ingela found herself in a mixed
doubles match with Rene Richards, the famous
tennis player who had a sex change operation.
It must be pointed out that Rene was equally
capable of playing mixed singles as well!
Another interesting character bouncing
around was Bobby Riggs, the ebullient tennis
hustler and self promoter who bet on himself
in all manner of self promoting escapades,
the most famous of which was the ‘Battle
of the Sexes in 1973. Aged 55, and a former
world no 1, he took on and beat the world’s
leading female, 30 year old Margaret Court,
in Ramona (California). Billie Jean King,
who watched his cunning display featuring
all manner of drops, lobs and assorted spins,
challenged him to a match which was played at
the Houston Astrodome. She was carried into
the arena Roman Emperor style, held aloft by
4 musclemen, and he followed in a rickshaw
pulled by scantily clad women. The canny Billie
Jean outplayed the cagey Riggs in straight sets
by abandoning her normally aggressive style
in favor of the same foxy tactics he had used
against Margaret Court.
Ingela’s friendship with Bob Whittaker,
lead to regular games at Charlton Heston’s
home. He and his longtime (and only) wife
Lydia were crazy about tennis, but he wasn’t
into socializing. Immensely fit, stoic, and
fiercely loyal to his spouse, who doubled as his
agent and manager, he displayed many of the
qualities portrayed in the famous epic – Ben
Hur with a tennis racquet you could say! The
other interesting game she played occasionally
was at the house of Dean and Jeannie Martin.
She was an enthusiastic and capable player, but
Dino used to come mid morning in a bit of a
stupor, watch goggle-eyed for a while, before
disappearing to Bel Air Country Club where he
loved playing golf.
The Pacific South West Tournament was run
by Jack Kramer, who achieved international
fame in the fifties when he took his ‘tennis
circus’ consisting of Lew Hoad, Rod Laver,
Pancho Gonzales and Pancho Segura around
the world. In those early days, the ‘Pacific’
had a popular ladies section which came to
a screeching halt when Billie Jean King and
Rosie Casals had a huge dust up with Kramer,
and walked off the court mid tournament.
This brought the curtain down on female
participation, and it remains a male only contest
today. Billie Jean and Rosie took their talents
off to Virginia Slims which became the femaleonly equivalent of the Pacific South West.
Ingela actually played in this tournament a few
times, and on one occasion was beaten by Carol
Caldwell, who was the ranked third in the USA
at the time.
ZaZa Gabor and Hugh Stewart 1962.
Every year, the top tennis stars, arrived for
the famous tournament. As the clubhouse was
off-limits to anyone who wasn’t a member,
this provided those that were with an ideal
opportunity to rub shoulders with the players.
Jimmy Connors had a boyish enthusiasm
well into adulthood, whilst Bjorn Borg had
a solitary air, and was extremely introverted.
As these were days before the full force of
professionalism kicked in, the members also
accommodated many of the tennis stars in
their homes, with the Rothschild’s hosting
Torben Ulrich from Denmark on a couple of
occasions.
One of their friends in those days, was
Geary Steffen, (one time partner of Sonja
Hennie, the famous Norwegian figure skating
22
idol), and latterly married to Jane Powell
the actress. He invited them to go skiing at
Wrightwood with a young visitor from France.
Bill declined as he had another commitment,
and the rest set off for the ski resort which was
one hour north of L.A. The young Frenchman
was an absolute wizard on the slopes and
brought the house down with a spectacular
display down an impossibly steep slope at the
end of the run. He went on to become JeanClaude Killy – the skiing legend who won two
world championships and three gold medals at
the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympic
It was also Geary Steffen who introduced
them to Lance Reventlow at a polo match
in Santa Barbara. He was the only son of
Barbara Hutton, the unhappy Woolworths
heiress from whom he was estranged. Dubbed
the Poor Little Rich Girl by the media at the
time, she had recklessly squandered a $100
million fortune in the pursuit of happiness via
a string of husbands, lovers and opportunistic
friends. Lance, who had been married to
Jill St John, was now betrothed to Cheryl
Holdridge, a mouseketeer in a famous kiddies
TV programme. When Lance was killed in
an airplane accident she turned to Ingela for
solace, as they had become firm friends.
Bill’s obsession with tennis, continued well
into their marriage, and one summer they took
a party to the All England championships at
Wimbledon. The group consisted of Dinah
and Smitty, Hugh Stewart with Maddy De
Mont (nee Astor) and roving bachelor Marty
Goldfarb. After Wimbledon the group went on
to Gothenburg where Ingela’s mother hosted
a luncheon, sans her father who had gone
AWOL on one of his frequent walkabouts.
Following this they returned to Cannes on the
French Riviera. Amongst other things here
they enjoyed a party aboard a yacht belonging
to Frederick Loewe, the composer famous for
his collaborations with Alan Jaye Lerner the
lyricist. This brilliant musical duo produced a
string of Broadway triumphs including Camelot
and the blockbusting My Fair Lady. A few Days
later they re-connected with Jack Warner in
neighboring Antibes, who coincidentally just
happened to have produced the movie versions
of the aforementioned musicals. What a small
place the Celebrity world was in those days.
One of the lasting legacies of this tour was
a meeting that took place at the Wimbledon
tournament between Marty Goldfarb and
Sandy Shore, an attractive young tennis player
from South Africa. This led to an on-off
courtship that toggled between England, South
Africa and America for thirty years before they
married. The romance had plenty of ‘ups’ and
‘downs’, and it was during a lengthy off-period
that Marty got involved with Eleanor Parker,
the brilliant actress and flame haired beauty.
On visiting them in the film star’s home years
later, Ingela was overwhelmed by a poster size
collection of framed photographs featuring
a nude and heavily pregnant Eleanor Parker
dotted around the lounge. They had been
taken by Ms Parker’s ex husband who was an
accomplished photographer. Despite such
celebrated opposition Ms Shore, prevailed and
they eventually married, and are still together to
this day.
After a memorable vacation, Ingela and Bill
returned to Sweden for her cousin’s wedding,
and the rest of the group returned home.
Following the reception they drove around
Sweden for the rest of summer in a Corvette
that
they had
shipped
over in
the hopes
of selling
it there.
Although
the car
drew a
lot of
interest
Ingela's and Bills car for sale in Sweden 1966.
and
admiration, they battled to sell it at the end of
their tour, and had to settle for a loss. Towards
the end of their Swedish Holiday, Ingela
was beset with recurring bouts of morning
sickness……
23
the marriage
itself. In
concentrating
on raising
the children,
Bill began to
feel that he
was being
marginalized,
and serious
Eleanor Parker and Marty Goldfarb feeding
the twins 1965.
fault lines in
the union began to the surface. One incident
that didn’t help occurred when he went to
Sacramento on business and an early morning
phone call was answered by a female voice.
As coincidence would have it, there just so
happened to be another William T Hays
registered at the same hotel! Well that was Bill’s
story and he has stuck to it ever since. Their
major clashes arose from their disparate fiscal
philosophies. Ingela raised in a strict household
in conservative Sweden had a problem in
coping with his freewheeling spending patterns
that hovered around the edge of his credit
limits. Despite his fast wit, she also found
that everyday communications were poor to
6: The Twins
G
oing in to bat it must be said that Bill who
already had two children from his previous
marriage, did not want more - a fact was to
become very obvious in the run up to the birth.
Ingela was enormous and despite speculation
that she could be having twins, only had
confirmation of this a week before delivery
when X-rays proved that this was so. On Labor
Day he drove her to the hospital, dropped her
off at the front door, and made his way to San
Francisco with her suitcase in the back of the
car. This was to be the tenor of his attitude for
the whole nativity scene.
When Ingela came around after delivery, she
was greeted by the frosty vision of her dreaded
mother-in-law sitting at her bedside. The twins,
who were born prematurely despite weighing
seven pounds apiece, suffered from collapsed
lungs and were on incubation. As Bill was not
within contact range, she was summoned, and
in a panic arranged for a priest to baptize them,
thus thwarting their consignment to hell if they
died. Rigid in her adherence to religious dogma,
she did not care one jot for the welfare of
Ingela or the boys.
In naming the twins, a host of exotic
Swedish names were lined up, but Dinah
influenced her in the direction of practicality,
and Thomas and Michael appeared on the birth
certificates.
The boys
survived
the early
crisis and
went on
to robust
health,
something
that
Ingela, grandfather Joel Odenjung and mother Maiki was not
at the christening of the twins in Sweden 1965.
shared by
Thomas and Michael with Ingela at Jack Ryan's
tennis court in Bel Air.
non-existent, and their union was now drifting
perilously close to the rocks. She also sensed a
lack of affection, whilst he felt that all her love
and attention was being poured into the twins.
In an effort to save their marriage, Bill sold
their house in Hollywood Hills and bought a
California styled ranch house in Northridge. In
synch with this, he disposed of his retreat in
24
Palm Springs and purchased a block of single
bedroom apartments there, one of which was
set aside for their use. On enquiring why they
could not have two of the rather small units,
she was told that the plan was to leave the
children in responsible care, leaving them free
to enjoy weekends on their own. This proved
to be the totally unacceptable to her and
was the last straw in a declining relationship
that spiraled into an amicable divorce. As
she was ignorant in the mechanics of legal
disengagement, she left the
settlement in the hands of
one of Bill’s lawyer friends.
As a result got rather
meager alimony linked to
modest child support, and
a very expensive lesson.
With the split
introducing new
circumstances, they
sold their house in
Northridge, and Ingela
bought a tiny home
off Coldwater Canyon,
North Hollywood. This
was a good 40 minutes
from Beverley Hills, and
was considered to be the
essence of middle class
picket-fenced suburbia.
Thomas and Michael 1968.
In an interview, Zsa Zsa
Gabor joked that she had set out to go to a
hot new restaurant there, but her Rolls Royce
had flatly refused to go. Although isolated,
there were still a number of suitors willing to
make the pilgrimage, and some sent chauffeur
driven limousines. On of these was Seth Baker,
deemed by Vogue magazine to be the most
eligible bachelor in America. Wealthy and
extremely good looking, he introduced her to
the rather wild Peter Lawford set operating
out of an apartment on Sunset Boulevard. She
felt uncomfortable in their company, and after
three or four dates, the relationship fizzled out.
Bill meanwhile started dating her close
friend Joan Primm whom she originally met in
a confrontation after beating her in the finals
of a mixed doubles tournament at the Palm
Springs Racquet club. The vanquished Joan
complained to the referee about her heavily
pregnant opponent, claiming that this condition
had caused her to ‘pull’ her game. Ingela replied
that she was only four months into her term,
thus flooring Ms Primm who then declared that
she must be carrying twins. This turned out to
be a prophetic statement, and they went on to
become great pals. Joan’s father owned a chain
of casinos, and was responsible for getting laws
changed to allow a limited
amount of gambling in
Gardena, a suburb of
L.A. He also had a couple
of gaming operations in
Nevada, and another on
the Stateline. Mr. Primm
eventually died during a
face lift operation, which
was a truly Los Angelian
way to go. Joan inherited
one of these properties,
and after years of
scratching a living, became
a wealthy woman. She
dated Bill for seven years,
but never married him, or
anyone else.
In order to make
ends meet, Ingela went
back to photographic
modeling and in the process became the poster
girl for the Ralph Williams car hire franchise.
This featured her face on posters, and in a
wide range of magazine adverts – particularly
in-flight
publications.
The Ralph
Williams
business was
eventually
taken over
and became
Dollar Rent-a
Car, one of
the biggest
Thomas and Michael taking a bath at
summerplace in Sweden 1968.
automobile
25
hiring compasuggestion,
nies in the
she escaped
USA, although
the heat by
Ingela doesn’t
spending the
claim any credit
summer in
for that!
