Age, Biography, and Wiki
Ava Lavinia Gardner was born on December 24, 1922, in Smithfield, North Carolina. She passed away on January 25, 1990, at the age of 67. Gardner rose to fame during Hollywood's Golden Age, leaving a lasting impact on the film industry. Her early life was marked by hardship; her father was a tobacco sharecropper, and her mother worked as a cook and housecleaner. Gardner's career took off after she signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941.
| Occupation | Activists |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 24 December 1922 |
| Age | 102 Years |
| Birth Place | Grabtown, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Capricorn |
| Country | U.S |
| Date of death | 25 January, 1990 |
| Died Place | Westminster, London, UK |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Ava Gardner stood at a height of 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m). Specific details about her weight at different times in her life are not widely documented, but her height and physical presence were notable aspects of her on-screen persona.
| Height | 68 m |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Ava Gardner was involved in several high-profile relationships throughout her life. Notably, she was married to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra. Her personal life often overshadowed her professional achievements, with her marriages and romantic relationships remaining a subject of public interest.
She was raised in the Baptist faith of her mother. While the children were still young, during the Depression the family lost their property. Gardner's mother received an offer to work as a cook and housekeeper at a dormitory for teachers at the nearby Brogden School that included board for the family, and Gardner's father sharecropped tobacco and supplemented the dwindling work with odd jobs at sawmills. In 1931, the teachers' school closed, forcing the family to finally give up on their property dreams and move to Newport News, Virginia, where Gardner's mother found work managing a boarding house for the city's many shipworkers. While in Newport News, Gardner's father became ill and died from bronchitis in 1938, when Gardner was 15 years old. After her father's death, the family moved to Rock Ridge near Wilson, North Carolina, where Gardner's mother ran another boarding house for teachers. Gardner attended high school in Rock Ridge and she graduated from there in 1939. The family was not well off and, to the ridicule of her classmates, she had to wear hand-me-down clothes to school. She then attended secretarial classes at Atlantic Christian College in Wilson for about a year.
Gardner was visiting her sister in New York City in the summer of 1940 when her brother-in-law, a professional photographer, offered to take her portrait as a gift for her mother. He was so pleased with the results that he displayed the finished product in the front window of his photography studio on Fifth Avenue.
John Huston chose Gardner for the part of Sarah, the wife of Abraham (played by George C. Scott), in the Dino De Laurentiis film The Bible: In the Beginning..., which was released in 1966. In a 1964 interview, she talked about why she accepted the role: "He [Huston] had more faith in me than I did myself. Now I'm glad I listened, for it is a challenging role and a very demanding one. I start out as a young wife, and age through various periods, forcing me to adjust psychologically to each age. It is a complete departure for me, and most intriguing. In this role, I must create a character, not just play one."
Gardner moved to Tokyo in 1966, undergoing an elective hysterectomy to allay her worries of contracting the uterine cancer that had claimed the life of her mother. Two years later, she appeared in Mayerling, in which she played the supporting role of Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Austria, with James Mason as Emperor Franz Joseph I.
Gardner's second marriage was equally brief, to jazz musician and bandleader Artie Shaw, from 1945 to 1946. Shaw previously had been married to Lana Turner. Gardner's third was to singer and actor Frank Sinatra from 1951 to 1957. She later said in her autobiography that he was the love of her life. Sinatra left his wife Nancy for Gardner, and their marriage made headlines.
Sinatra was blasted by gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, the Hollywood establishment, the Catholic Church, and by his fans for leaving his wife. Gardner used her considerable influence, particularly with Harry Cohn, to get Sinatra cast in his Oscar-winning role in From Here to Eternity (1953). This role and the award revitalized both Sinatra's acting and singing careers.
Gardner became a friend and protegé of businessman and aviator Howard Hughes in the early to mid-1940s, and the relationship lasted into the 1950s. Gardner stated in her autobiography, Ava: My Story, that she was never in love with Hughes, but he was in and out of her life for about 20 years. Hughes' trust in Gardner was what kept their relationship alive. She described him as "painfully shy, completely enigmatic, and more eccentric...than anyone [she] had ever met".
Although Gardner was raised Baptist, at the end of her life she said she had no religion. Christianity never played a positive role in her life, according to biographers and Gardner, in her autobiography Ava: My Story. Her friend Zoe Sallis, who met her on the set of The Bible: In the Beginning... when Gardner was living with John Huston in Puerto Vallarta, said Gardner always seemed unconcerned about religion. When Sallis asked her about religion once, Gardner replied, "It's not anything Christian". Another factor that contributed to this outlook was the death of Gardner's father in her youth. She said, "Nobody wanted to know Daddy when he was dying. He was so alone. He was scared. I could see the fear in his eyes when he was smiling. I went to see the preacher, the guy who'd baptized me. I begged him to come and visit Daddy, just to talk to him, you know? Give him a blessing or something. But he never did. He never came. God, I hated him. Cold-arse bastards like that ought to...I don't know...they should be in some other racket, I know that. I had no time for Christianity after that. I never prayed. I never said another prayer. At least not a Christian one". Concerning politics, Gardner was a lifelong Democrat, and she supported Adlai Stevenson II in the 1952 United States presidential election.
