Ava Gardner, Goddess of the Golden Age Options

[CarMELita]

Bio taken from wikipedia.org - I've shorten it, just go to wikipedia to find the whole one ...

Ava Gardner

Born: 24 December 1922
Brogden, North Carolina, USA
Died: 25 January 1990
Westminster, London, England

Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.

Gardner was born in the small farming community of Brogden, Johnston County, North Carolina, the youngest 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.

In 1941, a Loews Theatres legal clerk, Barnard "Barney" Duhan, spotted Gardner's photo in the Tarr Photography Studio on 5th Avenue in New York. The photo had been taken in 1939 by the proprietor, Ava's brother-in-law Larry Tarr, who was married to Ava's older sister, Bappie. At the time, Duhan often posed as an MGM talent scout to meet girls, using the fact that Loews was a subsidiary of MGM. Duhan entered Tarr's and tried to get Ava's number, but was rebuffed by the receptionist. Duhan made the offhand comment that "Somebody should send her info to MGM," and the Tarr's did so immediately. Shortly after, Ava, who at the time was a student at Atlantic Christian College, travelled to New York to be interviewed at MGM's New York office. She was offered a standard contract by MGM, and Ava left school for Hollywood in 1941, with her sister Bappie accompanying her.

Soon after her arrival in LA, she met Mickey Rooney, and was married at the age of 19 on January 10, 1942 in Ballard, California. 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. (Rooney and Gardner divorced in 1943 mainly because Rooney wouldn't give up his partying ways). Rooney later rhapsodised about Gardner's performance in bed, though upon hearing this Gardner retorted 'Well honey, he may have enjoyed the sex, but I sure as hell didn't.' After they were divorced she was pursued by Howard Hughes who offered her any sum she named, as much jewelry as she wanted and movie stardom if she married him. Of Hughes, Gardner said 'I just never liked Howard. Apart from the fact that he smelled like a sewer, he so irritated me I once knocked him out with a paperweight.' Hughes had her followed by private detectives and when Gardner broke off their relationship and started dating actor Howard Duff he responded by having a car that he had purchased for her, taken apart, piece by piece and left in her driveway. Her second marriage was to Artie Shaw from 1945 to 1946 and it was even more disastrous than the first, and it was during this marriage that Gardner began to drink and take refuge in therapy. The third and last was to Frank Sinatra from 1951 to 1957.

Frank Sinatra left his wife, Nancy, for Ava and their subsequent marriage made headlines. Sinatra was treated poorly by gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, the Hollywood establishment, and Sinatra's 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 (1953). That role and the award revitalized Sinatra's acting and singing careers. During their marriage, Ava became pregnant, but she 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.

She divorced Sinatra in 1957 and headed to Spain where her friendship with Ernest Hemingway led to her becoming a fan of bullfighting, and bullfighters. 'It was a sort of madness, honey' she said later of the time. Three months after the divorce her legendary beauty was damaged when a drunken visit to the Andalusian bull ranch of Angelo Peralta, a friend of Hemingway's, led to her being thrown from a horse, damaging the right side of her face. The right-side of her face was never the same and she subsequently became afraid of the camera, and even the gaze of friends.

Gardner was nominated for an Oscar for Mogambo (1953). She lost to Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Many thought Gardner's greatest performance was as Maxine Faulk in The Night of the Iguana (1964), for which she was not nominated. Grayson Hall, as the repressed 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!'"[2]

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

She moved to London in 1968, undergoing a hysterectomy to allay her worries of contracting the uterine cancer that had killed her mother. After a stroke in 1989, which left her partially paralyzed and bedridden, Frank Sinatra paid her $50,000 medical expenses. Her last words were 'I'm tired' to her housekeeper Carmen. She died of pneumonia in London, England at the age of 67 in 1990. After her death, Sinatra's daughter found him slumped in his room, face wet with tears, unable to raise his voice above a whisper.

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

Filmography takne from imdb.com

# Harem (1986) (TV) .... Kadin
# The Long Hot Summer (1985) (TV) .... Minnie Littlejohn
# "Knots Landing" .... Ruth Galveston (1985)
- One Day in a Row (1985) TV Episode .... Ruth Galveston
- A Price to Pay (1985) TV Episode .... Ruth Galveston
# "A.D." (1985) (mini) TV Series .... Agrippina
... aka A.D. - Anno Domini
# Regina Roma (1982) .... Mama
... aka Regina (USA: video title)
# Priest of Love (1981) .... Mabel Dodge Luhan
# The Kidnapping of the President (1980) .... Beth Richards

# City on Fire (1979) .... Maggie Grayson
# The Sentinel (1977) .... Miss Logan
# The Cassandra Crossing (1976) .... Nicole Dressler
... aka Cassandra Crossing (Italy) (West Germany)
... aka Treffpunkt Todesbrücke (West Germany)
# The Blue Bird (1976) .... Luxury
... aka Sinyaya ptitsa (Soviet Union: Russian title)
# Permission to Kill (1975) .... Katina Petersen
... aka The Executioner (USA)
# Earthquake (1974) .... Remy Royce-Graff
# The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) .... Lily Langtry
# Tam Lin (1970) .... Michaela Cazaret
... aka The Ballad of Tam-Lin
... aka The Devil's Widow (USA)
... aka The Devil's Woman