Sweden, where
Shortly after
she hired an
parting from
apartment in
Bill, Ingela ran
Varberg on the
into Victor
coast south of
Rothschild at
Gothenberg.
the L.A. Tennis
Comfortably
Club. They had
ensconced
seen each other
with the
quite often
twins, Victor’s
since they
divorce
had all visited
proceeded
Acapulco
to finality
Ingela in front of the first of Ralph Williams Rent-a-Car at L A airport.
several years
without her
before. He was
involvement.
in the process of splitting from Vera Ellen,
Before returning to the USA, she received a
and he invited her to have dinner with him
visit from Bill who put forward an unusual
that night. This was the start of a courtship
proposition. Being married carried a lot
that soon became serious, but was not a great
of financial benefits in the form of tax
concept at that time as she ran the risk of
concessions, and he thought that hitching up
becoming a possible co-respondent in a divorce
again could be fiscally rewarding to them both.
that was threatening to become messy. At Bill’s
With this in mind she returned to L.A. to find
that Victor had retreated from the romantic
front. This was the first of a series of splits
in a turbulent relationship that was to stretch
over the next 4 years. The reasons behind these
breaks were Victor’s obsessive jealousy and an
overpowering pre-nuptial agreement that would
have trussed her up tighter than a Xmas turkey
in the event of a divorce. Each was obsessed
with the other, however, and their passion
always drove them back into the relationship,
no matter how acrimonious the previous tiff
had been. Because of this initial breakdown she
went ahead with Bill’s proposal, and entered
into a marriage of fiscal convenience - living
apart sans conjugal rights.
Ingela got back into the routine as a single
lady and her friend Aja Jostins pressed her into
attending a singles party at Conrad Hilton’s
Estate in Bel Air – the first one ever in Los
Angeles. Victor was out of the frame, and
Ingela's advertising for Ralph Williams Rent-a-Car System 1969,
which later became Dollar Rent-a-Car.
was in fact a born-again bachelor sailing the
26
Mediterranean with Bill and a Swedish beauty
in a chartered yacht. The party turned out to
be a drag, and on loudly advising Aja that ‘this
was a bunch of dummies’, she received a tap on
the back, and the admonishment:” Everyone
except me”. Spinning round she encountered
the smiling face of Sy Weintraub, a local film
producer who had made a fortune with a new
Tarzan series, after everyone had thought that
the franchise had run its course with Johnny
Weismuller and Lex Barker. They started
dating, and he joined the Coldwater Canyon
run, usually arriving with a trunk full of toys,
making him a great favorite with the twins.
Sy’s opulent house in Bel Air displayed
all the trappings of conspicuous wealth, and
featured a most impressive art collection
of original masterpieces. She particularly
remembers an extraordinary chess featuring
solid gold and silver pieces inlaid with
diamonds and rubies on a marble board. Just
sacrificing a pawn represented the loss of a
small fortune. One of her early reservations
about him was his focus on affluence and the
flamboyant exhibition thereof. But he was
attractive, very good company and there was
nothing wrong with a bout of cosseting within
her tight circumstances. He was also connected,
subdued,
suffering
as he was
from the
aftershock
of the
vicious
murder of
his wife
Sharon
Tate by the
Manson
gang. The
martial
arts coach
however was Ingela in Israel, photo taken by Sy Weitnraub
extremely
1969 dressed in one of the pilot´s jacket.
charming and charismatic, and had played a
few parts in a few B-grade movies. His name
was Bruce Lee, and he went on to become an
American icon.
Early in the courtship she made plans to
return to Sweden for her brother Thomas’
wedding, and Sy asked to come along, intending
to make this the first stop on a proposed
trip to Israel. She agreed provided he stayed
in a hotel as she was not ready for a deeper
relationship. The occasion turned out to be a
big success, and Sy charmed everyone,
even dancing with her grandmother.
At the wedding Sy suggested that she
accompany him to Israel, and once
again she agreed with the strictly
enforced separate bedroom stipulation.
They arrived at Ben Gurion
Airport shortly after the 6 Day War,
and there to greet them was none
other than Moishe Dayan, the hero
of that conflict. It turned out that Sy
was a major fund raiser and private
benefactor for the Israeli effort, and
this gave him hero status amongst the
governing top brass at the time. That
night they had supper with Golda
Meier in her kitchen, enjoying a meal
that she prepared whilst in their company. This
was typical of the Israeli no-nonsense style, and
it is difficult to imagine a similar celebration in
Ingela at Masada in Israel taken by Sy Weintraube 1969.
and she remembers a dinner that he arranged
in Chinatown with his Chinese karate instructor
and Roman Polanski. Polanski was very
27
be the one driving it back home. This signaled
his more serious intentions, a fact that was
confirmed on their return to America when he
presented her with a ring and a huge dilemma.
She was battling to bring up the twins on a
fairly tight budget, and here in the twinkling
of a diamond was an immediate solution to
her predicament. Problem was she was still
emotionally tied to the absent Victor. Perhaps
she might have heeded the advice of much
married Eva Gabor, who once famously
said that divorcing a man because you don’t
love him, is almost as stupid as marrying one
because you do! Instead she turned to Bengt
Petersen, her childhood friend for guidance.
Now a successful businessman running a
trucking company in America, he offered the
wisdom of Solomon in pointing out that she
had never once mentioned how she felt about
Sy in explaining her quandary. Advantages there
were aplenty, but the romance factor was a
bit blurred. Recognizing that her marriage of
fiscal convenience to Bill was also adding to
her confusion, she went ahead and arranged
a second divorce from him. Ingela recalls
that Sy gave her some very memorable advise
from which she lived her life thereafter. Upon
returning home after a party they had quarreled
and she excused herself by saying that life had
not been so easy for her, where he asked; “How
old are you?” and she responded 23.”That
means that you are an adult and what you do
with your life and yourself is up to you and no
excuses.” Those words she has recalled many a
time.
At the height of her indecision fate dealt
an ace, when they attended a party given by
realtor Jack Hupp and Marie Windsor, his B
grade movie star wife. Amongst the guests
was none other than Victor Rothschild and
the omnipresent chemistry leaped across the
crowded room. Asking to speak to her in a
more private setting, they were interrupted
by an enraged Sy Weintraub and a serious
confrontation, at the end of which she was
asked to choose her lift home. Victor was the
victor, and he drove her home and into his
life. Not wanting to risk another parting, they
Ingela, Camel ridin in Jerusalem, Israel, taken by
Sy Weintraub.
the kitchens of Barbara Bush, Hilary Clinton or
Nancy Regan.
The following day Golda Meier arranged
and accompanied them on a helicopter flip to
the top of Masada - the enormous rock located
on the edge of the Judean Desert in the Dead
Sea Valley of great biblical significance. A
place of gaunt and spectacular beauty, it was
originally an almost impregnable fortress built
by Herod in 31BC. During the Jewish Revolt
75 years later, it was captured and occupied
by over a thousand rebels who chose mass
suicide when Roman Governor Flavius Silva
threatened to recapture the fort after a lengthy
siege. To the Israelis, Masada symbolizes the
determination of the Jewish people to be free
in their own land. And to Ingela and Sy there
could have been no more signal honor than to
be taken there by Golda Meier. Finally, before
leaving for London, they were received by the
man regarded as being the father of the Israeli
nation, David Ben Gurion.
Traveling with Sy was not only at a rarified
altitude, it was first class as well. In London
they checked into prestigious Grosvenor
House, where once again, the immense and
brooding double bed was bypassed in favor
of separate bedrooms. Whilst there Sy went
shopping for a Rolls Royce, and he asked
Ingela to choose a color, as she was likely to
28
rushed off to Las Vegas in April 1970 to tie
the knot. Once again he produced the dreaded
pre-nup, and she played him like a Stradivarius
in agreeing to it – but stipulating that on her
side of the bridge there would be no more
children. Victor’s nurturing qualities kicked in
and he tore up the contract. They married in a
standard issue drive-through chapel, complete
with plastic flowers, permanent ushers and
a queue of romantic hopefuls all being fed
through the marriage production line. They
stopped just short of choosing an Elvis Presley
impersonator to conduct the ceremony.
After the Vegas marriage ceremony,
Victor took Ingela to the Villa Vera resort in
Acapulco which was run by his good friend, the
legendary Teddy Stauffer. Otherwise known as
‘Mr. Acapulco’, it was he who had put this little
Mexican town on the tourist map. Throughout
the thirties he had run the most popular big
band in Europe from his native Switzerland,
making many forays into neighboring Germany
where the winds of war were beginning to
blow. In 1939, he decided to immigrate to
America but with many Nazi entry stamps in
his passport, was refused a visa. Moving on to
Mexico, he embarked on a spectacular career
in the development of restaurants, hotels and
eventually the magnificent Villa Vera spread.
It was Teddy who introduced the world to the
cliff divers of Acapulco, when he contracted
them to plunge off the impossibly high cliffs
into the sea in full view of his restaurant, the
celebrated La Perla. A larger than life character,
he had been married to actress Hedy Lamar,
and had a string of famous lovers including
Rita Hayworth and Barbara Hutton. A
sometime actor, he was also a close friend of
Errol Flynn with whom he had a continuous
rivalry in pursuing romantic exploits.
Staying at the Villa Vera at the same time was
John Wayne who had stepped off his yacht,
the Wild Goose. Being a friend of Teddy’s he
joined them for dinner, and Ingela was totally
captivated by his charm. In reality, he was a
big man, standing just less than 6’ 5” with a
matching frame. He was also an enthusiastic
raconteur who kept up a solid stream of banter
laced with great humor. Like his screen image
he was rough and tough, and had a penchant
for poker and gambling. To this day he is still
regarded as the embodiment of the American
Western hero.
It was also on this holiday that she was to
meet Heidi Broström who went on to become
a lifelong friend. She was there on honeymoon
with her new husband Dan Axel, scion of
one of the wealthiest families in Sweden and
owners of a Swedish American Shipping Line.
This friendship was to have a big impact on her
life later in the story.
7: Victor
V
ictor’s father Alexander Rothschild was
the black sheep of the British half of the
famous banking dynasty. In his early twenties,
he inherited a
sizeable fortune
and headed for
the USA where
he went through
five marriages
and sired 17
children. Victor
was borne when
he was 69, and
he already had
Victor and Ingela at there wedding in
three other
Las Vegas 1970.
children - Harry,
Jimmy and daughter Alexandra, from the same
marriage. He dabbled in all sorts of commercial
ventures, none of which were successful and he
steadily worked his way through his inheritance.
Victor’s mother died when he was 7, and his
father followed at the age of 80 when he was
11, leaving Harry in charge of the family.
Alexander’s money had run out by this time,
and as there was no inheritance he gave up his
29
Victor and Ingela Jan. 1974 at the grand opening of Telluride.
Victor and Ingela just after marriage with the twins 1970.
studies at the University of Southern
California, to take up a job as a truck driver
in Los Angeles. During this time, there had
been an oil strike in the North, and Harry
managed to procure a big tract of land in
Placerville. Striking pay dirt in 1935, he set up
Powerine to harness his discovery of oil, and
eventually became an independent gasoline
supplier by building a small refinery in Santa Fe,
processing some 50,000 barrels a day. He also
married Josephine who acquired the dubious
responsibility of raising the three younger kids.
The company went from strength to strength,
Ingela and Ryan 1981.
All Ingela's children with her hand knitted sweaters 1975.
Alana's 6th grade graduation with Ingela Elenore.
30
and as soon as
his siblings were
old enough,
Harry got them
involved in
running the
company. Victor
with all the
restlessness of
youth escaped
the drudge of
drilling for oil
by enlisting in
the army, seeing
service in Japan.
He also became a
champion boxer,
which ensured
that he got the
best postings
available.
After being
de-mobbed he
went back to the
thriving family
business, and
became a partner.
Powerine continuedVictor and Ingela just after marraige in 1970.
its growth and
prosperity, as did his own career. At the age of
32, in 1954 he married Vera Ellen a dancing
actress making a name for herself as a partner
to Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Accompanying
her on a flight to London where she was to
make a movie, he looked out of the window
and saw a large prominent site at the end of the
Pasadena
freeway. This
was at a time
when the
concept of drive
through carwashes was just
beginning to
take off, and he
figured that this
would be a good
locality on which
to build one.
On his return,
he bought the
property, and
proceeded to
develop his
vision, adding a
gas station to the
scheme. The car
wash, the biggest
in the States at
the time, was an
instant success
processing autos
at the rate of 1 a
minute. With the
huge cash flow
that followed, he set about acquiring more sites
on which he built a chain of matching facilities,
becoming America’s Car Wash King in the
process.
Another automotive development at that
time was the introduction of self-service coin
operated gas pumps. Figuring that this was
Ryan Rothschild 1977.
