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A country girl -

Ava Gardner was born in Grabtown, North Carolina, in 1922. Her parents both worked as tobacco farmers. She was the youngest of seven children.

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Discovered in New York -

One of her brothers moved to New York and became a photographer, which is how she found her way to the spotlight. She was discovered at the age of 18 when a photo of her was spotted in her brother’s studio.

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An unforgettable beauty -

Gardner was one of the great beauties of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Many of her contemporaries have spoken of her heart-stopping looks, including her second husband Artie Shaw, who called her “the most beautiful creature you ever saw.”

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Snapped up quickly -

She moved to California to start her career at 18, and was signed with one of the biggest studios almost immediately. MGM gave her a seven-year contract based on her looks alone. Lucky for them, she also proved to be a talented actress.

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Mickey Rooney -

It was on her first day at MGM that she met Mickey Rooney. Gardner was taking a tour of the studio when she came across a young man dressed head to toe as Carmen Miranda, performing her song ‘Mama, Yo Quiero.’

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Love at first sight -

Rooney, pictured here doing his Carmen Miranda impression for Carmen Miranda herself, said that when he saw Gardner that day, “everything in me stopped. My heart. My breathing. My thinking.” He came straight over to her, and they were married within a few months!

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Training with the studio -

As her acting experience was limited, Gardner was only given small parts at the start of her contract. She underwent acting lessons and voice training to soften her southern accent.

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Dutch courage -

At this time, Gardner was shy in front of the cameras and found the whole process quite intimidating. She would sometimes have a drink before shooting a scene to calm her nerves.

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Divorce #1 -

In 1943, Gardner and Rooney got divorced. Gardner cited infidelity on her husband’s part in the filing. Rourke was already a notorious playboy by the age of 20, when they got married. It seems that marriage wasn’t enough motivation to change his behavior. He would be the first of many tumultuous relationships in her life.

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A superstar in the making -

Gardner continued to build her acting skills and gain more roles. By 1944, she hadn’t yet become a big star, but she was being marketed as Hollywood’s next bombshell. She was also gaining a reputation as a party girl who liked to drink.

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Artie Shaw -

This was the year she met her second husband, Artie Shaw. Shaw was a jazz musician and bandleader who was 12 years older than Gardner. They got married in 1945, when she was 22 and he was 35.

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A learning curve -

Although they were only married for a year, Shaw seemed to have a big impact on Gardner. She was insecure about her lack of education at the time, and he gave her reading lists to help her grow.

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‘The Killers' (1946) -

Gardner finally hit the big time in 1946. MGM loaned her to Universal Studios to appear in the movie ‘The Killers.’ She played the female lead, a seductress called Kitty Collins, which skyrocketed her to stardom as Hollywood’s new femme fatale.

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Building momentum -

Her hard work and training had come to fruition and she was finally recognized as a talented actress in the industry. This big break would land her many more roles, and in 1947 alone she starred in two major films: ‘The Huckster’ and ‘Singapore.’

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'One Touch of Venus' (1948) -

In 1948, Gardner was immortalized by her most iconic role. She was cast as Venus de Milo, a statue of the Roman goddess of love who comes to life. She was forever associated with the goddess afterward.

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Venus immortalized -

This role immortalized Gardner in more ways than one! The studio arranged for a sculpture of Gardner as Venus di Milo to be made by sculptor Joseph Nicolosi. She’s photographed here posing beside her own likeness on set.

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Frank Sinatra -

During this time, Gardner was linked to many of her male co-stars, but it was her romance with Frank Sinatra that went down in history. They met in 1949, while Sinatra was still married to Nancy Barbato. Sinatra was immediately enamored with Gardner.

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Kindred spirits -

They started a passionate relationship that would carry on for several years. They shared an inclination for reckless behavior and drinking, exemplified by one particular escapade that landed them in prison!

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A wild night on the town -

One night, a drunken Sinatra convinced Gardner to leave a party with him and drove her to a quiet town outside of Palm Springs. They made out in his car and then he took out two guns and started shooting out the street lights! Gardner took one of the guns and joined in the fun, shooting the window of a hardware store.

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A lovely time -

The night ended with them in a local police station, but they were released after the studio paid a significant amount of money to keep the incident quiet. When Gardner got home, she reportedly told her sister that she had spent the night with Sinatra and had a lovely time…

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Rollercoaster marriage -

Sinatra initiated his divorce in 1950 and he and Gardner went public with their relationship. They got married in 1951 when his divorce was finalized. Their marriage was intense and passionate with many dramatic ups and downs. They separated and reconciled many times before finally divorcing in 1957.

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The love of her life -

Although Gardner would go on to have many more passionate romances, she said that Sinatra was the great love of her life. During their seven-year marriage, she also produced some of the most iconic films of her career.

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‘Mogambo’ (1953) -

She starred in ‘Mogambo’ alongside Grace Kelly and Clark Gable in 1953. One of Gardner’s biographers says that the Princess of Monaco was shocked by Gardner’s drinking and brash behavior at first, but was won around by her fun-loving spirit eventually.

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Gardner and Kelly -

One story goes that Gardner took Kelly on a wild girls’ trip to Rome where she convinced the princess to visit a brothel! The two became lifelong friends.

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'The Barefoot Contessa' (1954) -

Gardner’s next big flick was the classic film ‘The Barefoot Contessa' in 1954. She stars opposite Humphrey Bogart as a nightclub dancer. Gardner had to learn how to flamenco dance for the role, and carried on dancing long after it ended. She even spent much of her time living in Spain after her divorce from Sinatra, as she enjoyed the culture so much (she also became friends with Ernest Hemingway while living there).

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An eventful trip to Cuba - In 1959, Gardner took a trip to Cuba where she arranged to visit with the infamous Fidel Castro. She was intensely interested in politics and had the views of a liberal democrat, many of whom saw Castro as a liberator and a fascinating character. The two got on like a house on fire, so much so that Gardner apparently came to physical blows with Castro’s mistress.

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The dictator next door -

Back in her home in Madrid, Spain, Gardner discovered that she shared her apartment building with another controversial political figure: the banished Argentinian dictator, Juan Perón. He had been given asylum by Spain’s own dictator, Francisco Franco.

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A neighborly dispute -

Although Gardner disagreed with Perón’s politics, she became friendly with him and his wife. However, their relationship soon soured when the couple became sick of Gardner’s all-night flamenco parties. A petty war ensued and Gardner apparently released her corgis to attack the Perón’s poodles The Perón’s responded by asking Franco to send guards to arrest her. The guards decided not to cause an international incident when they arrived to find Gardner's apartment filled with American soldiers.

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Moving on to London -

Gardner left Spain in 1968 for tax reasons and settled down in London, where she would live out the rest of her life. She appeared in many features and even television movies, which she said she just did “for the loot.”

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Her final days -

One of her last films was a 1986 TV movie called ‘Harem,’ in which she starred opposite Omar Sharif. She suffered a stroke that year and eventually passed away of pneumonia in 1990, at the age of 67. Although she died at a relatively young age, she certainly lived her life to the fullest!

Sources: (Harper's Bazaar) (Vanity Fair) (Biography)

See also: Remembering Grace Kelly: from silver screen to the royalty scene

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