Ava Gardner

Stars

Actress

Born Ava Lavinnia Gardener on Dec. 24, 1922 in Smithfield, NC

Died Jan. 25, 1990 of pneumonia in London, United Kingdom

Ava Gardner started life as a sharecropper's daughter and rose to fame as a sloe-eyed sensuous beauty whose husbands ranged from Mickey Rooney to Frank Sinatra.

Famed for her natural beauty and understated acting style, she became equally known for the men she attracted. They ranged from orchestra leader Artie Shaw, whom she also married, to Spanish matadors whom she did not.

Never considered a great actress in the classic sense of that word, she brought to her more than 60 pictures a magnetic quality that proved box-office prosperity and earned an Academy Award nomination for her role in 1953's "Mogambo."

Gardner spanned a generation of sex kittens and love goddesses between Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe before settling in Europe in the 1960s.

In an interview in 1982, Gardner said she would happily have traded her career for one happy, long-lasting marriage: "One good man I could love and marry and cook for and make a home for, who would stick around for the rest of my life.

"The trouble was that I was a victim of image," she said. "Because I was promoted as a sort of siren and played all those sexy broads, people made the mistake of thinking I was like that off the screen. They couldn't have been more wrong. . . . I was a country girl and I still have a country girl's rather simple, ordinary values."

— Burt A. Folkart in the Los Angeles Times Jan. 25, 1990

Related stars

Mickey Rooney
Ex-husband
Artie Shaw
Ex-husband
Frank Sinatra
Ex-husband
Norma Shearer
Professional
Burt Lancaster
Costar

Points of interest

Academy Awards

Year	Category	Work
1953	Best Actress	Mogambo	Nomination

Two thoughts about Ava Gardner

“

Does she deserve this star? Uh, yea!!!! By far the most beautiful of the Old School Actresses; you must first understand where she came from to truly appreciate her. She didn't come from millionaires in Philadelphia, attending the finest acting schools and coaches in the industry. She was as poor and underprivileged as you could be, and a Southerner. Despite these things, and not because of them, she still nabbed some of Hollywoods' leading men of the era, as well as creating a name that was known in every home in America and Europe. Saying she wasn't a great actress is like saying that about Julia Roberts. Nobody gives a damn about the opinion of some idiot critic that makes a living judging others hard work. The people loved her and paid to see her in over 65 movies as well as many other roles. Even if it was as much to see her smile and legs as it was to hear her. That in itself is stardom.

” — 3 Ac Awd's, October 9, 2013 at 2:27 p.m.

“

One Sunday afternoon in 1977, as a I was a Wpc - a woman police officer - patrolling - walking - alone in a little London Mews just off Knightsbridge when a an American lady leaned out of her window and told me about someone breaking into cars. Within minutes, the rest of my colleagues arrived and went after the man. The door opened and the Butler summoned me in to a sumptuous house, which of course I could appreciate now but not at 19, and the lovely lady, not overtly made up, but very very friendly asked me to sit down and have some tea,- she laughed when I told her I hated it!. We sat and chatted for the next 3 hours about everything and nothing, weather, London, USA, crime, bellbottoms - l remember that so well,, accents, parts of London,and a few times I went to leave, she asked the Butler to bring more coffee. I didn't think it very odd because believe it or not, many people, especially the titled ladies who lived in Belgravia, Knightsbridge Chelsea were extremely lonely and just welcomed conversation and company. Policing was very different at that time, there was very little crime in that area and if we spent time being community bound. When I eventually left, under protest, she asked me to call again soon as she had had a wonderful afternoon with the " Lovely English Bobette who hates tea".and we laughed and laughed. The butler let me out and whispered to me that he had not seen the Lady smile and be so happy in a very long time and asked me when I would be back!
When I got back to the Police Station, the Sergeant asked me if I had got a statement from Ava Gardner..." Who's Ava Gardner? " I said, in all innocence. The look and silence from 12 male police officers after I asked that question, is an everlasting memory. So I asked again......eventually the Sargeant said " The lady who called you from the window in Trevor Square " How do you know her name " ? I said in total innocence....." Sit down, now I know you are only young but......" After an hour of contributions and drooling from the males about my encounter, I was a little wiser about who I had spoken to, but she was just a lovely but a little lonely lady...... I never did get back to see her. Or give the butler a break, as I was transferred a while later to South of London, a different planet to it's neighbour in Knightsbridge where you never had enough time for a cup of tea even if you had wanted one! I will always remember the lovely warm American lady and her raucous laugh at the " Lovely English Bobette who hated tea".

” — LARAINE KEMPSTER, November 1, 2014 at 1:20 p.m.

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