Alana at Christmas 1976.
31
another breaking commercial wave, he sold
off all the car washes with the exception of
Pasadena, and moved into the gas station
business. In America at that time, gas retailing
was split between the majors like Esso, and
the ‘Independents’ like Powerine. Service and
a credit card facility were the strong suits of
the big guns, whilst the smaller operators were
always on the lookout for price advantages
with which to compete. The original rationale
behind the coin operation was to ‘cash in on
the cash’ and eliminate the service function
entirely. State safety regulations thwarted this
strategy to a certain extent, as there had to
be a certain number of personnel on hand to
counter fire risks. But the concept was a limited
success, and Powerine’s distribution increased
to about a hundred outlets in California, a
handful of which were owned exclusively
by Victor under his separate Rothschild Oil
banner.
Victor had married Vera Ellen - a lithe and
lovely presence, at the apex of her film career.
Shortly afterwards she encountered serious
health problems when crippling arthritis,
brought her dancing career to an end. She also
battled anorexia throughout much of the late
fifties, causing her to age well beyond her years.
In 1963 they lost their only daughter Victoria to
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), and
this tragic event linked to declining health
turned her into a virtual recluse. This then was
the backdrop leading up to his meeting with
Ingela at the Los Angeles Tennis Club at the
start of their relationship.
Victor and Ingela in Acapulco 1969.
Notice in LA Herald-Examiner 1971.
Victor and Ingela at Hutner's party 1976.
Victor, Ingela, Clown and Sandy and
Larry Bosley 1977.
Stig and Maiki Lindahl and Ingela 1974.
32
Herb and Julie Hutner at Ingela´s Crayfish party 1977.
Joyce and Richard Ralph on Ingea's Crayfish party 1977.
Party at the Rothschilds home 1977.
Peter and Harry Jr. Rothschild, Victor's nephews 1977.
33
Ingela and Victor at Hugh Hefners party for Les Dames 1979.
Cousin Camilla Odenjung and Alana, midsummer in Dalarna, Sweden.
Ingrid (Goude) with son Mark 1978,
34
The whole family Rothschild on a skiing expedition 1975.
Harry Sr. and Victor Rothschild 1979.
The whole family Christmas 1979
The whole family in Sweden, summer 1978.
35
Clifford Heinz and Ingela 1981.
Alana with Ingela flyfishing in Sun Valley 1982.
Buddy Epsen, Ingela, Victor and Anette Fabrey 1982 .
Emily and Andy Westhem 1976.
Juli Hutner's Party 1979.
36
"The Southerly".
Fritz and Ingrid (Goude) Ingram´s honeymooncruice with the Swedish Maffia; Barry and Barbro Taper, Majliss
Rotschild with friend, Ingela and Victor Rotschild, Ingrid and Fritz,, Andra and Philip Stein.
Ingela with all the crew on board.
Ingrid and Fritz Ingram 1980.
37
Alana in Volvo Advert, sitting on rock with hands on her knees.
38
Preforming a Swedish Lucia parade at the Los Angeles Music Center Christmas 1978.
Front row; second from left Ingela, Barbro Heinz, Lucia Hillevi (Rombin) Schine,
Margit Bennett, Britt (Larsson) Marin.
Back row; Barbro Taper, Ylva Jackell, Ingrid (Goude) Ingram, Camilla Sparv,
Majliss Rothschild (marrid to Victor's newphew), Maud Carlsrtom and Karen von Unge.
Ted and Pauline Naftzger 1980.
Ingela, Julie and Herb Hutner 1982 .
Ingela with Paul Marsh and Joyce Ralphs.
39
Party held in Jack Kramers house, article from Club & Sports .
Maiki, Ingela and Hillevi (Rombin) Schine 1983.
Article in The Racquet Club Magazine written by Gloria Greer.
40
making their marriage a real partnership.
Demonstrably affectionate, he also adored the
twins, treating them as his own sons. Being less
of a party animal than Bill, he ushered in a new
social phase that focused on a wide circle of
influential friends, many of them introduced by
Andrew and Emily Westhem living just down
the road. They still ran into the old crowd at
the tennis clubs in Palm Springs, and L.A.,
but the high profile party activity tailed off,
as did contact with Dinah Shore and Janet
Leigh. Emily Westhem also persuaded her
to join ‘Mannequins of the Assistance
League’, a charity organization whose
models donated their services to various
worthy causes. Here she made many new
friends like Pat Moller, Sharon Hill and
Kee Flynn - all veteran models strutting
their stuff for the underprivileged.
Most significantly, amidst all the joy and
excitement of their new marriage, Alana
was born on 31st March 1971. Being a
8: Hancock Park
I
nitially Ingela and Victor lived in her North
Hollywood home for only a few months,
before she sold it at a nice profit, and they
jointly purchased a house in Beverley Hills.
June Street House, courtyard 1965.
Enlisting the aid of Barbara Lockhart,
the top Hollywood designer at the
time, she completely renovated the
property which ushered in good
times, and an extremely happy period.
Victor included her in every aspect of
his life including business decisions,
June Street House, interior 1965.
really good natured child she was much
easier to bring up than the energetic twin
double header had been.
After a couple of years Ingela got
sand in her shell again and set about
seeking a new home in nearby Pasadena.
This yielded nothing, and her search
moved to Hancock Park where she fell
instantly in love with a double storied
French-Normandy house on a half
June Street House, Saloon interior 1965.
41
acre plot. Built in 1921, it was in its original
was to have a profound influence on Ingela’s
condition and presented a whole new challenge
philosophy. He was the CEO of the retail chain
to Ingela the compulsive renovator. The
founded by his grandfather, and despite great
wiring and plumbing had to be replaced, and
wealth lived an unpretentious life with great
gradually her natural flair kicked in resulting in
emphasis on family life. All their activities from
an exquisite home
skiing to weekends
of immense charm.
away were occasions
It also set off a
that reinforced
perennial quest for
their unity. The
antiques, collectibles
children were never
and art works that
pampered and had
matched her grand
to scrimp and save
vision. One of the
to earn their first
quirkier features
cars – this despite
in the bathroom
the fact that Richard
was a signature by
had enjoyed a spoilt
Winston Churchill
existence as a youth.
in thick black ink.
Most of all they
He had apparently
showered the kids
squatted there
with affection.
sometime during a
Further down the
visit to L.A. in the
road lived Hillevi
distant past. So the
(nee Rombin), and
WC emblazoned
G David Schine. She
on the door, could
had been a Swedish
equally have signified
Miss Universe, and
his initials!
he had been one of
Family Rothschild Christmas Card 1976.
In 1973, a whirlSenator McCarthy’s
wind came into their lives in the form of Ryan
goons in the Communist witch-hunt of
Rothschild, a hyperactive and particularly
the fifties. Possessed of a pale cadaverous
demanding child. He was sent off to his
appearance and matching limp handshake,
bedroom so often that eventually all it took was
the Rothschilds never liked him but were very
an annoyed expression and a raised finger to
fond of her. They also had six kids, including
send him scuttling off to solitary confinement.
twins that were ideal playmates for Thomas and
This early display of spirit would later mutate
Michael.
into a fortitude that
Larry and Sandy
would serve him well
Bosley had recently
in the business world.
moved back to
The early days in
L.A. after a stint
Hancock Park were
in Spain. He was a
blissful times for the
dermatologist and
Rothschilds, and they
pioneer of hair
developed a circle of
transplant procedures
friends that became
who was successful
the hub of their social
in getting Californian
life. One couple in
laws changed to allow
particular, Richard
medical practitioners
and Joyce Ralph,
to advertise. And
Sandy and Larry Bosley with Sandy´s mother at June Str. Bar.
42
Rounding off the nucleus of their social life
were Gigi Elder, Andra Stein, Marilyn Mitchell,
Barbro Taper and former Miss Sweden Ingrid
Orbach (nee Goude)- all great ladies that
she met through tennis who became lifelong
friends.
The group played, partied and went on
holidays together, with skiing trips to Aspen,
Sun Valley and frequent visits to Puerto
Vallarta, the Mexican coastal resort town. One
Article in Larchmont Chronicle 1978.
people’. In his enthusiasm he piloted his own
craft - containing his wife Andra and their
twin boys - onto a submerged rock where it
collapsed like a deck of cards. His nautical skills
The Rothschild June Street home 1977.
notable outing centered around a houseboat
vacation on Lake Powell in the Grand Canyon.
Their good friend Philip Stein, a property
magnate, assumed the leadership of the ‘boat
Ingela, Victor, Lilian Jyllbrink mother Maiki an Husband Stig.
must have improved considerably, as he now
skippers his own 100 foot yacht!
Eventually the Orbachs divorced, and Ingrid
went on to marry Fritz Ingram, an oil baron
with houses all over the world. After a lavish
reception, the group boarded his 140 foot yacht
and went on honeymoon with the newly weds.
No need to break up a good party just because
the hosts got married that afternoon!
The Rothschilds were industrial strength
entertainers, and Ingela became an
accomplished hostess, catering for their wide
and divergent circle of friends. They even
Lake powell Houseboat tripp. 1976.
43
Barbro Taper with son Brian 19
One of the guests that day was a stunning but
seriously depressed blonde, whose husband, a
movie producer had recently got involved with
Mary Collins, a 16-year old Californian girl
he had cast in his latest film. The woman was
Linda Evans, the husband was John Derek and
Mary Collins went on to become Bo Derek.
He divorced Linda and married Bo shortly
afterwards.
9: Bumps in the
Road
Sonance Lunch at Ingela's House 1984.
organized a 50th birthday extravaganza for
‘Hair Apparent’ Larry Bosley. Shortly after they
moved into their Hancock Park address, the
Rothschilds bought a condo in a gated estate in
Palm Springs, thereby renewing their links with
the past. This set off a whole new round of
socializing and the Bosleys also bought a unit
in the complex after spending a weekend with
them.
In addition to Palm Springs they also spent
a lot of time vacationing, with many jaunts
to Hawaii where Powerine had a holiday
house. Here they used to play tennis at the
Kaiser Estate, which had been bought by the
wealthy Goldman bachelor brothers. Their
father Sylvan Goldman invented shopping
trolleys way back in 1936, thereby seeding the
fortune that found them enjoying a match on
the manor court on a summer’s afternoon.
T
he shy insecure girl who arrived in Palm
Springs at the age of 17 was a far cry from the
competent housewife and mother running the
household she had set up in Hancock Park.
The twins were an unrelenting handful, and she
was continually surprised by the way in which
they switched leadership roles within their
relationship. For a while, Thomas would be
dominant, followed by a stretch when Michael
would assert himself. They also became
interdependent to an unusually high degree, and
her best friend Marylyn Mitchell once remarked
that you could give them a single tennis racquet,
bicycle or skateboard, and there would never be
an argument - a situation that still exists today.
Endearing as this was at the time, Ingela feels
that their communal attitude stopped them
44
from developing a sense of ownership. As a
result they were unconcerned when things got
lost, and they never had the need for anything
outside their common pool of possessions.
Totally self sufficient within their partnership,
they did not have the need for the stimulation
of too many external relationships, although
they were both very popular.
Psychiatrists often link ADD (Attention
Deficit Disorder) to hyperactivity, and the
twins who lived life in a state of perpetual
motion certainly showed signs of this. Being
really mischievous they also got into lots of
trouble, giving Victor who was only their step
father, quite an anxious time. As children,
their personalities were very similar, but in
their teens, Thomas became more serious and
focused academically, whist Michael developed
a more casual and freewheeling attitude.
Alana on the other hand, progressed at her
own placid pace. As a baby she could be kept
amused for hours with an old shoe, and her
undemanding nature extended into advancing
childhood. One exception to this was at the
girls-only Marlboro school in her first year,
when she found herself in the top academic
class. Battling to keep up, the Rothschilds,
had her tested and were advised that she was
very intelligent. Determination, her other
great characteristic kicked in, and she went
on to become a grade A student. Will power
aside, she continued to live life with a laid back
attitude. Her frustrated female tennis coach
asked Ingela how she could push Alana’s
natural ability onto the winner’s rostrum.
She was at a loss for an answer, as she was
hoping that the trainer would come up with
the formula herself! A parallel coincidence
occurred at school, when she was chosen with
a group of her classmates to feature in a Volvo
advertisement – around about the same age
that Ingela had been when she modeled for the
same brand in Sweden all those years ago.
