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Ava Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress.

Ava Lavinia Gardner was born in the small farming community of Brogden, Johnston County, North Carolina, the last of seven children of poor tobacco farmers; her mother was a Baptist of Scots-Irish descent, while her father, Jonas Bailey Gardner, was an Irish American Catholic.

An MGM talent scout saw Gardner's photo in a New York shop window where she had begun as a fashion model., Soon she was signed up with the studio and in Hollywood. She went through MGM's "in-house finishing school," but the studio "then all but lost sight of her."* "Movie Stars: The odd and amazing careers of Ava Gardner, Barbra Streisand, Patricia Neal and Ed Sullivan," short reviews by By Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World, Sunday, July 2, 2006; Page BW08, "One Woman Riot" section, reviewing Lee Server's "Ava Gardner: 'Love Is Nothing'"

Gardner made several movies before 1946, but it wasn't until she starred in The Killers opposite Burt Lancaster, that she became known as a movie star and sex symbol. She was married to Mickey Rooney at 19 years in 1941 (they divorced in 1943), mainly because Rooney wouldn't give up his partying ways, then to Artie Shaw from 1945 to 1946, and to Frank Sinatra from 1951 to 1957. She was regarded as one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood. She was romanced by billionaire Howard Hughes who bought her diamonds and had her followed by private detectives. When Gardner broke off their relationship, and started dating the actor, Howard Duff, Hughes responded by having a car that he had purchased for her, taken apart, piece by piece and left in her driveway.

Frank Sinatra left his wife, Nancy, for Ava and their subsequent marriage made headlines. Sinatra was treated poorly by the gossip columnists (Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons), the Hollywood establishment and his fans for leaving his "good wife" for this exotic, femme-fatale. His career suffered while Ava's prospered - the headlines only solidified her sexy screen siren image. The marriage to Sinatra was stormy - passionate fighting, jealousy, numerous separations. Gardner used her considerable clout to get Sinatra cast in his Oscar-winning role in "From Here To Eternity." That role and the award revitalized Sinatra's acting and singing careers. During their marriage, Ava became pregnant, but terminated the pregnancy due to the volatility of her marriage. She had always wanted children, but she said years later, "We couldn't even take care of ourselves. How were we going to take care of a baby?" Gardner and Sinatra would remain good friends for the rest of her life.

Gardner was nominated for an Oscar for 1953's Mogambo. She lost to Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Many thought Gardner's greatest performance was as Maxine Faulk in The Night of the Iguana, for which she was not nominated. Grayson Hall, as the funny Miss Judith Fellowes, however, was nominated, in the best supporting actress category.

"Off-camera, she gave off sparks of wit, as in her assessment of John Ford, who directed her in Mogambo: 'The meanest man on earth. Thoroughly evil. Adored him!'"* "Movie Stars: The odd and amazing careers of Ava Gardner, Barbra Streisand, Patricia Neal and Ed Sullivan," short reviews by By Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World, Sunday, July 2, 2006; Page BW08, "One Woman Riot" section, reviewing Lee Server's "Ava Gardner: 'Love Is Nothing'"

Gardner also had a recurring role as Ruth Galveston on the television series Knots Landing in 1985.

After a stroke in 1989, which left her partially paralyzed and bedridden, Frank Sinatra paid her medical expenses. She died of pneumonia in London, England at the age of 67 in 1990.

Gardner is interred in the Sunset Memorial Park, Smithfield, North Carolina; the town of Smithfield now has an Ava Gardner Museum.

Trivia

  • Ava Gardner is known to have convinced Mercedes-Benz, through mishap, to re-design the doors of the 300SL "Gullwing" to more conventional swing-outs in 1962, after she rolled hers, and could not exit.
  • She met author J.R.R. Tolkien at Oxford University in November 1964. Neither was aware of the fame of the other.
  • Gardner was portrayed by Kate Beckinsale in The Aviator (2004). In the 1998 TV movie The Rat Pack she was portrayed by Deborah Kara Unger.
  • "What Server (a biographer of Gardner's) calls 'her often desperate joie de vivre' inspired the one-woman riot played by Anita Ekberg in Fellini's La Dolce Vita."* "Movie Stars: The odd and amazing careers of Ava Gardner, Barbra Streisand, Patricia Neal and Ed Sullivan," short reviews by By Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World,
Sunday, July 2, 2006; Page BW08, "One Woman Riot" section, reviewing Lee Server's "Ava Gardner: 'Love Is Nothing'"
  • In her autobiography, Ava: My Story, Gardner, a native Southerner, displayed a long memory for slights by recalling that when The Barefoot Contessa was released in 1954, "a lot of people thought it was either too talky or, like the good folks in Tupelo, Mississippi — birthplace of Elvis Presley, who banned it from their town, too risqué for public consumption."

Filmography

References

External links

1922 births | 1990 deaths | American actors | Best Actress Academy Award nominees | Film actors | American models

Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner | エヴァ・ガードナー | Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner | Ava Gardner

 

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