Ava Lavinia Gardner (1922 - 1990)

Born 24 Dec 1922 in Smithfield, North Carolina

Ancestors

Wife of Ninian Joseph (Yule) Rooney Jr — married 10 Jan 1942 (to 21 May 1943) in Ballard, Santa Barbara, California, United States

Wife of Francis Albert Sinatra — married 1951 (to 1954) in Pennsylvania, United States

Died 25 Jan 1990 at age 67 in Westminster, London, England

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Biography

Ava Gardner is Notable.

This profile is part of the Gardner Name Study.

Ava Garner was a famous American actress and singer.

Ava was born in a small town in North Carolina, known as Boon Hill.^[1][2]

She was the youngest of seven children in her family. Her parents were poor tobacco sharecroppers. She was raised in the Baptist faith of her mother. While the children were still young, Ava's parents, the Gardners lost their property. Her mother, Molly received an offer to work as a cook and housekeeper at a dormitory for teachers at a nearby school, named Brogden. The offer included board for the family. Her father, Jonas continued to work sharecropping tobacco, also working odd jobs at sawmills.

In 1931 the teachers school closed, forcing the family to give up on their property dreams, so they moved to Newport News, Virginia. Molly found work managing a boarding house for the city's many ship yard workers. While living in Newport News, in 1938, Jonas became ill and died from bronchitis. At this point in time, Ava is 15 years old. After her father's death, the family moved to Rock Ridge, near Wilson, NC. Molly found work once again running a boarding house for teachers. Ava attended high school in Rock Ridge. She graduated in 1939. She then took Secretarial classes at Atlantic Christian College in Wilson.

Ava was visiting her sister Beatrice in New York City in the summer of 1940. Beatrice's husband Larry Tarr, a professional photographer, offered to take a picture of Ava as a gift for her mother, Molly. He was so pleased with the results that he displayed the final results in the front window of his studio on Fifth Avenue. A Loews Theatre legal clerk, Barnard Duhan, spotted the portrait of Ava in the window. She, Duhan, often posed as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) talent scout as a way to attract girls (MGM was a subsidiary of Loews). At the advice of Duhan, Larry Tarr sent pictures of Ava to MGM. Shortly thereafter, Ava traveled to New York to be interviewed at MGM's office. Afterwards, Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, sent a telegram to Al Altman, head of New York City, talent department, telling him, "She can't sing, she can't act, she can't talk, she's terrific!" She was offered a standard contract by MGM, 1941, so she left school in NC and headed to Hollywood. She was given a speech coach to compensate for her southern drawl and also a singing coach.^[3]

In 1942, she married Mickey Rooney. The ceremony was held in the remote town of Ballard, CA. Some were concerned that if this marriage leaked out to the press it could adversely affect Rooney's career. Gardner divorced Rooney in 1943, blaming his gambling and womanizing, however, she did not ruin his clean cut image or affect his career.

Her first appearance in film was as a walk-on in the Norma Shearer vehicle "We Were Dancing" in 1942. In 1943 she got 15 bit parts but later in the year she was billed in "Ghosts on the Loose." After 5 years of bit parts, she, Gardner came to prominence in a Mark Hellenger production, in 1946, as Kitty Collins in "The KIllers."

Gardner remarried in 1945, to jazz musician and band leader, Artie Shaw. They divorced in 1946.

In 1951 she married , for a third time, to actor Frank Sinatra. This marriage lasted until 1957. She later said in an autobiography that he was the love of her life.

Ava was a friend of businessman and aviator Howard Hughes in the early 1940's. He was in and out of her life for almost 20 years.

After Ava divorced Sinatra she began a relationship with Ernest Hemingway. She spent time with him in Spain and in his villa in San Francisco.

She had several other relationships with a bull fighter, Luis Miguel Dominguin and her live-in boyfriend, American actor, Benjamin Tatar.