Ryan moved on from his tempestuous
introduction to the world, but always marched
fiercely to the beat of his own drum. He
showed no interest in following his gifted
siblings onto the tennis court, and because
of the big age gap with the twins, had little
interaction with them. He was also at the
back of the queue when it came to attention
– Alana being the only girl and the twins a
real handful. This left him with a sink or swim
option, and in choosing survival, developed a
confrontational attitude, particularly in dealings
with his mother. He was also blessed, or
cursed with strong opinions, which he freely
expressed. Unlike his brothers, he had an acute
sense of ownership about his belongings,
and the middle of one dark and stormy night
found him drying his bicycle in the kitchen.
Perhaps Ryan’s obstinate individuality is best
illustrated by an incident during his early teens
when the Rothschilds were moving towards
a divorce. Ingela wanted to enroll him in
Harvard High School. For reasons best known
to him, he wanted to go to Loyola, a Catholic
School, instead. This resulted in a standoff in which Ryan procured the necessary
application forms, filled them in and got a
letter of recommendation from Alana’s beau
who was a star basketball player at the school.
Under the religious denomination query, he
wrote ‘undecided’, and signed the forms on his
mother’s behalf. The headmaster must have
recognized something in all of this because
he was accepted, despite the requirements of
an induction system that leaned heavily on
testimonials and determined lobbying.
Ingela’s divorce proceedings coincided with
that time when teenagers tend to become
rebellious anyway, so she suffered an extra
strong dose of censure and condemnation
from Ryan. In reality, he was actually the
most like her, a fact that earned him the nick
name Mini Me from his siblings. Although
Victor really loved his kids, he was into his
fifties when Alana was born, and this left him
stranded when it came to understanding the
requirements of fatherhood. There were never
any ball games or any paternal interaction, and
he left the raising of the children to Ingela even communicating with them through her.
This made her the main target for criticism and
censure - Ryan by direct confrontation, and
Thomas by innuendo and the odd letter.
45
When the twins reached their teens, their
ill disciplined agitation increased. They often
‘borrowed’ their parent’s cars, and indulged
in other similar misdemeanors to the great
annoyance of Victor.
Some unspecified
naughtiness eventually
caused Ingela to transfer
them to Daniel Murphy
High, a Catholic School
where she hoped that
some divine intervention
would overlook the
fact that their religious
denomination was
more an accident of
birth, than a serious
calling. Thomas became
hypersensitive and
resentful, blaming his
parents for anything
that went wrong, and
the twins relationship
with their step-father
became really strained.
Eventually, in conference
with her former husband
and Marlena, his wife at
the time, she asked Bill to Ingela with Bill Anstead.
take Thomas for a while.
Responding to this Marlena threatened to leave
their home if this happened. Bill told her to
start packing because his son was moving in
with him. Marlena stormed out, signaling the
start of a collapse in that marriage, and the
troubled teen relocated to his father’s home
with Michael following a year later. This turned
out to be a very good move for Thomas, as
Bill’s influence fostered an interest in law that
eventually guided him into a successful legal
career.
When Thomas moved out, he was sent to
the Costa Mesa High. Michael was enrolled
at Pilgrim where he became the quarterback
for the school’s football team. They played
in the lower end of the league that included
several reformatories, and one match in
particular caused Ingela, great anxiety. The
‘Pilgrims’ comprised of mostly Japanese and
Chinese students who were all short in stature
and ill-equipped to defend their unfortunate
quarterback against the hulking delinquents.
She was a veritable
lioness on the sidelines as
she watched Michael get
a terrible beating getting
his helmet ripped off in
the process. Against all
odds and common sense,
Pilgrim won, and Ingela
had to sprint with the
team for the safety of the
bus. So losing a game, as
well as discretion, may
just be the better part of
valor!
Ingela, had by now
developed recognition by
modeling for charity with
the ‘‘Mannequins of the
Assistance League’, and
was invited to a ceremony
at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy
Mansion in Holmby Hills,
where she was to be
inducted into Les Dames.
This was a prestigious
fund raising organization
with a very high societal profile. It was a black
tie affair with nary a bob-tailed Bunny in sight.
Hutch keeper Hugh was the essence of charm,
even venturing that he wished that they had
met 15 years before – confirming the well
known fact that his cut-off age is somewhere
in the twenties! It was here that she also met
Jack Simon, a charismatic businessman who
had recently sold his windscreen business to a
South African concern. More about him a few
pages on where he has a small walk-on part in
this story
As so often happens, a major downturn
in a business often spills over and upsets the
stability of a marriage. This in part is what
transpired with the Rothschilds. Sometime
in the early eighties, Arco, one of the major
gasoline suppliers decided to challenge the
46
‘Independents’ like Powerine who had made
big inroads into their market. To do this they
embarked on an exercise that enabled them
to introduce a price structure that would
ultimately
cripple the
smaller
producers.
For starters,
they installed
a pipeline to
convey crude oil
directly from the
drilling fields in
Alaska, thereby
reducing the
cost of tanker
delivery whilst
enjoying a sales
tax benefit that
was ultimately
Hillevi Schine, Jack Simon and Ingela.
overturned
by a legal
challenge. They also went on to the same
‘Cash Only’ basis that had previously given
the ‘Independents’ an edge. Some time
before all of this Powerine had developed a
wildly speculative second refinery that was
built following a highly contentious decision.
This now became a heavy burden as demand
dropped due to the price war, and pushed the
company further into the red. To compound
the decline, there was a major slump in the
gasoline industry in 1983 and ’84 that affected
everyone and drove Powerine to desperation.
These events affected Victor dramatically, and
he spent long periods of time away from the
office. Ingela realizing that he was facing a
massive crisis stepped in and did her best to
restrict the damage. She moved the Rothschild
Oil office into a large reception room on the 3rd
floor of the house, to reduce costs. From here
she spent two years dismantling the dud service
stations, and grappling with an ever decreasing
cash flow. Eventually in 1986, Powerine filed
for bankruptcy, a fate that might have been
avoided if they hadn’t built the second refinery.
Rothschild oil, which was a separate company,
was simply wound down.
With Victor’s psychological decline, there
were other factors that kicked in to affect their
relationship. With diminishing confidence, his
ever present
streak of
jealousy got a
lot worse, and
was not helped
by the fact that
their 20 year
age gap started
to increase his
insecurity. He
was getting older
in synch with
his advancing
age, whilst she
was still quite
young and very
attractive. When
they started out,
he was a much
better tennis player, but her natural athletic
ability linked to youth eventually overhauled
him adding further to the erosion of his self
esteem. The relationship deteriorated to such
an extent that in 1984 they came to a mutual
decision to file for a divorce. Victor moved out
and Ingela stayed in the house with the kids.
For a brief period the following year, she
returned to the life of a single lady, and dated
Jack Simon whom she had met at the Hefner/
Les Dames inauguration. The relationship
was hampered by the fact that she was not yet
divorced, and a serious involvement could have
had legal implications. Progress was further
curtailed by a decision to have one last attempt
at reconciliation, this time under the guidance
of a marriage counselor. This too ended in
failure, and in 1986 they finally decided to call
it quits. In parting, Victor remarked that the
divorce would make Ingela a very rich woman
- a statement that was in sharp contrast to his
perennial plea of impending poverty! Their
parting was amicable, and they decided to
proceed without the involvement of lawyers in
splitting their estate. Apart from their house,
47
the Rothschild Oil assets that they managed
to salvage from the wreckage were a large gas
station site on world famous Sunset Boulevard,
and three others in Pasadena. The latter were
sold off and the proceeds shared, whilst the
Sunset Boulevard property became their joint
asset in the divorce settlement. This was then
leased to a developer who converted it into a
strip mall. With time this has become extremely
valuable, and they now both enjoy the fruits
of a 99-year lease linked to the inflation index.
And the bond of affection that still existed
when they separated, endures to this day
man involved in the search for the contact lens
was his brother Clarence, a bachelor of some
standing. The party meanwhile progressed,
and in a surprisingly short time, the fleet
footed Kenneth Keiller somehow managed to
orchestrate a speedy return to his place at the
table. Recovering from the shock revelation
and surprised by his sudden reappearance,
Ingela’s equilibrium soon returned and they reengaged in a deep conversation that lasted until
3 am. The next day, when Kenneth pitched
up on her doorstep with flowers and a box of
10: A return to
(SW)EDEN
O
n leaving Victor, Ingela returned
to Sweden with the children. Here she
had inherited a house from her paternal
grandmother in the village of Vallda Sandö
south of Gothenburg. Soon after her arrival,
she was invited to a dinner party by her good
friend Heidi Broström who lived in nearby
Särö – a popular coastal resort. With great
reluctance she accepted, and it turned out
to be an event that would change her life.
Arriving in her newly acquired Volvo station
wagon, she parked next to a party of three
who had alighted from a blue Saab. The tall
figure striding ahead of this group caught her
attention, as the other two rummaged around
their car looking for a lost contact lens. She
assumed this to be the bachelor that Heidi had
mentioned, and was surprised and delighted to
be seated next to him at the dinner table. There
was instantaneous combustion and a palpable
two-way attraction that increased as the
dinner progressed. It came as a lightening bolt
when Kenneth Keiller, for that was his name,
announced that it was time to take his wife
Vici home! It only then became clear that the
Ingela and Kenneth, Christmas 1986.
chocolates, she realized that this could be the
beginning of something a whole lot more than
a stimulating dinner date. He later admitted
that he had immediately recognized in her, the
potential for a relationship which could replace
a marriage that had floundered onto the rocks.
Consequently, he threw all caution to the winds
and vigorously pursued his new direction.
Following on from the exhilaration of the
Heidi Broström event, Kenneth orchestrated
a dinner party at his home, to which Ingela
was invited. He was also widely connected
in Särö with its closely knit community, and
was therefore able to ensure that she was also
invited to many of the social events held every
summer. This gave him the opportunity of
building a relationship by progressive degrees,
and Ingela found herself being invited to all
sorts of occasions by people that she hadn’t
ever met. Towards the end of every summer,
the Särö Sailing Club had a floating party on a
flotilla of the boats belonging to its members.
On that occasion, feelings on both sides
48
Kenneth, Hans Fitz, Lars Arlycke and Ingela with Heidi in front 1986.
progressed to the point where
they both felt assured that there
was definitely a future in the
relationship. Actual confirmation
of this came from Ingela,
when she phoned him from
the Blomstermåla restaurant
to suggest a rendezvous on
his boat moored at a nearby
jetty. Once more he slipped
under the radar and rushed to
a midnight tryst where plans
for a total commitment were
consummated.
Kenneth’s next problem
was to pave the way towards a
normal relationship, and to enjoy
Ingela in Smögen 1987.
time alone with her in testing
the feelings that had overwhelmed
Ingela on board our Nimbus 4000 1987.
49
them so dramatically in such a short
space of time. For this there was no
better option than to take her back to
Soleil D’or - his exotic estate in the
Seychelles from whence he had come
for his annual holiday in Särö. Vici
Keiller at that stage was due to return
to their home in Cape Town. He set
about arranging Ingela’s visit, and in
doing so, exposed the whole affair
when his wife overheard him making
travel arrangements on the telephone.
This was an unfortunate way in which
to bring things to a head, and could be
the subject of much criticism. But in
these matters there are no Queensbury
rules, and it must be remembered
that there were serious fault lines in Kenneth’s
marriage even before he arrived in Särö. Rather
than being the cause of the breakup, she was in
fact the catalyst, and Vici went on to a happier
marriage with someone much more in tune
with her needs.
kids wanted to be firemen or engine drivers,
Kenneth only dreamed of being a serge suited
businessman. His entrepreneurial flair surfaced
early in the playground of his school, where he
set up marble pitching franchises for soldiers
that he smelted down from lead road signs.