Gardner was buried on January 29 in Sunset Memorial Park in Smithfield, North Carolina, next to her siblings and their parents, Jonas and Molly Gardner. The Ava Gardner Museum, incorporated in 1996, is located nearby.
In the last years of her life, Gardner asked Peter Evans to ghostwrite her autobiography, stating: "I either write the book or sell the jewels." Despite meeting with Evans frequently, and approving of most of his copy, Gardner eventually learned that Evans, along with the BBC, had once been sued by her ex-husband Frank Sinatra. Gardner and Evans's friendship subsequently cooled, and Evans left the project. Evans' notes and sections of his draft of Gardner's autobiography, which he based on their taped conversations, were published in his book Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations after Evans' death in 2012.
| Parents | |
| Husband | * Mickey Rooney (m. 1942-1943) * Artie Shaw (m. 1945-1946) * Frank Sinatra (m. 1951-1957) * |
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Net Worth and Salary
At the time of her death in 1990, Ava Gardner's net worth was estimated to be around $200,000, which is approximately $400,000 in today's money when adjusted for inflation. Despite her fame and successful film career, rumors circulated about her financial struggles, particularly after a stroke in 1986 that left her partially paralyzed.
In 1986, Gardner suffered a stroke. Although she could afford her medical expenses, Frank Sinatra wanted to pay for her visit to a specialist in the United States, and she allowed him to make the arrangements for a medically staffed private plane. She died at age 67 of bronchopneumonia on January 25, 1990 in Westminster, London, England.
Career, Business, and Investments
Ava Gardner's acting career spanned several decades, with notable roles in films like The Killers, Show Boat, Mogambo, The Night of the Iguana, and Earthquake. She was recognized for her performances, earning nominations for an Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards. Gardner also appeared in television roles before her health issues forced her to stop working. There is no detailed information on her business or investment activities beyond her acting career.
Social Network
In her time, Ava Gardner was not part of modern social networks like Instagram or Facebook, as these platforms did not exist during her active career. However, she remains a celebrated figure in the film community, remembered for her talent and beauty.
During the 1950s, Gardner established herself as a leading lady and one of the era's top stars with films like Show Boat, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (both 1951), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), Mogambo (1953), The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956) and On the Beach (1959). She continued her film career for three more decades, appearing in the films 55 Days at Peking (1963), Seven Days in May (1964), The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966), and Mayerling (1968). She continued to act regularly until 1986, four years before her death in 1990, at the age of 67.
Barnard Duhan, a legal clerk at Loews Theatres, spotted Gardner's portrait in her brother-in-law's studio. At the time, Duhan often posed as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) talent scout to meet girls, using the fact that MGM was a subsidiary of Loews. Duhan entered Gardner's brother-in-law's studio and tried to get her number, but he was rebuffed by the receptionist. Duhan made the comment "Somebody should send her info to MGM", and her brother-in-law did so immediately. Shortly after, Gardner, who at the time was a student at Atlantic Christian College, traveled to New York to be interviewed at MGM's New York office by Al Altman, head of MGM's New York talent department. With cameras rolling, he directed the 18-year-old to walk toward the camera, turn and walk away, then rearrange some flowers in a vase. He did not attempt to record her voice because her strong Southern accent made understanding her difficult for him. Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, however, sent a telegram to Altman: "She can't sing. She can't act. She can't talk. She's terrific!" She was offered a standard contract by the studio and left school for Hollywood in 1941, with her sister accompanying her. MGM's first order of business was to provide her with a speech coach because her Carolina drawl was nearly incomprehensible to them, and Harriet Lee as her singing teacher.
Her last appearance was in 1986 in the television film Maggie. Gardner authored a book about her life titled Ava: My Story published by Random House Publishing Group in 1990.
Gardner authored a book about her life titled Ava: My Story published by Random House Publishing Group in 1990 with an illustrated reprint by Random House's subsidiary Bantam Books in 1992.
Education
Ava Gardner's early education is not extensively documented, but it is known that she grew up in a poor family and had limited formal education. Her entry into the film industry was largely facilitated by her physical appearance and discovery by talent scouts.
Overall, Ava Gardner's legacy as a Hollywood icon continues to inspire new generations of actors and film enthusiasts. Her personal life and financial circumstances at the time of her death remain a subject of interest, but her impact on the film industry remains undiminished.
