Ava Gardner

Known for ActingBorn 1922-12-24Died 1990-01-25Grabtown, North Carolina, USA

Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Considered one of the most iconic stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, she was ranked as the 25th greatest female screen legend by the American Film Institute. Initially cast in minor roles, her breakthrough came with the classic film noir The Killers (1946), which established her as a leading lady. Her career flourished in the 1950s with notable performances in films like Mogambo (1953), for which she received an Academy Award nomination, The Barefoot Contessa (1954), and The Night of the Iguana (1964), which earned her a BAFTA nomination. Off-screen, Gardner's personal life and progressive politics attracted significant attention. Her marriages to Mickey Rooney and Artie Shaw were gossiped about, but her tumultuous relationship with Frank Sinatra particularly headlined. Gardner was a strong supporter of racial equality and desegregation, and became a member of the NAACP in 1968. Gardner was a heavy smoker, which deteriorated her health as she grew older. She continued acting in minor roles in the 1980s before she suffered a stroke in 1986 and retired. Gardner moved to Spain and England, where she spent her final years before passing away from bronchopneumonia on January 25, 1990.Read more

Movies & web series

The Costume Designer

I'm a Civilian Here Myself

Rat Pack

Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies

Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti

Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia

Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century

Iconic Couples of Hollywood

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields

Twenty Years After

Lost Angel

This Time for Keeps

Fallout

That's Entertainment!

Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood

Chavela

That's Entertainment! III

Seven Days in May

The Bible: In the Beginning...

Strange Testament

The Killers

The Night of the Iguana

All Night Long

The Band Wagon

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

Knots Landing

La Rabbia

East Side, West Side

What's My Line?

55 Days at Peking

H.M. Pulham, Esq.

The Hucksters

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

Calling Dr. Gillespie

Fancy Answers

Shadow of the Thin Man

The Barefoot Contessa

On the Beach

The Great Sinner

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

One Touch of Venus

On the Trail of the Iguana

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

De Madrid a la Luna

Maisie Goes to Reno

The Cassandra Crossing

Mogambo