AVA GARDNER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Ava Gardner was born with the birth name Ava Lavinia Gardner on December 24th, 1922. She was born in Grabtown, Johnston County, North Carolina and was the youngest of seven children. Her parents were cotton and tobacco farmers who lost their home property when all the children were still very young and both parents were forced to find other work to support the family.
At the age of thirteen, Gardner's parents decided to relocate to another city, Newport News, Virginia. Gardner's mother, Mollie found employment as a manager to a boarding house for the city's ship workers. Her father, Jonas became ill soon after they moved to Virginia and in 1938 passed away from bronchitis.
Following her father's passing, the family relocated again to Wilson, North Carolina where again, Mollie found employment at a boarding house for teachers. Ava completed high school in North Carolina and went on to attend secretarial classes at Atlantic Christian College in Wilson.
In 1941, Gardner took a trip to visit her sister, Beatrice in New York City. Beatrice's husband was a professional photographer and offered to take a portrait of Gardner. He was so pleased with the outcome, he displayed her photo in his front window of his studio.
Soon after, Barbard Duhan, a legal clerk for Loews Theatres spotted her portrait in the window on fifth avenue and he tried to convince the Tarr's to give him Gardner's contact info. However, they were reluctant to do so. Instead, Duhan told them that if they reconsidered that they should send Gardner to MGM for consideration.
The Tarr's convinced Gardner, who was still studying at the secretarial school to take a chance and travel to New York to visit the MGM office. Gardner did so and as immediately offered a standard contract.
She appeared in small roles with her new contract with MGM and then she was cast in, "The Killers" (1946) which got her major attention as one of Hollywood's most beautiful actresses and woman of her day. She took on other roles as well as such, "The Hucksters" (1947), "Show Boat" (1951) and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (1952). Great roles followed such as her role in, "Mogambo" (1953) which earned Gardner a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress, however, Audrey Hepburn won the award for her role in, "Roman Holiday".
Also, just shortly after she relocated to Los Angeles, Gardner met another actor, Mickey Rooney who was also on contract with MGM and they were married on January 10th, 1942 when Gardner was only nineteen years old. However, only 1 year later, the couple divorced. Gardner went on to marry Artie Shaw, a jazz musician in 1945, but again, this marriage only lasted one year. Her third marriage and also her last was to, Frank Sinatra, a famous singer and actor. He actually left his wife Nancy for Gardner, and his career and public fan base did suffer slightly due to him making that choice, however, Gardner always said he was the love of her life and this marriage only helped boost her career and stardom.
Gardner became pregnant twice during her marriage to Frank Sinatra, but both times chose to have an abortion. The marriage ended in divorce in 1957, but the couple remained friends. Gardner did help get Sinatra his Oscar winning role on, "From Here to Eternity" (1953) which brought back his demand and increased his popularity.
Gardner continued to take on roles in such films as, "The Barefoot Contessa" (1954) "Bhowani Junction" (1956), "On the Beach" (1959) and "The Night of the Iguana" (1964) for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award and Golden Globe.
In 1968, Gardner moved to London to undergo surgery. She had elected to have a hysterectomy to avoid ever contracting uterine cancer which had taken her mothers life.
As Gardner's career entered the 70's, she worked on some films not as successful as those of her past. Some examples were, "Earthquake" (1974), "The Cassandra Crossing" (1976) and "City on Fire" (1979).
Her last film was, "Regina Roma" (1982) which never aired on the big screen and instead went straight to DVD release. She took a chance with her career on television with roles on, "The Long Hot Summer" (1985) and "Knots Landing" (1985).
Ava Lavinia Gardner passed away in her home in London on January 25th, 1990 from pneumonia at the age of 67, following several years of declining health. Gardner was buried in the Sunset Memorial Park, Smithfield, North Carolina, next to her brothers and their parents.
Gardner is listed as 25th among the American Film Institute's Greatest Female Stars.
Filmography
1941 Shadow of the Thin Man
1941 H.M. Pulham, Esq.
1941 Babes on Broadway
1941 Fancy Answers
1942 We Do It Because-
1942 Mighty Lak a Goat
1942 Joe Smith - American
1942 This Time for Keeps
1942 Kid Glove Killer
1942 Sunday Punch
1942 Calling Dr. Gillespie
1942 Reunion in France
1943 Hitler's Madman
1943 Ghosts on the Loose
1943 Young Ideas
1943 Du Barry Was a Lady
1943 Swing Fever
1943 Lost Angel
1944 Two Girls and a Sailor
1944 Three Men in White
1944 Maisie Goes to Reno
1944 Blonde Fever
1945 She Went to the Races
1946 Whistle Stop
1946 The Killers
1947 Singapore
1947 The Hucksters
1948 One Touch of Venus
1949 The Bribe
1949 The Great Sinner
1949 East Side, West Side
1949 Some of the Best
1951 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
1951 My Forbidden Past
1951 Show Boat
1952 Lone Star
1952 The Snows of Kilimanjaro
1953 Knights of the Round Table
1953 Ride, Vaquero!
1953 The Band Wagon
1953 Mogambo
1953 The Barefoot Contessa
1956 Bhowani Junction
1957 the Little Hut
1957 The Sun Also Rises
1958 The Naked Maja
1959 On the Beach
1960 The Angel Wore Red
1963 55 Days at Peking
1964 Seven Days in May
1964 On the Trail of the Iguana
1964 The Night of the Iguana
1966 The Bible: In The Beginning
1968 Mayerling
1968 Vienna: The Years Remembered
1970 Tam-Lin
1972 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
1974 Earthquake
1975 Permission to Kill
1976 The Blue Bird
1976 The Cassandra Crossing
1977 The Sentinel
1979 City on Fire
1980 The Kidnapping of the President
1981 Priest of Love
1982 Regina Roma