In 1946, Sweden introduced a punitive
wealth tax, and this served to stir up Ingrid’s
enneth was born in Stockholm on the
restlessness, which was never too far from the
th
27 Dec 1932 to a mother who was 37, and a
surface. She booked a first class cabin on a
father of 62. His brother Clarence had been
Swedish American cruise ship, and set sail for
sent to boarding school, and much of his early
New York with her boys. This was the first stop
childhood was spent under the supervision
in a series of destinations, all of which failed in
of a nurse. His
one way or another to
mother Ingrid
satisfy an unspecified
was a complicated
list of requirements.
eccentric woman,
From New York,
obsessively
they went to
compulsive in
Connecticut, where
matters hygienic, and
she decided that the
acutely aware of her
New World was not
position in Swedish
for her, and took off
society, being as
for South America.
she was a member
The first stop here
of the prominent
was a cottage on the
Hammarberg family.
beach at Ipanema
She was also quite
where a couple of
wealthy, her father
cockroaches breached
Ingela and Kenneth on Schneider's Boat in LA 1987.
having been a
her heavily fortified
successful businessman
pest control system,
married to a woman from a prominent Scottish
causing her to flee south with her boys to
Family. Kenneth also had further ties with
Santos, a coastal coffee centre. Here they lived
Scotland, as his great grandfather was an
in a casino that had fallen into disuse due to a
aristocrat there, before immigrating to Sweden
ban on gambling, but the lack of savoir faire
where he founded a large shipyard.
drove her to Buenos Aires – her last destination
Every summer they migrated to their holiday
before declaring the Americas, North and
home in Särö where the boys developed
South, to be unfit for human habitation.
a passion for the sea and became adept at
Back in Sweden, Ingrid Keiller’s restlessness
handling their father’s sailing boat. They had
returned when a good friend told her he was
close links with Swedish Royalty, and each year
moving to Cape Town. Centuries before Sir
King Gustav V, the eighty year old monarch
Francis Drake, famed explorer and frustrated
would spend a couple of weeks at their Uncle
copywriter described it as the ‘Fairest Cape
James Keiller’s home in that resort.
in all the world’, and that was enough to send
Kenneth’s father died when he was eight,
her off to the booking office. She bought a
leaving much of his early character formation
house, and they all lived together with young
in Ingrid’s hands. With older brother Clarence
Kenneth finding employment as a ledger clerk
away at boarding school, there was little
at Syfrets Trust, an asset management company.
male influence, and in the days when most
From here he progressed (or regressed) to
11: Kenneth
K
50
becoming an apprentice motor mechanic
Union Dies meanwhile gave all the outward
fixing ailing Austins in the workshop of an
signs of a highly successful company, so
automobile franchise. Early on in his career,
it came as a surprise when Karl Kreuger
he and Clarence were persuaded to buy into
disappeared with his best friend’s wife. The
a partnership at Union Dies and Tools - a
company as it turned out was bankrupt, and all
fledgling plastic and die manufacturing concern.
its funds disappeared along with the missing
In order to acquire a 48% shareholding in the
founder. The Keiller family had been swindled
business, they each invested their inheritance
out of their entire fortune.
from their late
In order to
father’s estate.
raise extra money
Kenneth was to
in tough financial
be trained as a
times, Kenneth
toolmaker, and
got together every
Clarence was
night in a small
to manage the
workshop to make
administration side
coin operated
of the business.
soccer tables.
Their partner
These were a
and mentor, Karl
craze in the sixties,
Kreuger was
and the company
possessed of
did so well, that
darkly Messianic
they resigned
qualities, and
their day jobs in
Ryan and friend JayJay in Sweden on Harry Keiller's boat 1989.
exploited them
order to develop
ruthlessly, but the business did well and grew
the business. Eventually they installed PVC
at an astonishing rate. In order to keep up
injection molding machines, and started making
with the rapidly expanding company, they
plastic components. This side of the business
persuaded Ingrid to invest her entire fortune
did well, and evolved to the point when they
in the thriving concern. Kreuger turned out to
introduced blow molding equipment with
be a good businessman, also giving Kenneth an
which to manufacture polythene bottles. The
excellent grounding in toolmaking and factory
packaging side of the business was called
management whilst keeping the boys on a very
Xactics, and the strength of this group was an
tight leash. They were desperately tough days,
amazing level of loyalty and an adventurous
and it was at the height of his adversity that he
spirit linked to a keenness to experiment.
met and fell in love with Vici Bindon, a young
The concept of glass clear PVC bottles was
very beautiful teenager from Rhodesia. She was
in its infancy at that time, and they invested
incredibly supportive, even to the extent of
money in the necessary machinery and
selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door despite
enormous effort in experimentation. This in
an introverted nature. Things went from bad
turn led to a gigantic breakthrough when they
to worse at Union, and Kenneth was eventually
managed to convert the packaging of edible
squeezed out of the business. He ceded his
oil from traditional glass into the Xactics PVC
shares to his brother, and took up employment
alternative. In the process, they also took on
as a toolmaker at an engine reconditioning and
board the progressive buyer at Cape Oil who
de-rusting company that also manufactured
orchestrated the switch. He turned out to be
steering wheels and number plates. Somewhere
a brilliant businessman and became a valuable
in the middle of all of this, Kenneth married
fifth member of the team.
Vici, and they even bought a house and started
The switch from glass to clear plastic
a family.
bottles in the edible oil industry signaled
51
the start of a huge wave as other industries
made the conversion, and they were in pole
position to milk it for all its worth. They
also embarked on a series of daring takeovers, and commercial exploits that were
the stuff of business school MBA legend.,
growing in a short space of time into the
biggest converter of PVC polymer in South
Africa. Included in their rise to commercial
prominence, were inroads into other forms of
manufacturing, such as cardboard packaging,
bag-in-the-box wine sachets, plastic closures
and a range of carbonated soft drinks packed
in a revolutionary new type of extra strong
bi-axially orientated PVC bottles. In all fields
they were at the cutting edge of any new
developments. As they progressed, they also
purchased the premises from which they
operated, and at their zenith they had huge
factories in Cape Town, Johannesburg and
Durban. Further to this they also embarked
on a very successful property development
program, building several spectacular apartment
and office blocks.
With his new found wealth, Kenneth
tapped into his natural design flair by
building a spectacular house, and then later
a penthouse - both of which were featured
in the architectural magazines of the day.
But pride of place went to the acquisition of
a Soleil D’or, a magnificent beach estate in
the Seychelles. Built on a promontory into
the sea it had a beautifully landscaped garden
stretching over three acres, featuring a striking
display of plants, palms and a random selection
of massive granite boulders – some as big as
oil rigs. It also had its own pristine stretch of
beach giving instant access to an extraordinary
coral reef and an ongoing procession of exotic
marine life. This property became Kenneth’s
pride and joy.
Ironically, although Kenneth’s marriage to
Vici survived and even thrived during the hard
times, it began to unravel once the money came
rolling in. He was an extrovert’s extrovert,
who threw himself wholeheartedly into the
realms of hedonism, with endless rounds on
entertainment and daily squash matches on
his private squash court. Vici with her more
introverted nature withdrew from the social
glare, finding it rather a strain. She found
comfort in a regimen of dancing, yoga and
writing as she gravitated towards the more
creative and spiritual elements of life. Their
joint efforts in surviving the hard times papered
over the fault lines in their relationship, and
these came to the surface with their newly
acquired affluence.
Eventually Xactics went public, and the
partners relinquished their holdings through
a heavily oversubscribed share issue. They
were just beginning to enjoy the fruits of
their prosperity, when a dark cloud emerged.
A disgruntled ex-employee found a scrap of
paper suggesting that one of the directors
was in the possession of undisclosed foreign
currency, and he reported this to the Reserve
Bank. This was at the height of the apartheid
era, with a government desperately trying
to stem the tide of funds flowing out of
the country, so currency irregularities were
regarded in a very serious light. Kenneth was
enjoying life at his estate in the Seychelles at
the time, and although he wasn’t the director
involved in the alleged transgression, decided
to sit things out until the whole episode blew
over. This saga was sorted out eventually, but
not before he spent six months in self imposed
exile. During this time, he missed his beloved
daughter’s wedding, and endured long days of
loneliness with the only contact with Vici being
via the telephone. It was against this backdrop
that he proceeded to Särö with a crumbling
marriage and the promise of a new chapter of
life with Ingela.
12: The Seychelles
W
ith plans for the Seychelles completed,
Ingela went back to the States for a few weeks
52
to sort out matters there, before returning to
Särö where Stig, her desperately ill step-father
was clinging to life. From there she flew to
Mahe, the capital of the Seychelles - and a
reunion with Kenneth.
The Seychelles are known as the Íslands
of Love’, even to the extent of growing a
whimsical coconut called a coco de mer,
Evening at Solel D'or 1987.
unimpressed by the passing show. And in a
rocky outcrop at the water’s edge, a seductive
grotto beckoned at low tide. In this sunkissed Kingdom of Eros, they laughed, loved,
snorkeled, swam and had more fun than kids in
a water park.
One of the advantages of love in the middle
ages is that people don’t get entirely swept away
by the heady first bloom of romance. Ingela
and Kenneth were too well experienced to
fall into the trap of ignoring the future in the
exhilaration of their romantic Nirvana. Down
to the minutest they plotted and planned their
future. Each got to know the other’s financial
situation, and lines of fiscal responsibility were
drawn up. They also acknowledged that they
would have to splash down into reality at the
end of this unrealistically romantic interlude.
This would mean a lengthy trial period of life
for Kenneth living in Ingela’s world back in
L.A. So with high hopes for the future, she
returned to Sweden, and he started packing
Soleil D'or in the Seyshelles 1986.
suggestively shaped like a woman’s torso. And
Soleil D’or was Kenneth’s own little piece of
paradise, combining spectacular architecture,
with romantic landscaping. In the sea fronting
a broad sweep of golden sands was an ongoing
marine Mardi Gras, featuring creatures of every
shape, size, and color, against a psychedelic
backdrop of coral formations. Neon yellows,
Kenneth and Ingela in the Seychelles 1986.
blues, stripes, and every color in the spectrum
formed a surreal kaleidoscope, as frilly lion fish
dressed as flappers from the roaring twenties
continually swam past elongated flute fish on
their way to rehearsals. Every now and then a
bored loggerhead turtle paddled by, seemingly
Fabrice Delournay and wife Ingrid (today Ingrid Bettancourt),
Clarence, Marnie and Jonathan Searles with Ingela in the middle.
53
mother. Bill Hays was friendly from the outset,
but Victor took a while to thaw - but they are
now all the best of pals. His biggest struggle
was a cultural one. Being a South African
out of Europe he didn’t fully understand the
extended palms-for-alms American tipping
tradition. Ingela was acutely embarrassed on
occasions when he offered a handshake in
lieu of dollars to car valet attendants, waiters
etc. The language too, had him stymied for a
while, and it took some time before he realized
that cars had ‘trunks’ instead of ‘boots’, there
were no ‘lifts’ but plenty of ‘elevators’, and
that giving someone a tinkle did not mean a
phone call, but was language reserved for the
cloakroom.
One of his major adjustments was moving
from the highly personalized level of attention
he used to get from Vici, to the self-service
doctrine practiced by Ingela and her fellow
Americans. One morning his breakfast
went quite cold, as there was no distribution
structure in place to deliver it from the stove
where it was cooked, to the table where he
waited in regal anticipation. Gradually he
overcame these differences and slipped easily
into the American lifestyle.
During his first visit he helped Ingela and
the children move into an apartment in the El
Royale, a beautiful old building built in 1890.
It reflected the elegance of a bygone age, and
featured marble floors with high ceilings. The
house she had shared with Victor had been
sold, and he had purchased a residence in
Hollywood Hills. In sweeping out the old life,
and ushering in the new, she loaded a series
of dumpsters every evening with all the brica-brac she considered to be superfluous – ski
gear, sporting equipment, old clothing and even
five fur coats. By each morning the oddments
had disappeared as word of this windfall
had spread amongst the maids throughout
the neighborhood, and at least four loads
were disposed of in this manner. This upset
Kenneth, a compulsive hoarder, who joined
the free-for-all in retrieving a collection of
books, some of which were first editions, and
many were Swedish heirlooms. The woman
Kenneth´s catamaran Carte Blanche, Seyshelles 1986.
Ingela and David Keiller on Kenneth's catamaran 1986.
for California. Back in Särö, Ingela’s stepfather
took a turn for the worse and died shortly
after her return. She was grateful to be there
to comfort her mother, but eventually had to
return to California and new beginnings.
