CarMELita Posted October 24, 2006 Posted October 24, 2006 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 Todesbr Quote
LarryO Posted October 28, 2006 Posted October 28, 2006 A couple are alternate scans of previously posted images. Quote
CarMELita Posted October 28, 2006 Author Posted October 28, 2006 A couple are alternate scans of previously posted images. Thank you, Larry!!!! Quote
midnight lady Posted October 30, 2006 Posted October 30, 2006 She's very beautiful in some pics Quote
PAL Posted October 30, 2006 Posted October 30, 2006 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...................... Quote
CarMELita Posted March 19, 2008 Author Posted March 19, 2008 Thanks for the pics, Kevin! Found those on Agent Lee's album at flickr. Quote
Korravai Posted April 7, 2008 Posted April 7, 2008 Definitely one of the most perfect faces I've ever seen. Quote
CarMELita Posted April 7, 2008 Author Posted April 7, 2008 Definitely one of the most perfect faces I've ever seen. ... and one of the most awesome pair of legs Quote
CarMELita Posted April 8, 2008 Author Posted April 8, 2008 From Dr. Macro's site ... did I mention her perfect face? Ah no, you did! Quote
CarMELita Posted April 24, 2008 Author Posted April 24, 2008 Source: Livejournal, classicsdaily Quote
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