# Mayerling (1968) .... Empress Elizabeth
# The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966) .... Sarah
... aka Bibbia, La (Italy)
... aka The Bible (USA: short title)
# The Night of the Iguana (1964) .... Maxine Faulk
# Seven Days in May (1964) .... Eleanor 'Ellie' Holbrook
# 55 Days at Peking (1963) .... Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
# The Angel Wore Red (1960) .... Soledad
... aka Sposa bella, La (Italy)

# On the Beach (1959) .... Moira Davidson
# The Naked Maja (1958) .... Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba
... aka Maja desnuda, La (Italy)
... aka Maja nue, La (France)
# The Sun Also Rises (1957) .... Lady Brett Ashley
# The Little Hut (1957) .... Lady Susan Ashlow
# Bhowani Junction (1956) .... Victoria Jones
# The Barefoot Contessa (1954) .... Maria Vargas
... aka Contessa scalza, La (Italy)
# Mogambo (1953) .... Eloise Y. 'Honey Bear' Kelly
# Ride, Vaquero! (1953) .... Cordelia Cameron
# Knights of the Round Table (1953) .... Guinevere
# The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) .... Cynthia Green
... aka Ernest Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro (USA: complete title)
# Lone Star (1952) .... Martha Ronda
# Show Boat (1951) .... Julie LaVerne
# My Forbidden Past (1951) .... Barbara Beaurevel
... aka Carriage Entrance (USA)
# Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) .... Pandora Reynolds

# East Side, West Side (1949) .... Isabel Lorrison
# The Great Sinner (1949) .... Pauline Ostrovsky
# The Bribe (1949) .... Elizabeth Hintten
# One Touch of Venus (1948) .... Venus & Venus Jones
# The Hucksters (1947) .... Jean Ogilvie
# Singapore (1947) .... Linda Grahame/Ann Van Leyden
# The Killers (1946) .... Kitty Collins
... aka A Man Alone
... aka Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (USA: complete title)
# Whistle Stop (1946) .... Mary
# She Went to the Races (1945) .... Hilda Spotts
# Music for Millions (1944) (uncredited) .... Musician
# Blonde Fever (1944) (uncredited) .... Bit Role
# Maisie Goes to Reno (1944) .... Gloria Fullerton
... aka You Can't Do That to Me (UK)
# Three Men in White (1944) .... Jean Brown
# Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) (uncredited) .... Rockette with Pvt. Adams
# Lost Angel (1943) (uncredited) .... Hat Check Girl
# Swing Fever (1943) (uncredited) .... Receptionist
... aka Right About Face (USA)
# Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) (uncredited) .... Extra
# Young Ideas (1943) (uncredited) .... Co-ed
# Ghosts on the Loose (1943) .... Betty Williams Gibson
... aka Ghosts in the Night (UK)
... aka The East Side Kids Meet Bela Lugosi
# Hitler's Madman (1943) (uncredited) .... Franciska Pritric a Student
... aka Hitler's Hangman
# Reunion in France (1942) (uncredited) .... Marie, a salesgirl
... aka Mademoiselle France (UK)
... aka Reunion
# Mighty Lak a Goat (1942) .... Girl at the Bijou box office
# Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942) (uncredited) .... Graduating student at Miss Hope's
# Sunday Punch (1942) (uncredited) .... Ringsider
# Kid Glove Killer (1942) (uncredited) .... Car Hop
# This Time for Keeps (1942) (uncredited) .... Girl in car lighting cigarette
... aka Over the Waves (USA: TV title)
# Joe Smith, American (1942) (uncredited)
... aka Highway to Freedom (UK)
# We Do It Because- (1942) (uncredited) .... Girl to left of wine taster
# H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941) (uncredited) .... Young Socialite
# Fancy Answers (1941) (uncredited) .... Girl at Recital
... aka Fancy Answers: What's Your I.Q. - No. 5 (USA: complete title)

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[CarMELita]

Some more pics of Ava ...

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[LarryO]

A couple are alternate scans of previously posted images.

[CarMELita]

A couple are alternate scans of previously posted images.

Thank you, Larry!!!!

[midnight lady]

She's very beautiful in some pics

[PAL]

She was the hottest women of her time!!!

Without a doubt. "They" said she was a man in a woman's body.

I know that she drove Sinatra crazy......................

[CarMELita]

She was the hottest women of her time!!!

Without a doubt. "They" said she was a man in a woman's body.

I know that she drove Sinatra crazy......................

And Howard Hughes



Few more scans of great quality - thanks to Dr. Macro!

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[srepac]

--

[CarMELita]

thanks to dr. macro!

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[CarMELita]

same source!

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[CarMELita]

[lisa-1]

great collection

[kevinp69]

Beautiful Ava had one of the best pairs of legs in her 1940's/50's heyday She was one vintage babe
good legs in those fishnets too wit-a-woo!!



liked to have seen more of those lovely legs in those days wit-a-woo leggy beauty

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[CarMELita]

Thanks for the pics, Kevin!

Found those on Agent Lee's album at flickr.

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[Korravai]

Definitely one of the most perfect faces I've ever seen.

[CarMELita]

Definitely one of the most perfect faces I've ever seen.

... and one of the most awesome pair of legs

[CarMELita]

From Dr. Macro's site ... did I mention her perfect face? Ah no, you did!

[CarMELita]

Source: Livejournal, classicsdaily

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[Nefertiti]

[CarMELita]

Thanks a lot!!!