Candice Bergen's Grandkids Are 'Showered with Gifts' & She's 'Thrilled to Embrace' New Role as Granny

Candice Bergen is a long-time award-winning actress. She faced immense heartbreak when she lost her first husband to cancer. But after finding love again, crushing beauty standards, and stepping into her role as a grandmother, Bergen could not be more thrilled with her life as a 76-year-old woman.

Candice Bergen is a renowned actress famous for her fierce role in "Murphy Brown," which made her a five Primetime Emmy Award winner.

Besides her successful acting career, Bergen's personal life was filled with the ups and downs of finding true love and having a family. The actress's first husband, Louis Malle, was a French filmmaker she met in her 30s after she had been by herself for 19 years.

In her book "A Fine Romance," Bergen takes us through her love story with Malle. According to the actress, the courting stage of their relationship was backward.

Instead of the shy texting and long phone calls, Bergen and Malle went for what looked like a honeymoon. The actress wrote that they took a trip to Florance, Italy, and booked a villa with breathtaking views of the city's architecture.

They were joined by Malle's two children from his former relationships. Justin, six at the time, which the filmmaker shared with Canadian actress Alexandra Stewart. Cuote was nine then, and Malle had him with his German mother, Gila von Weitershausen.

Bergen admitted that she had an instant connection with Justine and said Cuote was more reserved, but by the end of the summer, they were as close as the Three Musketeers.

During their beautiful holiday, Malle was filming "My Dinner with Andre," and Bergen got to spend one-on-one time with her stepchildren. The actress said they spent most of their days swimming and picking strawberries, making it the best summer holiday ever.

One day, while the couple sat outside and the kids were asleep, Malle was in awe of the connection Bergen had built with his children, so he asked ever so gently, "If I asked you very politely, would you marry me?".

Bergen said she was delighted but terrified at the same time. After being alone for 19 years, she thought she would have to give up her independence.

But after much thought, she realized she did not have to sacrifice herself to be married to Malle. The couple took a while to decide if they would tie the knot or not.

Conversations went from "maybe we should not get married and say we are, or get married and say we are not," wrote Bergen. After much deliberation, the couple decided to get married.

Bergen described that finding love in her 30s was more assuring because she had gathered enough wisdom to know when a connection was real, and that was what she and Malle experienced.

The "Murphy Brown" alum couldn't have been happier with her decision to marry Malle; she said, "he was really a great love of my life, and we had a great time together. "

The couple lived in Malle's home in France; however, Bergen wanted to change up a few things to make the house feel like home to her.

Malle was genuinely connected to his La Cuale stone home and did not always agree with his wife's changes. Bergen revealed that the pool was fenced with hedges, which made her feel claustrophobic.

She removed the first wall of the hedge but said Malle was not pleased and admitted that it took years before the pool was completely open.

Nonetheless, Bergen tried to add personal decorative pieces to the house that represented them individually, such as antique posters. One was one of a man on a bicycle, which made her think of Malle and his "ever-present" bike, said Bergen.

Apart from the house, the couple enjoyed much quality time together. One of their favorite things to do was cook dinner, and eat outside, then follow it up with a marathon of old movies.

The beginning of Bergen's most special relationship began when she was 39 years old, and she welcomed her daughter Chloe.

Bergen said the birth of her daughter was the "greatest event of her life." Her book took us through the many emotions that filled the room after Chloe was born.

She recalled Chole being brought to her and her husband "wrapped like a burrito" and crying. Malle started singing to her in french, she quieted down, and Bergen couldn't help but get emotional at the sight of them connecting.

When Bergen got to hold Chloe, it was also magical. She remembered sobbing and experiencing a love that she never thought was possible.

The actress spent most of the first year of Chloe's arrival bonding with her. They spent every minute together and started her lullaby that would eventually become Chloe's favorite "I Yuv you" song.

A Long-Distance Marriage and Death

Bergen and Malle were in the same industry and understood how busy and isolating it can sometimes get. In an interview with NPR, the actress opened up about her long-distance marriage and how it affected her family.

From the onset, Bergen admitted that the distance took a toll on her marriage. Malle was in Los Angeles, then Bergen and Chloe were in New York.

The Emmy award-winning actress revealed that she would spend one week in Los Angeles and Malle would be in New York another week, which meant they spent a fortnight apart.

Some weeks would not be the same because of the pace of the film industry, but in addition to the distance, Bergen said there were also power struggles when she became more famous on "Murphy Brown."

The actress also confessed that balancing her marriage, career, and motherhood was challenging. Bergen always chose to put her daughter first despite how difficult it was. However, while trying to navigate their busy life, the Malle family was hit with the tragic news of Malle's cancer diagnosis.

