Isabella Rossellini: From Blue Velvet to Organic Farmer

Isabella Rossellini, daughter of Hollywood royalty Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini, built a career as a top model and star of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet before reinventing herself as an organic farmer. Now 72, she lives on a 28-acre farm in New York, tending chickens and vegetables.

Age: 72 (born June 18, 1952) ·
Net Worth: Estimated $20 million ·
Languages: English, Italian, French ·
Residence: Bellport, New York, USA ·
Occupation: Actress, model, filmmaker, farmer

Seven key facts about Rossellini, from full name to current residence, show the range of a life that spans continents and careers.

What is Isabella Rossellini famous for?

Isabella Rossellini’s fame rests on three pillars: her legendary parents, her career as a model and actress, and her long association with Lancôme. She is the daughter of Swedish screen icon Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini (Golden Globes). That lineage opened doors, but Rossellini built her own name.

Her breakthrough acting role came in 1986 when she starred as Dorothy Vallens in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (Golden Globes). The film earned her a Golden Globe nomination and made her a household name. She followed it with roles in Wild at Heart (1990), Death Becomes Her (1992), and Fearless (1993), among others (TV Guide).

Her modeling career began in the 1970s, and in 1982 she became the face of Lancôme, a role she held for 14 years until 1996, then returned to in 2018 (Vogue). She appeared on the covers of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle, and worked with photographers like Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton.

Rossellini has also received nominations for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a British Academy Film Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award (Wikipedia). She won the Nastro d’Argento award in 1980 and again in 2024 for Best Supporting Actress in La Chimera (MyMovies).

The implication: Rossellini’s fame is not a single chapter — it’s a multi-decade arc that spans fashion, film, and now agriculture, each phase adding a distinct layer to her public identity.

What does Isabella Rossellini do now?

Today, Isabella Rossellini spends most of her time on a 28-acre organic farm in Bellport, New York, called Mamafarm (Vogue). She founded the farm in 2010 and raises chickens, bees, and vegetables while running a bed-and-breakfast on the property. It’s a far cry from the red carpets of Cannes, but Rossellini says she’s found a deeper connection to the land.

She continues to take occasional acting roles and appears in films and television. She also remains active in environmental advocacy, speaking out about sustainable farming and animal welfare. In 2018, she returned to Lancôme as a brand ambassador at age 66, proving that the beauty industry’s age ceiling is more flexible than it often appears (Vogue).

Where does Isabella Rossellini live today?

Rossellini lives on her farm in Bellport, a village on Long Island’s South Shore, about 60 miles east of Manhattan. She shares the property with her daughter, Elettra Wiedemann, and a menagerie of farm animals. A celebrity biography site claims she also lives with her son Roberto Rossellini Jr., but that information has not been confirmed by major publications (Celebrity Birthdays).

What languages does Isabella Rossellini speak?

Rossellini speaks English, Italian, and French fluently (IMDb Biography). She was born in Italy to an Italian father and Swedish mother, grew up in Rome and Paris, and moved to the United States in 1979. She holds dual Italian and American citizenship.

What this means: Rossellini’s current life is a deliberate departure from the celebrity machine. She traded the fashion week circuit for chicken coops, and the trade-off appears to be a genuine one.

What is Isabella Rossellini’s net worth?

Isabella Rossellini’s net worth is estimated at approximately $20 million, according to multiple celebrity wealth trackers. Her income streams include decades of modeling contracts, film and television salaries, endorsement deals with Lancôme, and revenue from Mamafarm.

She is not as wealthy as her mother, Ingrid Bergman, whose net worth at the time of her death was estimated at about $10 million — a figure that reflects a different era of Hollywood economics. By comparison, Elizabeth Taylor’s net worth at death was approximately $600 million, placing Rossellini’s fortune in a more modest bracket relative to mid-century Hollywood royalty.

The pattern: Rossellini’s net worth reflects a career that prioritized creative choices over blockbuster paychecks. She never chased the action-hero or franchise path that inflated many of her peers’ earnings.

Did Isabella Rossellini ever marry?

Yes, Isabella Rossellini was married once. She married Jonathan Wiedemann, a model and later a cinematographer, in 1983. The marriage ended in divorce in 1986 (IMDb Biography). She has not remarried since.

She had a long-term relationship with filmmaker David Lynch, though they never married. She also had a relationship with actor Gary Oldman in the early 1980s, which produced her only child, daughter Elettra Wiedemann, born in 1985.

Did Gary Oldman have a relationship with Isabella Rossellini?

Yes, Gary Oldman and Isabella Rossellini were in a relationship from 1982 to 1983. They had a daughter together, Elettra Wiedemann, who is now an actress and model. The relationship ended before their daughter was born, but Rossellini has spoken publicly about co-parenting.

The trade-off: Rossellini has had high-profile relationships but has chosen to remain unmarried since her divorce. She lives on her farm with her daughter and focuses on her work and advocacy, rather than a public romantic life.

Is Isabella Rossellini LGBTQ?

No, Isabella Rossellini is heterosexual and has been in relationships with men only throughout her life. She has never publicly identified as LGBTQ.

The question may arise because she has portrayed LGBTQ characters in film and television, including a role in the 2018 film Vita & Virginia about the relationship between Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. Rossellini has also been a vocal ally of LGBTQ rights and has worked with queer filmmakers.

The catch: Rossellini’s willingness to play queer characters and her long-standing support for LGBTQ causes have led some to assume she identifies as part of the community. In reality, she is an ally, not a member — a distinction that matters for accuracy but does not diminish her advocacy.

Isabella Rossellini’s life is a case study in the value of reinvention. She could have coasted on her parents’ legacy, or on her own fame from Blue Velvet and Lancôme. Instead, she chose a path that few in Hollywood would consider: trading the spotlight for a tractor, and finding a different kind of fulfillment in the soil. For anyone watching from the outside, the takeaway is clear: Rossellini’s path shows that fame is not a destination but a raw material, and what she has built with it on her farm is a testament to her reinvention.