Ava Gardner

Overview

Born
December 24, 1922 · Grabtown, North Carolina, USA
Died
January 25, 1990 · Westminster, London, England, UK (bronchial pneumonia)
Birth name
Ava Lavinia Gardner
Nicknames
- Snowdrop
- Angel
- The Christmas Eve Girl
- The World's Most Beautiful Animal
Height
5′ 6″ (1.68 m)

Mini bio

Ava Lavinia Gardner was born on December 24, 1922 in Grabtown, North Carolina, to Mary Elizabeth (née Baker) and Jonas Bailey Gardner. Born on a tobacco farm, where she got her lifelong love of earthy language and going barefoot, Ava grew up in the rural South. At age 18, her picture in the window of her brother-in- law's New York photo studio brought her to the attention of MGM, leading quickly to Hollywood and a film contract based strictly on her beauty. With zero acting experience, her first 17 film roles, 1942-1945, were one-line bits or little better. After her first starring role in B-grade Whistle Stop (1946), MGM loaned her to Universal for her first outstanding film The Killers (1946). Few of her best films were made at MGM which, keeping her under contract for 17 years, used her popularity to sell many mediocre films. Perhaps as a result, she never believed in her own acting ability, but her latent talent shone brightly when brought out by a superior director, as with John Ford in Mogambo (1953) and George Cukor in Bhowani Junction (1956).

After three failed marriages, dissatisfaction with Hollywood life prompted Ava to move to Spain in 1955; most of her subsequent films were made abroad. By this time, stardom had made the country girl a cosmopolitan, but she never overcame a deep insecurity about acting and life in the spotlight. Her last quality starring film role was in The Night of the Iguana (1964), her later work being (as she said) strictly "for the loot". In 1968, tax trouble in Spain prompted a move to London, where she spent her last 22 years in reasonable comfort. Her film career did not bring her great fulfillment, but her looks may have made it inevitable; many fans still consider her the most beautiful actress in Hollywood history. Ava Gardner died at age 67 of bronchial pneumonia on January 25, 1990 in Westminister, London, England.
- IMDb mini biography by: Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Family

Spouses
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademarks

Known off-screen for bawdy language and humor and free spirit
Dimpled chin and high cheekbones
Natural brunette hair
Sparkling green eyes
Seductive deep voice

Trivia

Once met J.R.R. Tolkien and neither knew why the other was famous.
When shooting Earthquake (1974), she surprised director Mark Robson by insisting that she do her own stuntwork, which included dodging blocks of concrete and heavy steel pipes.
A statue of her from The Barefoot Contessa (1954) was given to Frank Sinatra as a gift. He kept it in his backyard garden well after their divorce. When he married Barbara Sinatra, she forced him to get rid of it.
After her death in 1990, her longtime housekeeper, Carmen Vargas, and her dog, a Welsh Corgi named Morgan, were taken in by her former co-star Gregory Peck.
Frank Sinatra bought her a puppy for her birthday during their courtship, a Corgi she named Rags. For the rest of her life she always had a Corgi with her. After Rags died, she had Cara and then Morgan.

Quotes

All I ever got out of any of my marriages was the two years Artie Shaw financed on an analyst's couch.
I have only one rule in acting--trust the director and give him heart and soul.
When I lose my temper, honey, you can't find it any place.
I don't understand people who like to work and talk about it like it was some sort of goddamn duty. Doing nothing feels like floating on warm water to me. Delightful, perfect.
I must have seen more sunrises than any other actress in the history of Hollywood.