Ava Gardner(1922-1990)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ava Lavina Gardner was born on December 24, 1922 in Grabtown, North
Carolina, to Mary Elizabeth (née Baker) and Jonas Bailey Gardner. Born
on a tobacco farm, where she got her lifelong love of earthy language
and going barefoot, Ava grew up in the rural South. At age 18, her
picture in the window of her brother-in- law's New York photo studio
brought her to the attention of MGM, leading quickly to Hollywood and a
film contract based strictly on her beauty. With zero acting
experience, her first 17 film roles, 1942-1945, were one-line bits or
little better. After her first starring role in B-grade
Whistle Stop (1946), MGM loaned her
to Universal for her first outstanding film
The Killers (1946). Few of her best
films were made at MGM which, keeping her under contract for 17 years,
used her popularity to sell many mediocre films. Perhaps as a result,
she never believed in her own acting ability, but her latent talent
shone brightly when brought out by a superior director, as with
John Ford in
Mogambo (1953) and
George Cukor in
Bhowani Junction (1956).
After three failed marriages, dissatisfaction with Hollywood life prompted Ava to move to Spain in 1955; most of her subsequent films were made abroad. By this time, stardom had made the country girl a cosmopolitan, but she never overcame a deep insecurity about acting and life in the spotlight. Her last quality starring film role was in The Night of the Iguana (1964), her later work being (as she said) strictly "for the loot". In 1968, tax trouble in Spain prompted a move to London, where she spent her last 22 years in reasonable comfort. Her film career did not bring her great fulfillment, but her looks may have made it inevitable; many fans still consider her the most beautiful actress in Hollywood history. Ava Gardner died at age 67 of bronchial pneumonia on January 25, 1990 in Westminister, London, England.
After three failed marriages, dissatisfaction with Hollywood life prompted Ava to move to Spain in 1955; most of her subsequent films were made abroad. By this time, stardom had made the country girl a cosmopolitan, but she never overcame a deep insecurity about acting and life in the spotlight. Her last quality starring film role was in The Night of the Iguana (1964), her later work being (as she said) strictly "for the loot". In 1968, tax trouble in Spain prompted a move to London, where she spent her last 22 years in reasonable comfort. Her film career did not bring her great fulfillment, but her looks may have made it inevitable; many fans still consider her the most beautiful actress in Hollywood history. Ava Gardner died at age 67 of bronchial pneumonia on January 25, 1990 in Westminister, London, England.