13: Beginnings
K
enneth and Ingela started a shuttle
between L.A. and the Seychelles in the lengthy
process of getting to know each other. His first
introduction to life in California lasted a few
weeks, and was a bumpy ride. He was warmly
welcomed by all of Ingela’s friends, and most
of her family - the notable exception being
Ryan, her youngest son. He was very territorial,
but always unfailingly polite to Kenneth,
concentrating his conscientious objection at his
54
who bought the house also purchased the
furnishings, including a crockery set that
matched the wallpaper.
There followed a spat with Ingela developing
into a full-scale lover’s tiff, a decision to split
and the storming of Kenneth to his retreat in
the Seychelles. That as far as he was concerned,
was the end of the story. Fortunately for both
of them, Marilyn Mitchell and company were
made of sterner stuff and refused to cancel.
And so a chastened K.K. found himself
reunited with Ingela at the Nairobi Hilton,
where all the old feelings came flooding back.
The tour then progressed as though nothing
had happened, through some of the most
exciting wild life destinations in the world.
First stop on their safari was the Masai Mara
game reserve where they arrived in time to
witness one of the nature’s most spectacular
wilderness events that reaches Kenya every
year in September. This is the animal migration
Marylin, Dick Burdge, Ingela, Kenneth, Marylin Mitchell and
Spinner.
At the height of his new found novelty
status, a group of Ingela’s friends
decided on an African Safari, followed
by a visit to Kenneth’s tropical spread in
the Seychelles. With great enthusiasm,
plans were hatched, and bookings made
for an all-inclusive tour a few months
down the line. The initial destination
would be the famous game reserves of
Kenya, and those who signed up were
Marilyn Mitchell, the Dennises - Spencer
and Joyce, and Dick Burdge with his
wife Marilyn. About three weeks into
his new life, Kenneth had a panic attack
centered on the enormous implications
of his translocation and the culture gap.
Joyce and Spencer Dennis on Safari in Kenya 1986.
from Serengeti in Tanzania as 1.5 million
wildebeest, and 200,000 zebra embark on
an ongoing 1,800 mile circuit in search of
rain nourished grass. Life for these animals
is an endless pilgrimage as they move in
synch with the varying seasons that offer
the sweet grasses that they seek at different
times of the year. During their relentless
march, they are constantly stalked by the
great predators, and the climax for sheer
spectacle is the crossing of the Mara River.
Lying in wait with malice aforethought
are two dozen of the biggest crocodiles in
Africa, who well understand this routine,
as do the animals that have to get across
Marylin and Dick Burdge on Safari in Kenya 1986.
55
and continue their
an excruciating
journey. In a tightly
spasm. It was so
huddled frenzy,
bad that the party
the wildebeest and
stopped at a hotel,
zebra crash across
where a doctor
the churning waters
administered an
as the huge reptiles
injection. This
close in and pick
was of little avail,
off some of the
and she was flown
unfortunate beasts
to a hospital in
at will. In the melee Kenneth and Ingela on Safari 1987.
Nairobi for more
some animals break
professional
a leg, or are simple crushed in the scramble.
treatment, accompanied by Kenneth who
The banks meanwhile bear testimony to the
abandoned the rest of the trip to be by her
carnage, and are littered with bones, hides,
side. The rest of the group continued with their
skulls and the excrement of hundreds of
safari.
vultures who look on approvingly.
Shortly after her arrival, the American
From the drama on the Mara, the group
woman who had founded and ran the free
moved on to the Amboseli game reserve
aircraft evacuation service, paid her a visit. She
nestling at the foot of majestic Mount
remarked on Ingela’s unusual name, saying
Kilimanjaro. This snow capped peak is the
that she had once known an Ingela Hays back
highest in Africa, and forms a striking backdrop
home in California. Bad back and all, this
to the sweeping plains
nearly knocked her
and the ongoing
over with a feather, and
procession of animals.
she asked the woman
This is an elephant
what her name was. She
stronghold and is
happened to be none
also the home of the
other than Maddy De
renowned research
Mont, who made a brief
centre run by Cynthia
appearance in chapter 5
Moss, who is to
as one of the party that
Jumbos, what Dianne
traveled to Wimbledon
Fosse was to gorillas
for the All England
and Jane Goodall to
Tennis Championships
chimpanzees.
as a partner to Hugh
The whole gang on safari in Kenya 1986.
Next stop on their
Stewart. It turned out
dance cards was to be
that she simply didn’t
the famous Tree Tops Hotel, a hostelry built
return to America after the tournament,
into the branches of an enormous wild fig. This
traveling to Kenya instead. She had been born
eccentric lodge achieved immortal fame when
into the wealthy Astor family, and decided
a young English woman climbed up into its
to use her inheritance in the founding of
boughs one evening in 1952, and came down
the altruistic air borne casualty evacuation
as Queen Elizabeth II the next morning, when
service. The next day Maddy returned with a
her father King George VI died at Buckingham
photographic album featuring many pictures of
Palace during that night. The trip in rather
Ingela playing tennis at the family’s estate.
spring challenged mini buses traveling over
Attending to Ingela in the Nairobi hospital
badly rutted roads proved to be arduous, and a
was an Indian doctor who was a dead ringer
particularly serious jolt sent Ingela’s back into
for Peter Sellers. He was desperately keen to
56
operate on her spine, setting off a deep seated
panic attack. Here she was lying in a 3rd world
hospital with a doctor who looked and spoke
like the one in the iconic film starring Sophia
Loren. In a state of terror she managed to track
down and seek the advice of Larry Bosley, her
plastic surgeon friend who was passing through
Orley Airport at the time. He told her to get
out of Nairobi, even if it meant dragging an
iron lung behind her. Well Goodness Gracious
Me!!
Wendover Drive, Beverley Hills, and Ingela
took the plunge by purchasing it despite having
ten months to run on her apartment. Her
realtor friend, Bill Anstead solved the problem
by finding a tenant for the house for a term
that matched her obligations at the apartment.
So for the rest of that year, Kenneth’s visits
were to the El Royale.
On one of Ingela’s shuttles she imported
her mother Maiki from Sweden to look after
the kids. Whilst she was away, Los Angeles was
rocked by an earthquake dubbed the ‘Shake
and Bake’ as it occurred in the middle of a heat
wave. This was a terrifying experience for the
trio, perched as they were on the 9th floor, and
they moved into Victor’s house for a few days
to recover from the shock. The morning after
their first night, Maiki thanked Victor for giving
her such a wonderful night. At the time he had
one of his nubile girlfriends living with him,
and he couldn’t help thinking how much more
appropriate such a greeting would have been
coming from her instead.
Returning from a skiing trip to Mammoth
one day, Kenneth mentioned that he had sold
La Camargue, his penthouse in Cape Town.
The problem was that there was no one to
go and tie things up, as Kenneth at that stage
hadn’t settled his problems with the South
African Reserve Bank. Ingela volunteered,
and Marilyn Mitchell who had the reflexes of
an acrobat when travel opportunities arose,
proposed that she accompany her into ‘Enemy
Territory’ (the words she actually used to
reinforce the need for a gun bearer!) So it
was that Ingela arrived in Cape Town three
days ahead of Marilyn to finalize the sale,
store the collectibles and sell the furnishings.
This was her first trip to Cape Town, and
Kenneth’s friends rallied to ensure that she was
entertained, and shown some of the town’s
many attractions. Marilyn arrived on cue, and
rather than join Ingela in the trenches, set about
exploring ‘The Fairest Cape’.
La Camargue had been sold to Barney Sank
– the self styled King of Toyota Dealers, and
a cat and mouse game ensued around the sale
of the furniture and fittings, all of which had
Marylin Burdge, Marylin Mitchell and Joyce Dennis at Soleil Dór.
Ingela recovered sufficiently to join the
rest of the group as they took off for the
Seychelles, where Soleil D’or wove its magic
once gain. They all had a terrific time, and the
reunited lovers returned with a relationship
stronger than ever.
14: Indian Wells
I
ngela had signed a one year lease for the
El Royale apartment as this was only meant
to be a temporary measure whilst she looked
for a suitable house. Ryan and Alana moved
in with her, and the twins at that stage were at
UCLA, splitting their holidays between the two
parents. Quite soon after their translocation,
a wonderful home came onto the market on
57
originally been acquired to match the avantKenneth’s daughter Francesca and her husband
garde architecture. Both parties were very keen
Charles flew in from New York where he was
to conclude a deal
studying for an MBA,
in their own best
She broke the joyful
interests, and each
news that they were
projected an air of
expecting his first
extreme disinterest.
grandchild.
Ingela held her
Life in Los
ground by stating
Angeles was very
her intention to ship
comfortable, but
the whole lot back
Kenneth often got
to America. Barney
overwhelmed by the
Sank who didn’t get
heavy concentration
to be the Toyota
of traffic and
King without a lot
frenetic activity. He
of negotiating savvy,
also found the days
Kerstin Florian, Ingela and Majbritt Fratti 1999.
capitulated and
a bit lonely after
confirmed the sale as she was on her way to the
schlepping across town for 30 minutes each
airport. He congratulating her on a great game
morning for his game of squash. After a year
of poker, but didn’t hear her loud Yeehaa, and
they accepted an offer to use the Burdge’s
only the confines of the car prevented a victory
second home in Palm Desert where they went
dance.
to watch the annual tennis classic. They were
For the rest of the year, Ingela frequently
joined by Joyce and Spencer Dennis, and in
hopped across to Sweden and the Seychelles,
unison they all agreed that this would be a great
and Kenneth made several trips to Los Angeles.
place to live. Kenneth and Ingela decided that
He had become very comfortable with his new
they would relocate there once the children had
lifestyle, and they had made all the necessary
moved on, and out of curiosity the two ladies
adjustments
got in touch
in fine-tuning
with property
their emergent
realtors to
relationship.
look at houses
So it was that
that were on
in May 1988,
the market.
they married
Joyce got
in a ceremony
quite keen on
at the new
‘The Vintage’,
house, shortly
the most
after moving
prestigious
in. A Swedish
estate in
priest from the
Indian Wells,
local seamen’s
and Ingela
church
who needed
conducted the
a home with
ceremony, with
four bedrooms
guests and
found a house
family flying
she liked at
in from all
the Desert
Ingela with sister in law Agneta, on front page in Desert Sun 24 th Dec. 2002.
over the world.
Horizons
58
Country Club. As fate would have it, both Ryan
and Alana decided to move in with Victor, thus
clearing the way for a move to Palm Springs.
The Keillers put their house in Beverley Hills
on the market, and then left for a holiday in
the Seychelles. They returned to find that they
had received several offers, and Ingela accepted
the best at a price that more than doubled her
investment in two years. The coast was now
clear for a move to the desert, and they bought
the house that she had first taken a liking to,
whilst Joyce and Spencer Dennis wound up
buying a home in ‘The Vintage’. Some of
Ingela’s friends questioned her decision to
move to an area which was well known as a
wealthy retirement centre, whilst she was still
very young. She replied that she wanted to find
a place where Kenneth would find a lot of
playmates. This turned out to be a very good
decision, and they both found contentment and
happiness. But there is no doubt that to this day
she still misses all her friends back in L.A.
Indian Wells ushered in the really good times
for the Keillers. They both developed a passion
for golf, and with a social life centered on the
club, they made a large circle of friends in a
very short space of time. And for Kenneth,
the wide open spaces cured the claustrophobia
he had suffered in L.A. Shortly after moving
in, a very attractive ‘model house’ came on
the market in a much better part of the estate.
They put in an offer, but the developers
decided to favor the one tendered by the oldest
bidder. If there is a Property God, he certainly
smiled on the Keillers. A year later they
acquired the same property, when the owner
failed to find a buyer for his original house.
They now had the home that they wanted, in
a town that they knew would suit them for the
rest of their lives.
15: Family
Matters
Thomas.
