Ava Gardner

Background

Ava Lavinia Gardner was born on December 24, 1922, in Grabtown, North Carolina, to Mary Elizabeth and Jonas Bailey Gardner, poor tobacco sharecroppers. She was of English and Scots-Irish descent, born into a large family, and had six siblings. When she was young, her parents lost their home. They then relocated to Newport News, Virginia. In 1938, Gardner’s father died. She was 15, and the family moved to Rock Ridge, where she went to high school, graduating in 1939.

Gardner’s career began when she visited her sister in 1940, and her brother-in-law, a photographer, decided to take her portraits. The images turned out so well that he hoisted them in front of his shop, which attracted the interest of a lawyer who asked them to send her details to M.G.M. Gardner got interviewed by M.G.M. and offered a standard contract by the production company. In 1942, she made her feature film debut in “We Are Dancing.” In “Ghosts on the Loose” the following year, Gardner received her first screen credit. Gardner’s femme fatale role in “The Killers” (1946) earned her prominence. In the ‘50s, she appeared in “Show Boat” (1951), “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (1952), “Bhowani Junction” (1956), e.t.c. In the ‘60s, she played Soledad in “The Angel Wore Red” (1960) and Maxine Faulk in the critically acclaimed “The Night of the Iguana” (1964). Gardner’s performance as Faulk earned her a Golden Globe ‘Best Actress’ nomination and a BAFTA ‘Best Leading Actress’ nomination.

Gardner was a fantastic actress who appeared in 70 film productions. Her last role was as Diane Webb in the T.V. movie “Maggie” (1986). As a famous actress, there was nothing private about Gardner’s personal life. She married Mickey Rooney in 1942, and they divorced the following year. Her second marriage was to Artie Shaw from 1945 to 1946. In 1951, Gardner married singer Frank Sinatra, and in 1957, they divorced. Before her death, Gardner suffered illnesses that made her partially paralyzed. She died on January 25, 1990, from fibrosing alveolitis and pneumonia. Gardner was survived by family and friends and did not have children.