Film that she was in include:

Year Title Role Notes

• 1941 Fancy Answers Girl at Recital Short film

• 1941 Strange Testament Waitress Short film

• 1941 Shadow of the Thin Man Passerby Uncredited
• 1941 H. M. Pulham, Esq. Young Socialite Uncredited
• 1941 Babes on Broadway Audience member Uncredited
• 1942 Joe Smith, American Miss Maynard, Secretary Uncredited
• 1942 This Time for Keeps Girl in car lighting cigarette Uncredited
• 1942 We Do It Because Lucretia Borgia Short film

• 1942 Kid Glove Killer Car Hop Uncredited
• 1942 Sunday Punch Ringsider Uncredited
• 1942 Calling Dr. Gillespie Student at finishing school Uncredited
• 1942 Mighty Lak a Goat Girl at the Bijou box office Short film

• 1942 Reunion in France Marie, a salesgirl Uncredited
• 1943 Du Barry Was a Lady Perfume Girl Uncredited
• 1943 Hitler's Madman Franciska Pritric, a Student Uncredited
• 1943 Ghosts on the Loose Betty
• 1943 Young Ideas Co-ed Uncredited
• 1943 Swing Fever Receptionist Uncredited
• 1943 Lost Angel Hat Check Girl Uncredited
• 1944 Two Girls and a Sailor Dream Girl Uncredited
• 1944 Three Men in White Jean Brown
• 1944 Maisie Goes to Reno Gloria Fullerton
• 1944 Blonde Fever Bit Role Uncredited
• 1945 She Went to the Races Hilda Spotts
• 1946 Whistle Stop Mary
• 1946 The Killers Kitty Collins
• 1947 The Hucksters Jean Ogilvie
• 1947 Singapore Linda Grahame / Ann Van Leyden
• 1948 One Touch of Venus Venus / Venus Jones
• 1949 The Bribe Elizabeth Hintten
• 1949 The Great Sinner Pauline Ostrovsky
• 1949 East Side, West Side Isabel Lorrison
• 1951 My Forbidden Past Barbara Beaurevel
• 1951 Show Boat Julie LaVerne
• 1951 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Pandora Reynolds
• 1952 Lone Star Martha Ronda
• 1952 The Snows of Kilimanjaro Cynthia Green
• 1953 The Band Wagon Herself Uncredited
• 1953 Ride, Vaquero! Cordelia Cameron
• 1953 Mogambo Eloise "Honey Bear" Kelly Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
• 1953 Knights of the Round Table Guinevere
• 1954 The Barefoot Contessa Maria Vargas
• 1956 Bhowani Junction Victoria Jones Nominated—BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress
• 1957 The Little Hut Lady Susan Ashlow
• 1957 The Sun Also Rises Lady Brett Ashley
• 1958 The Naked Maja Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba
• 1959 On the Beach Moira Davidson Nominated—BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress
• 1960 The Angel Wore Red Soledad
• 1963 55 Days at Peking Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
• 1964 Seven Days in May Eleanor Holbrook
• 1964 The Night of the Iguana Maxine Faulk Nominated—BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

• 1966 The Bible: In the Beginning... Sarah
• 1968 Mayerling Empress Elizabeth
• 1970 Tam-Lin Michaela Cazaret
• 1972 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean Lily Langtry
• 1974 Earthquake Remy Royce-Graff
• 1975 Permission to Kill Katina Petersen
• 1976 The Blue Bird Luxury
• 1976 The Cassandra Crossing Nicole Dressler
• 1977 The Sentinel Miss Logan
• 1979 City on Fire Maggie Grayson
• 1980 The Kidnapping of the President Beth Richards
• 1981 Priest of Love Mabel Dodge Luhan
• 1982 Regina Roma Mama

Television

Year Title Role Notes

• 1985 A.D. Agrippina Miniseries
• 1985 Knots Landing Ruth Galveston 7 episodes
• 1985 The Long Hot Summer Minnie Littlejohn TV movie
• 1986 Harem Kadin TV movie
• 1986 Maggie Diane Webb TV movie (final film role)

In 1968, Ava moved to London, undergoing an elective hysterectomy to prevent uterine cancer, which had claimed the life of her mother.

Ava had a bout with pneumonia after a lifetime of smoking, coupled with her underlying lupus condition all helped to bring about her stroke in 1986. This left her paralyzed. She died in January of 1990 at the age of 67 of pneumonia and fibrorsis at her London home, where she had lived at since 1968.

Ava died on Jan. 25, 1990 at Westminster, Greater London, England.^[4] She was buried at Sunset Memorial Park, Smithfield, Johnston County, North Carolina. Her memorial has photos, a copy of an obituary and links to those of family members.^[5]

In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Gardner No. 25 on their greatest female screen legends of classic American cinema list.

Sources

1. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VHPC-C4V
2. ↑ https://familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KLS9-VXL
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ava_Gardner
4. ↑ https://findagrave.com/memorial/2134
5. ↑ Ava Gardner at Find A Grave.

• Ava Gardner
• Wikipedia Article on Ava Gardner

See also:

• This WikiTree profile is referenced from Wikidata: Item Q164487, en:Wikipedia