W
hen Kenneth came into Ingela’s life,
the twins were at UCLA. It was her hope that
they would become lawyers, and after two
years with his father’s backing Thomas went
on to Law school. There was a time when he
was a youngster that he really wanted to be a
tennis star, and worked towards this goal with
Ingela, at her sonThomas Law graduation 1991.
terrific focus. At the age of 10, he was ranked
no 1 in California, and later on even beat Pete
Sampras. Being the modest person that he is,
Thomas hastens to add that he was 20 at the
time, and Sampras only 14! To his credit, he
realized that although he had all the strokes,
he wasn’t convinced that he had the mental
makeup to get to the top. He re-focused on
his law degree and on the final day of the Bar
Exam, the hall was rocked by an earthquake,
causing its cancellation. It was only re-run
six months later, pushing his bar exam back
half a year. On passing out of law school,
Thomas worked for a succession of legal
firms, gaining experience in different aspects
of litigation. At one practice he specialized in
Workman’s Compensation representing the
police and firemen, and then at another worked
59
also appeared to be a thaw in his relationship
with his estranged wife and her husband –
raising the prospect of happier times with his
kids.
Michael.
Thomas with Tommy Jr and Alexandra 2003.
on the other side for hospitals and insurance
companies. Now he has set up on his own in
the field of personal injuries.
In 1994 he married Marsha Freeman at
the Beverley Hills Hotel, after an on-off
relationship that stretched back to when he
was 14 and they met at the tennis club. Ingela
had misgivings based on the erratic nature of
their courtship, and her fears were confirmed
when they divorced three years later. This was
the start of a black period for him as they had
two children, Thomas jnr, and Alexa, who
became part of an emotional tug of war when
Marsha remarried and took them off to New
Jersey. Things turned around for him when he
increased the range of his practice to include
property proceedings including the lucrative
opportunities inherent in the field of direct
realty broking. Around about this time there
Socorro and Michael Hays at there wedding in Argentina 2005.
The more laid back of the twins, joined a
telecommunication company after graduating
from UCLA. He eventually got bored with this
Thoma and Michael Hays in Egypt 2004.
The terrible twins Thomas and Michael Hays.
60
off, culminating in an intimate wedding held
in a splendid baronial home in a rural setting
outside the city. Jobs in his field of expertise
were scarce in South America at the time, so he
contacted Mr. Sawiris who immediately re-hired
him and sent him to Brussels before relocating
him to Luxemburg.
Alana.
Alana studied psychology at the University
of Arizona . Here she met Jason Groom, a
business degree student and they married
shortly after graduating. With the job market
being at low ebb at the time, he decided
to carry on with an MBA, and enrolled at
the Thunderbird Business School. Here,
participants choose a country, and proceed
to learn its language, customs and business
conventions. Jason was keen to nominate Japan,
but Ingela dissuaded him in favor of Spain,
feeling that the European and South American
connections would have more relevance. As
it happened he joined a Japanese Bank after
graduating, but Ingela’s advice proved to be
credible later when he switched careers and
The Groom family.
and then got into a successful selling career,
marketing wholesale textiles in California.
Eventually he met up with Mr.
Sawiris, an Egyptian who was a top
executive for Orascom, another
telecommunications company. This
was the start of a roller coaster ride
when he joined them and was sent
to a string of Moslem countries
including Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria
and Lebanon, none of which would
have been good career choices today!
Based on a high degree of success
he was then posted to Los Angeles
to open a branch. At that stage the
opposition was too well established,
and to catch up would have required
Alana and Jason with there two children, Anika and Hunter.
more investment than seemed viable
at the time. He advised Mr. Sawiris
became a successful fund manager. In June
of this, and that operation was closed down.
1993 Alana and Jason tied the knot in The St
With the premature end to his Orascom career,
Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in La Quinta
Michael decided to take a gap year, by heading
that had been donated by Frank Sinatra as a
south to Buenos Aires where he reconnected
memorial to his mother who was killed in a
to the beautiful Socorro whom he had
plane crash. It was a smaller replica of a chapel
previously met in L.A. The relationship took
61
hers and Kenneth’s children, their kids, and
her mother along with friend Lars. They all
assembled in a hotel in Los Angeles and then
flew on to Cabo San Lucas where she had hired
a house near the sea. A memorable holiday
ensued with what seemed to be a platoon of
grandchildren all having a whale (or was that
wail) of a time. Part of the festivities included
a Pinyata Party in which a suspended paper
maché donkey filled with candy was attacked
by determined toddlers armed with baseball
bats seeking to part the hapless animal from
its precious cargo. The atmosphere was aided
and abetted by an enthusiastic 12 man Mariachi
Brass Band tooting away in Mexican fervor.
Ryan.
Ryan’s defiant nature took an about turn
once he and Alana moved in with Victor, and
the thaw in his relationship with his mother and
stepfather was a welcome development. Even
before that Kenneth noticed that he possessed
a dogged determination, and was always
fastidious in his approach to schoolwork. After
graduating from the University of Arizona
with a business degree, he got a job managing
a fast food chicken wrap outlet. His drive and
management skills were soon recognized, and
before long he was running two branches.
Alana and Jason.
in Italy that had some family connection.
After the service the bridal retinue, all decked
out in a black and white theme, moved on
to a sumptuous reception held at the Keiller
residence at Desert Horizons. They have since
had two kids, hyperactive Hunter, and Anika,
who has her mother’s great smile.
Ingela decided to organize a big family
reunion for Xmas in 1998. It included all
The whole extended family in Cabo San Lucas, christmas 1997.
62
Francesca.
Ingela first met Francesca at Soleil Dór
before she married Kenneth on one of her
early trips to the Seychelles. Although married
to Charles Arton, she happened to be there
alone. Ingela had been forewarned that in his
marriage to Vici there had been a split in the
division of affections, with Alexander being
the focus of his mother’s love, and Kenneth
had poured all his adoration into Fran. Ingela’s
appearance on the scene, was therefore not
a welcome one for his daughter, and her
reaction was extremely cool with very little
acknowledgement. This continued for several
years and reached a climax at a party given by
the Artons when Fran introduced her father
to all her friends, but made no mention of his
wife. Upset about this Ingela phoned the next
day and conceded that this could have been an
oversight, but was in keeping with the overall
tenor of their relationship. Furthermore,
not wanting to ignite the situation, she
suggested a two week interval before reacting.
To Francesca’s great credit she took full
responsibility for the rift, and their relationship
improved from that moment, to
Ryan and Laura with Aiden 2007.
Following a lead from Jason he approached
Geneva, an acquisition and merger company.
They had a strictly enforced policy in which
they only engaged MBA applicants, but with
characteristic determination he persistently
harassed them until they relented and gave him
a job. This gave him great access to the many
different proposals flowing into the company
through his in-tray. Eventually, Pony Express,
a company specializing in novelty wigs and
party costumes caught his eye. By now he and
Kenneth were good friends, and they decided
to join forces in purchasing the company in San
Diego.
Shortly after acquiring Pony Express, Ryan
married Laura Richitelli whom he had been
dating for several years. They got married in
Cabo San Lucas at the stylish Hacienda Del
Mar resort. This town held happy memories
for him ever since Ingela’s big Mexican reunion
two years prior. The nuptials were conducted
on the beach, and everyone including the bridal
retinue had bare feet. And adding to the festive
spirit was the news that both Alana and Marsha
were pregnant at the time.
Francesca, Ashleigh, Charles and Imogen Arton 2005.
the point where she often seeks advice from
her mother-in-law. Even before this Ingela had
admired the great courage and determination
she had shown in her support for Charles when
he studied for his MBA in New York. This
included having a baby in a broom cupboard
sized apartment on the 5th floor of a building
sans elevators. And in keeping the domestic
63
ship afloat she also managed to start Frogg
Inc. - a children’s clothing company which
went a long way towards the cash flow in those
desperately tight days. After he graduated, Fran
even managed to sell her company for $12,000,
and she has run her family with the same
strength of character ever since.
16: The
Americanization
of Ingela
Alexander.
Ingela’s introduction to Alexander was a
much easier affair, and they met when he came
to Särö for the funeral of his great Uncle Stig
Kempe. He was living in England at the time,
and in a reverse situation accepted her, but
directed his anger at Kenneth with a bout of
constant bickering. When Ingela was excluded
from the funeral to make way for Alexander’s
sudden appearance, she declared that she was
going to go dancing in Gothenburg. Gleefully
Alex declared that Kenneth had finally met
his match. Throughout his life, he had always
been at odds with his father, a situation that
was later reversed by some wise counsel from
Ingela and a trip to Indian Wells. Alexander had
always been against America, and was peeved
that Kenneth
had chosen
to live in
California. On
arrival he was
influenced by
the fact that
her children
really liked
Elliot, Alexander and Paula with little Asta.
Kenneth,
and even
found himself enjoying the ‘States’. Kenneth
finally turned their relationship around by
acknowledging that he had been a poor father,
and seeking his son’s forgiveness. This was the
start of a great new chapter, which included the
celebration of Alexander’s marriage to Paula
at a Sommarlust wedding reception given by
a very proud father and his supportive wife.
Today Kenneth is as close to his son as he is
to his daughter, and much of is due to Ingela’s
subtle influence.
I
ngela would be the first to concede that
over the years she has become more American
than Swedish, and this is for good reason. She
arrived in the USA as a young girl, at a time
when Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, and Anita
Ekberg had made a big impact on Hollywood.
This created a fascination for the blue eyed
Ad for Horror Movie 1969.
blonde perception of Swedish beauties at
the time. Being blessed with great looks and
a sharp intellect, she was immediately swept
up by the beautiful people frequenting Palm
Springs in those days. Although shy by nature
following a cloistered childhood, she put great
Ingela´s new Mercedes with her name plates 1973.
64
effort into
mastering her
school day
English, and
on enrolling
for a language
course, was
immediately
promoted to
an advanced
class. She
knew that she
was making
progress
when she
found herself
making mental
decisions
in her new
language.
Advert 1969.
There
were two major features involved in the
Americanization of Ingela. The first was the
terrific support and loyalty she received from
a steadfast group of female friends. This
was in complete contrast to the loneliness of
her youth. They were quick to recognize the
qualities that were reflected in her honesty,
reliability, punctuality, and penchant for
straight talk. Americans are like that, and social
convention here was light years apart from
Sweden where
subservience
and polite
humility
reigned
supreme. The
fact that she
was a highly
intelligent
and attractive
import
didn’t hurt
either. Her
relationship
with Victor
was the other
vital factor,
Runway moddeling 1974.
Article in LA Herald-Examiner 1976.
Ingela, with Kee Flynn at Mannequins meeting 1977.
65
bought a penthouse there. As
their relationship progressed,
she rediscovered an affinity
for her birthplace. The people
they mixed with now bore no
resemblance to those that she
grew up with, and through her
passion for golf, she developed
a wide circle of new friends.
Sweden too, had progressed
from the repressive place it had
been in the fifties and sixties,
when it was impoverished
from the war and flirted with
Communism. In those days
any hint of consumerism was
Article on Mannequins Adam and Eve-awards 1978.
and from him she got the affirmation that was
completely lacking in Gothenburg. From the
start he put her on a pedestal, and such was
his admiration that he never made a decision
without her input. Every aspect of their lives
was discussed in detail, and together they
tackled many projects. Most of all he was
immensely proud of her and fully appreciated
the fact that she was an excellent wife, mother
and home maker. Through Victor, and Bill
Hays before him, she had also moved into a
lofty social stratosphere after her very middle
class origins in Sweden. There is no doubt
in Ingela’s mind that she would have been a
totally different person if she had remained in
the land of her birth. On frequent visits back
to Gothenburg people noticed the changes
in her, and vocally expressed the assumption
that she still preferred Sweden. She went
along with the lie for many years, but in reality
her life in America was nothing like the one
she experienced as the butcher’s daughter.
Eventually, she gave up the pretence, and made
no bones about that she was very happy in the
US.
Kenneth, whose early existence was
entirely different to Ingela’s, celebrated his
Swedish roots, and retained a love for Särö,
the playground of his youth. He returned
often, especially after attaining wealth and even
Ingela in News article 1977,
66
Kenneth Hansen (owner of Scandia Rest.), Ingela, Maiki and
Swedish Council General Walter Danielsson.
together, and an examination of an old roster
revealed the fact that they had even been in
the same class! They had both changed beyond
recognition!
Once the Keiller’s moved to the desert, they
also found that Särö was a welcome retreat
from the unbearable heat of summer in Indian
Wells, and the lifestyle, although different,
offered a stimulating contrast. One of her most
important friendships here was with Heidi
Broström, who being Canadian, had a similar
background and was very much in tune with
her own philosophy. In a frank discussion she
Fran Stark and Ingela in Vail 1980.