Bergen said the experience of seeing her husband so helpless made her angry. The disease had crippled someone the actress knew to be active, and she could not stand how cruel it was to him.

However, Malle lost his battle with cancer in 1995, leaving behind his three children and wife. But the heartbreaking loss of her husband did not hold her back from finding love again. In 2000 Bergen married her second husband, Marshall Rose.

After the rollercoaster of emotions the actress experienced, Bergen is still as close as ever with her daughter and happy to see her embrace motherhood.

Candice Bergen Becomes a Grandmother

From finding love and stepping into another one of her favorite roles, being a grandmother! When Bergen found out her daughter Chloe was pregnant, she was excited and spread the news like wildfire.

She told People she had been waiting for her daughter to become a mother. Though Bergen said she never forced Chloe into motherhood, she admitted she sneaked in a few hints here and there.

Bergen was there to support her daughter through this life-changing process. Luckily Chloe was blessed to have had a smooth and stress-free pregnancy.

When Chloe welcomed her first son, Arthur Louis Albert, Bergen shared the exciting news on Instagram with a series of images.

One picture showed her daughter holding her baby to her chest in a hospital gown. Another was Arthur meeting their dog, Lloyd. The other shot included Arthur's father, Graham Albert, holding him while wearing a mask.

To paint a picture of how excited Bergen was to welcome her grandson, a source told Closer Weekly that the new grandmother started spoiling him early on.

The source revealed that Bergen had showered Arthur with many gifts and classical books that would last him until he was five.

Not to mention how fashionable the baby will be. Firstly his mother is a contributing editor of Vogue, so she knows the intricacies of fashion. His grandmother has a growing bag collection called BergenBangs.

The mother and daughter have also collaborated on Bergen's hand-painted designer bag collection, "BergenBags." So it is no surprise that Bergen bought her grandson a lot of clothes upon his arrival, but more than anything, the actress is said to have been over the moon about her new role as a grandmother.

The actress was focused on her life as a grandmother and could not have enough of her grandson. She said his arrival was the best thing to have happened in her life.

Chloe and her husband welcomed a daughter Alice Mallealbert in 2022, which makes Bergen a grandmother of two. The actress is more than thrilled to have her grandchildren around her.

As a matter of fact, Bergen loves being a grandmother so much that she revealed she was liaising with Chloe and her husband to let them renovate one of the two barns they have on their land. "That's all I need. That's where I am going to retire said," Bergen.

Bergen has been thrilled with all the change that has come into her life, which has positively changed her attitude towards other parts of herself and life that are changing.

Candice Bergen Is Embracing Change

Bergen has had a multilayered career, from modeling for Vogue and her long-standing acting career. Bergen was often praised for her beauty, and sometimes it felt like it was the only thing people noticed about her.

Her beauty has captured many celebrities, including Henry Kissinger and Frank Sinatra. Bergen was famous and attractive, and some of that attention came with the pressure of preserving her beauty.

However, now that Bergen is older, she could care less about beauty standards; she is not concerned about fame and is humble and comfortable with her current life.

Getting older is also not scaring Bergen; she has gladly accepted this stage of her life and said she knew she could not control it, so there was no reason to be ashamed of it.

Bergen said confidently, "I have white hair and wattle," so she would love to bask in the stage of her life with a smile on her face.

Furthermore, the actress confessed that she grew up with people telling her they remembered how beautiful her other was when she was younger, which Bergen said affected her mother's confidence in many ways as she got older.

So the actress learned early on to live for herself and not for what people wanted. The actress said that being glorified by the masses overshadowed her intellectualism because no one cared about her opinions.

Therefore, it was up to Bergen to hold the bull by the horns and not let anyone hinder her self-development. If people were going to objectify her, then she had nothing to lose but find freedom in her beauty.

The 76-year-old has become an "eternal optimist," a Closer Weekly source revealed. The actress is not concerned about people that are still fixated on her looks anymore.

Even though the title of her memoir, "A Fine Romance," could allude to the actress writing about her relationships, it was also a personal account of how she has grown more confident and fallen in love with herself.

Bergen revealed that in the last 15 years, she has gained over 30 pounds and is not bothered by it. In fact, she came out to declare her love for food. "I live to eat, none of this "I eat to live" stuff," said the actress.

While some women might try everything under the sun to preserve their youth, Bergen said she is glad to be opposite that line. She boldly wrote that she was a champion eater and no carb would be safe around her.

Bergen continues to have a successful career as she has also embraced getting older in some of her roles. Therefore, this phase of her life is all about being the best grandmother and living a happy and fulfilling life.