Ava Gardner (1922-1990) - One of the most beautiful women of her day

Fast Facts:


Name: Ava Lavinia Gardner
Nickname: Angel (given by Frank Sinatra); "Daughter" (given by Ernest Hemingway); "Snowdrop" (given by co-star Dirk Bogarde)
Occupation: Actress
Famous Tagline: The Most Beautiful Animal in the World (tagline from The Barefoot Contessa in 1954)
Date, place of Birth: December 24, 1922 in the community of Grabtown, NC, 7 miles east of Smithfield, NC
Date, place of Death: January 25, 1990 in London, England
Burial location: Sunset Memorial Park, Smithfield, NC
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 120 lbs
Hair color: Auburn
Eye color: Green
Nationality: American
Religion: Baptist
Marriages: Mickey Rooney (1942-1943), Arti Shaw (1945-1946), Frank Sinatra (1951-1957)
Favorites: Clark Gable and Gregory Peck as favorite actors, Coconut Cake and Fried Chicken for favorite Foods, and Flamenco dancing as favorite hobby

FILMOGRAPHY:

1943: Ghosts on the Loose, dir: William Beaudine

1944: Maisie Goes to Reno, dir: Harry Beaumont

1944: Three Men in White, dir: Willis Goldbeck

1945: She Went to the Races, dir: Willis Goldbeck

1946: Whistle Stop, dir: Leonide Moguy

1946: The Killers, dir: Robert Siodmak

1947: Singapore, dir: John Brahm

1947: The Hucksters, dir: Jack Conway

1948: One Touch of Venus, dir: William A. Seiter

1949: The Bribe, dir: Robert Z. Leonard

1949: The Great Sinner, dir: Robert Siodmak

1949: East Side West Side, dir: Mervyn LeRoy

1951: Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, dir: Albert Lewin

1951: My Forbidden Past, dir: Robert Stevenson

1951: Show Boat, dir: George Sidney

1952: Lone Star, dir: Vincent Sherman

1952: The Snows of Kilimanjaro, dir: Henry King

1953: Knights of the Round Table, dir: Richard Thorpe

1953: Ride, Vaquero, dir: John Farrow

1953: Mogambo, dir: John Ford

1954: The Barefoot Contessa, dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

1956: Bhowani Junction, dir: George Cukor

1957: Little Hut, dir: Mark Robson

1957: The Sun Also Rises, dir: Henry King

1959: The Naked Maja, dir: Henry Koster

1959: On the Beach, dir: Stanley Kramer

1960: The Angel Wore Red, dir: Nunnally Johnson

1963: 55 Days at Peking, dir: Nicholas Ray

1964: Seven Days in May, dir. John Frankenheimer

1964: Night of the Iguana, dir: John Huston

1966: The Bible, dir: John Huston

1968: Mayerling, dir: Terence Young

1970: The ballad of Tam Lin, dir: Roddy McDowell

1972: The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, dir: John Huston

1974: Earthquake, dir: Mark Robson

1975: Permission to Kill, dir: Cyril Frankel

1976: The Blue Bird, dir: George Cukor

1976: The Cassandra Crossing, dir: George P. Cosmatos

1977: The Sentinel, dir: Michael Winner

1979: City on Fire, dir: Alvin Rakoff

1980: The Kidnapping of the President, dir: George Mendeluk

1981: Priest of Love, dir: Christopher Miles

1982: Regina Roma, dir: Jean-Yves Prate

QUOTES:

I have only one rule in acting: trust the director and give him heart and soul.

If I had my life to live over again, I'd live it the same way. Maybe a few changes here or there, but nothing special. The truth is, honey, I've enjoyed my life. I've had a hell of a good time.

Because I was promoted as a sort of a siren and played all those sexy broads, people made the mistake of thinking I was like that off the screen. They couldn't have been more wrong.

Although no one believes me, I came to Hollywood…a country girl with a country girl`s simple, ordinary values.

I think the main reason my marriages failed is that I always loved too well but never wisely.

On one level, all I wanted to be was an actress, and I often felt that if only I could act, everything about my life and career would have been different. But I was never an actress – none of us kids at Metro were. We were just good to look at.

What I`d really like to say about stardom is that it gave me everything I never wanted.