Thank-you-note from Mr. Blackwell.
frowned upon, and success had to be hidden.
One day, playing eighteen holes at Kungsbacka,
a woman of similar age asked her what school
she attended. They discovered that they
had both been at the Praktiska Real Skolan
asked Ingela one day why she needed to get
married. After a moment’s deliberation she
replied that this was the only way she could
commit herself 100% and she expected the
same from Kenneth. He was well known for his
67
previous restlessness and anything other than a
reciprocal dedication was out of the question.
All of Ingela’s marriages contributed different aspects to her character and personality.
Bill encouraged her social development by
introducing her to a whole new way of life,
especially the sports club culture that has
served her so well. In every phase of her
existence since leaving Sweden, she has met
and developed important friendships on the
tennis courts and golf courses of Palm Springs,
L.A., Särö and Cape Town. This is a dimension
that she has added to Kenneth’s life, as he was
the very antithesis of a clubman. And their
wide circle of friends today is largely due to
their enthusiastic participation in club life.
Victor it was who fostered much of her
personal growth and the confidence to develop
a high degree of business acumen through
unstinting love and devotion. He also set in
motion her passion and considerable talent
for building development and renovation by
giving her a free hand in overhauling their
various homes. This has served her well and
has resulted in considerable capital appreciation
in all of her homes through innate design
sense. Although they went their separate ways,
Ingela will always acknowledge the big part
Victor played in her evolution as a successful
American citizen.
Enter Kenneth Keiller stage left, an ideal
candidate for the travel, social, and fun aspects
of life. When they met they recognized the
possibilities of a partnership that could take
them into a new and more carefree phase of
their lives. They had both worked hard, raised
families, lived through life’s travails, and were
ready to enjoy the fruits of their combined
resources. If one accepts the premise that
there are different people for the various
seasons in ones life, then Kenneth appeared to
be a likely choice for the years that lay ahead.
By introducing Ingela to his world in Särö,
he was also the catalyst behind her return to
her Swedish heritage. This included a loving
relationship with her mother Maiki living in
nearby Kungsbacka.
17: Särö
S
ärö is a tiny coastal resort south of
Gothenburg, with origins stretching back into
history when it had close links with Swedish
Royalty. It is untainted by the mad rush of
progress, unfettered by the country’s slide into
Socialistic mediocrity and unhindered by the
traffic, crowds and pollution of city life. Here
old money reigns supreme, and outranks mere
wealth for most of its parochial residents. Särö
is to Sweden, what Martha’s Vineyard is to
America, and was the playground of Kenneth’s
youth when his uncle consorted with King
Gustav V. Every year they spend the summer
months there, and on the 4th July they always
pay homage to their American affiliation by
holding a lively Independence Day party. Over
100 guests are entertained by a Bacchanalian
buffet held in a massive marquee, and revellers
from all over the world celebrate an annual
occasion that puts the joie into joie de vivre.
As their dependency on Särö increased, so
did the Seychelles become obsolete. Kenneth
eventually sold Soleil Dór, and his Särö
penthouse in order to buy a property more
suited to the needs of their annual migration.
Thus did the Keiller’ search for their alternative
residence begin.
Ingela's 50th Birthday with Kenneth in Sweden 1993.
68
Properties in this prestigious enclave are
the most highly prized on the West Coast, and
seldom come onto the market. Furthermore
his search was made more difficult by the fact
that he needed access to the sea to feed his
maritime ambitions. Eventually they stumbled
on a house with an excellent position atop a
commanding hill with spectacular views and
a private jetty. The house had really modest
accommodations, but had huge potential and
a sensational vista. The deal was closed, they
18: Cape Town
E
ventually, Kenneth’s problems with the
Reserve Bank were resolved, and he was able
to return to his beloved Cape Town. Initially
they stayed in Francesca’s old apartment below
Livingroom in Särö.
re-named the property Villa Sommmerlust,
and they set about converting it into the
showpiece of their vision. The lounge on the
upper level was extended when a Bay window
replaced an impractical balcony. At the back
of the house a structure was built that gave
them an extra garage below, elongated length
on the entertainment level, and a generous
billiard room above that. The ceilings were
raised adding to the luxurious sense of space,
and the wooden deck outside was replaced by
russet slate tiles from India. By building onto
the existing double garage, they were also able
to create a compact little apartment with two
bedrooms, a kitchen, en suite bathrooms and a
sitting room. Once again Ingela was given free
reign to give expression to her considerable
decorating talent, and she came up with a
stunning blend of antiques, drapes, paintings
and furnishings all coordinated with great
artistic flair. And at the bottom of the garden,
Kenneth’s pride and joy - La Stravaganza - a
powerful 480hp Storebro Royal Cruiser, lay
moored below.
Kenneth and Ingela at the house in Steenberg, Cape Town 2004.
Livingroom with fireplace in Cape Town.
At the house in Steenberg, Cape Town 2004.
69
Our house in Cape Town.
the penthouse at La Camargue. Requiring
something more substantial, they bought a
beautiful seafront apartment in a development
on the President in Bantry Bay. It featured a
very large but impractical wrap around balcony,
and they realized that by enclosing this area
they could greatly increase the size and value
of the property. Kenneth immediately swung
into action doing what he does best, fighting
with bureaucracy – in
this case the building’s
body corporate. After
a protracted battle they
gave in, and for very little
cost they got a den, a bar
and an extra dining area.
The President
apartment served
them well, and they
commenced entertaining
on a grand scale once
more. But Ingela was
never really happy in the
Cape. She felt that her
friends back home had
bent over backwards
Thomas in Royal Ride.
to welcome Kenneth,
but most of his pals had not done the same
in South Africa. Despite their considerable
efforts at entertaining, there weren’t too many
reciprocal invitations, and she also fell prey
to the cultural differences just as he had done
years before in L.A.
After they had been in the President for
three years, Ingela started playing golf at
the Steenberg estate with Vonnie Spargo.
This appeared to offer a similar lifestyle to
their home in Desert Horizons. and she was
immediately hooked. She also thought that
living on a golf estate with its clubhouse and
population of like-minded residents might
improve her social position. The problem was
how to get Kenneth out
of his comfort zone
back in Bantry Bay. The
answer lay in the fact that
they allowed golf carts
on their course, and he
took the bait like a blue
finned tunny. Ingela went
into executive overdrive,
the President apartment
was sold at a healthy
profit, and before he
knew it he was teeing off
from a beautiful house
overlooking a lush green
fairway on one of the
most prestigious golf
estates in South Africa.
Steenberg ushered in much happier times
and her hunch about the clubhouse activities
proved to be well founded. Kenneth also
found great pleasure cruising around the
estate in a golf cart sporting an imitation Rolls
Royce grill. Ingela, the compulsive renovator
70
Ninna, Kenneth Brolin, Wayne Florian, Ingela, Kerstin Florian and Kenneth.
and decorator put her distinctive flair into to
the house with exquisite furnishings, drapes
and objets d’art. They also converted a large
patio into a billiard room by the addition of a
retractable glass screen, as well as converting
some unproductive space behind the garage
into an extra suite that included a small office.
As in all their other architectural adventures,
their combined panache resulted in an abode
of singular charm.
For a couple of years, they enjoyed
Steenberg to the full, but they were splitting
each year between Indian Wells, Särö, and Cape
considerably against the dollar, meant a
potential trebling of their investment. With
a heavy heart and great reluctance Kenneth
agreed to sell this home, but his spirits were
shored up by great capital appreciation
linked to some wonderful memories. At an
emotional farewell party, at the clubhouse
which was packed with relatives and friends,
Kenneth brought the curtain down on his
long association with South Africa on the 21st
February, 2005.
Fritz, Seppi with Ingrid, Ingela and Dorothy.
Town. And as much as Ingela enjoyed life
on the estate, she never felt the same degree
of rapport with Capetonians as she enjoyed
with her friends in the other two countries.
The property boom at the time had doubled
the value of the Steenberg house, and as they
had purchased the property when the rand
was weak, they fact that it had strengthened
Kenneth in kilt with Ingela at home in Streenberg SA 2005.
71
into a major problem, when the town planners
wanted to extend Eldorado Drive through the
centre of the site to link up with Interstate
Highway 10. This setback went away when
Boone made a $2,000,000 payment into the
Palm Desert City coffers. The Toscana Country
Club was now cleared for takeoff.
After an expensive two year delay, Jack
Nicklaus was brought in to plan the two
eighteen - hole courses, one of which was to be
a unique Desert design with verdant fairways
set into attractively landscaped sand and rock
surrounds. The traditional course was finished
19: The Toscana
Country Club
T
he one thing the Keillers share is a
passion for property, and somewhere in
Ingela’s ancestry there must have been a
Bedouin or two. Luckily, Kenneth has the same
Entrance at Toscana Country Club.
first, and houses began to spring up along its
perimeter. Ingela swung into executive mode
as she planned her new house down to the last
detail, even plotting the electrical layout whilst
cruising on their boat in Särö. What came out
of the ground was a truly magnificent edifice
in a glorious setting as the barren land was
transformed into a luxuriant green vista, dotted
with palm trees, lakes and a rugged panoramic
backdrop formed by the Santa Rosa Mountain
Range surrounding Indian Wells.
disposition and a similar penchant for property
development. For some time she had been
watching a large tract of land singled out for
a spectacular new Country Club Estate to be
built around two golf courses. She went ahead
and bought a site in what was nothing more
than 650 acres of dirt and sand, guided by her
uncanny instincts for real estate opportunities.
Bill Boone the developer already had an
impressive track record, and was also a pivotal
factor in her decision. The project soon ran
72
Our pool and view at Toscana.
They sold their house in Desert Horizons
at a profit, and their very good friends Kerstin
and Wayne Florian had also made the decision
to move
from Desert
Horizon to
Toscana.
They moved
into their
new abode
which was in
a war zone
at the time
as frenetic
building
operations
continued
along the
length of
Via Chianti
– their street
Maki and Lars at new house in Toscana 2007.
in the new
estate. Two years later, with peace restored to
their lives, a beautiful fairway in front of their
sandstone patio, and a wide circle of friends
old and new, they enjoy a golfer’s paradise that
more than justifies the faith behind their bold
decision. Building operations have moved on to
more remote areas of the estate, contractors are
finishing the second nine holes of the unique
Desert course,
and best of all
the planned
50,000 square
ft clubhouse
complete
with Olympic
swimming
pool, tennis
courts, spa and
gymnasium,
gets underway
soon. The
beautiful
facility in
use at the
moment, with
its atmospheric
restaurant, bar,
and locker rooms will remain.
Once completed, the Toscana Country Club
will be one of the finest in the Desert, if not in
the whole of America.
73
Victor and Ingela in Acapulco 1968.
Ingela and her mother Maiki 1968.
Ingela just divorced 1966.
Kenneth and Ingela with Annika, Hunter and Aiden 2006,
So for now, the Keillers are settled, seated and satisfied. But when the
time comes, I wouldn’t bet against a final development as they redefine
life in some frail care facility with some new daring and innovative
concept. Together they have realized all the promise of those adrenaline
charged days when they met way back in Särö. Setting off from
unhappy origins in Sweden, Ingela has become the embodiment of the
great American Dream. In Kenneth she has found a companion who
has similarly triumphed against life’s many obstacles, to reach a space
where life can be celebrated by enjoying it to its fullest extent. Together
they travel, laugh, love and squabble as lovers in full bloom……….
And can there be a better conclusion than that.
74
The Butchers Daughter
A personal history of Ingela Keiller
The text for this book is produced in Microsoft Word written by Roy Watts,
the pictures are processed in Adobe PhotoShop and the original artwork is done
with Adobe Illustrator. The typsetting and layout are made in Adobe InDesign by Björn Laessker.
The fonts used are:
Bodytype - Garamond Regular
Text headings - Garamond and Garamond Premier Pro
Chapter headings - Brush Script Std
Captions - Giddyup Std
The coverdesign is created by Vanessa-Gaye Schiff.
The book is printed at SG Zetterqvist Printinghouse AB, body on 150 gram Multiart Gloss,
cover on 150 gram Multiart Gloss glued on 1250 gram cardboard and
dustcover on 150 gram Multiart Gloss.