Ava Gardner

Short Biography

Born on a tobacco farm, where she got her lifelong love of earthy language and going barefoot, Ava grew up in the rural South a daughter of a sharecropper. At age 16, 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, 1942-5, 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 3 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". She loathed the narrow-minded and restrictive approach of the major studios and was not eager to return to her past lifestyle. There were many things the Actress did not have the chance to fulfill. Whether her career or the times were to blame, one cannot say. However the multi-ethnic star solidified her acceptance, colorblindness and appreciation for diversity by "becoming a lifelong member of the NAACP in 1968"*. Also in 1968, tax trouble in Spain prompted a move to London, where she spent her last 22 years in reasonable comfort despite two strokes and a suspected auto-immune condition. Her film career did not bring her great fulfillment, but her beautiful yet exotic looks may have made it inevitable; many fans still consider her the most beautiful actress in Hollywood history. May she live on in our hearts forever!