Ava Gardner
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 24, 1922
- Died
- January 25, 1990 (aged 67)
- Birthplace
- Grabtown, North Carolina, USA
Biography
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Considered one of the most iconic stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, she was ranked as the 25th greatest female screen legend by the American Film Institute. Initially cast in minor roles, her breakthrough came with the classic film noir The Killers (1946), which established her as a leading lady. Her career flourished in the 1950s with notable performances in films like Mogambo (1953), for which she received an Academy Award nomination, The Barefoot Contessa (1954), and The Night of the Iguana (1964), which earned her a BAFTA nomination. Off-screen, Gardner's personal life and progressive politics attracted significant attention. Her marriages to Mickey Rooney and Artie Shaw were gossiped about, but her tumultuous relationship with Frank Sinatra particularly headlined. Gardner was a strong supporter of racial equality and desegregation, and became a member of the NAACP in 1968. Gardner was a heavy smoker, which deteriorated her health as she grew older. She continued acting in minor roles in the 1980s before she suffered a stroke in 1986 and retired. Gardner moved to Spain and England, where she spent her final years before passing away from bronchopneumonia on January 25, 1990.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields
TV · as Self (archive footage) · 1 ep
Rat Pack
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Beautiful Like a Poem
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Chavela
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Ava Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Iconic Couples of Hollywood
TV · as Self (archive footage) · 1 ep
Fallout
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
All Night Long
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Movie · as Pandora Reynolds / Maria Vargas (archive footage)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
Movie · as Self (archive)
De Madrid a la Luna
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Frank Sinatra glömde aldrig Finspång
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Året var 1953
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
Movie · as archive footage
Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
Movie · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Intimate Portrait
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Legends of the West
Movie · as Lily Langtry in 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean' (archive footage) (uncredited)
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Harem
Movie · as Kadin
Maggie
Movie · as Diane Webb
Harem
TV · as Kadin · 2 eps
The Long Hot Summer
TV · as Minnie Littlejohn · 2 eps
A.D.
TV · as Agrippina · 5 eps
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Movie · as (in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Regina Roma
Movie · as Mama
Priest of Love
Movie · as Mabel Dodge Luhan
The Kidnapping of the President
Movie · as Beth Richards
City on Fire
Movie · as Maggie Grayson
Knots Landing
TV · as Ruth Sumner Galveston · 7 eps
The Sentinel
Movie · as Helen Logan
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
Movie · as Self - Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba (archive footage)
The Cassandra Crossing
Movie · as Nicole Dressler
The Blue Bird
Movie · as Luxury
Permission to Kill
Movie · as Katina Petersen
Earthquake
Movie · as Remy Royce-Graff
That's Entertainment!
Movie · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Movie · as Lily Langtry
The Ballad of Tam Lin
Movie · as Michaela Cazaret
Mayerling
Movie · as Empress Elisabeth of Austria
The Bible: In the Beginning...
Movie · as Sarah
Seven Days in May
Movie · as Eleanor Holbrook
The Night of the Iguana
Movie · as Maxine Faulk
On the Trail of the Iguana
Movie · as Self
55 Days at Peking
Movie · as Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
La Rabbia
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Angel Wore Red
Movie · as Soledad
On the Beach
Movie · as Moira Davidson
The Naked Maja
Movie · as Maria Teresa, duchess of Alba, nicknamed Cayetana
The Sun Also Rises
Movie · as Lady Brett Ashley
The Little Hut
Movie · as Lady Susan Ashlow
Bhowani Junction
Movie · as Victoria Jones
The Barefoot Contessa
Movie · as Maria Vargas
Mogambo
Movie · as Eloise Y. Kelly
The Band Wagon
Movie · as Ava Gardner (uncredited)
Ride, Vaquero!
Movie · as Cordelia Cameron
Knights of the Round Table
Movie · as Guinevere
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Movie · as Cynthia Green
Lone Star
Movie · as Martha Ronda
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
Movie · as Pandora Reynolds
Show Boat
Movie · as Julie LaVerne
My Forbidden Past
Movie · as Barbara Beaurevel
The Costume Designer
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Screen Actors
Movie · as Self (uncredited)
What's My Line?
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Bribe
Movie · as Elizabeth Hintten
East Side, West Side
Movie · as Isabel Lorrison
The Great Sinner
Movie · as Pauline Ostrovsky
One Touch of Venus
Movie · as Venus
Singapore
Movie · as Linda Grahame / Ann Van Leyden
The Hucksters
Movie · as Jean Ogilvie
The Killers
Movie · as Kitty Collins
Whistle Stop
Movie · as Mary
She Went to the Races
Movie · as Hilda Spotts
I'm a Civilian Here Myself
Movie · as Dream Girl (uncredited)
Two Girls and a Sailor
Movie · as Dream Girl (uncredited)
3 Men in White
Movie · as Jean Brown
Maisie Goes to Reno
Movie · as Gloria Fullerton
Twenty Years After
Movie · as (archive footage)
Blonde Fever
Movie · as Minor Role (uncredited)
Ghosts on the Loose
Movie · as Betty
Du Barry Was a Lady
Movie · as Perfume Girl (uncredited)
Hitler's Madman
Movie · as Franciska Pritric (uncredited)
Young Ideas
Movie · as Co-ed (uncredited)
Lost Angel
Movie · as Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Swing Fever
Movie · as Receptionist (uncredited)
Calling Dr. Gillespie
Movie · as Student (uncredited)
Kid Glove Killer
Movie · as Car Hop (uncredited)
Reunion in France
Movie · as Marie, Parisian shopgirl (uncredited)
We Do It Because
Movie · as Lucretia Borgia (uncredited)
This Time for Keeps
Movie · as Girl in Car Lighting Cigarette (uncredited)
Sunday Punch
Movie · as Ringsider (uncredited)
Mighty Lak a Goat
Movie · as Girl at Theatre Boxoffice
Joe Smith, American
Movie · as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
Shadow of the Thin Man
Movie · as Passerby at Racetrack (uncredited)
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Movie · as Young Socialite (uncredited)
Fancy Answers
Movie · as Girl at Recital
Strange Testament
Movie · as Waitress (uncredited)