Ava Gardner
Date of birth: 1922-12-24
Place of birth: Grabtown, North Carolina, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Ava Lavinia Gardner, A. Gardner, Ава Гарднер, 에바 가드너, エヴァ・ガードナー
Biography
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was a renowned American actress and one of the most iconic stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. Born on December 24, 1922, in Grabtown, North Carolina, she grew up in a rural setting before being discovered by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1941. Initially cast in minor roles, her breakthrough came with the film noir classic The Killers (1946), which established her as a leading lady. Gardner's 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). Known for her beauty and talent, she worked with some of the most celebrated directors and actors of her time. Off-screen, Gardner's personal life attracted significant attention, including her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra. She spent her later years in Spain and London, continuing to act until the mid-1980s. Ava Gardner passed away on January 25, 1990, in London, leaving behind a legacy as one of Hollywood's most enduring legends.
Movie Credits
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
1988-10-24
Biography of risk-taker and raconteur John Huston from his childhood to become one of the most highl
The Bible: In the Beginning...
1966-09-28
Covering only the first 22 chapters of the Book of Genesis, vignettes include: Adam and Eve frolicki
Calling Dr. Gillespie
1942-08-01
Dr. Kildare's friend Dr. Gillespie is called in to investigate when a young man suffering from menta
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
1952-10-08
Writer Harry Street reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection while on safari in the s
Earthquake
1974-11-15
Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits
Seven Days in May
1964-02-01
A U.S. Marine Corps colonel alerts the president of a planned military coup against him.
The Cassandra Crossing
1976-12-18
Passengers on a European train have been exposed to a deadly disease, and nobody will let them off t
Mogambo
1953-09-23
On a Kenyan safari, white hunter Victor Marswell has a love triangle with seductive American sociali
The Sun Also Rises
1957-08-23
A group of disillusioned American expatriate writers live a dissolute, hedonistic lifestyle in 1920'
The Bribe
1949-02-03
United States Federal agent Rigby travels to the Central American island Carlotta to investigate a s
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982-05-21
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no acc
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
1972-12-18
Outlaw and self-appointed lawmaker Judge Roy Bean rules over an empty stretch of the West that gradu
55 Days at Peking
1963-05-06
Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the Internati
The Barefoot Contessa
1954-09-29
Has-been director Harry Dawes gets a new lease on his career when the independently wealthy tycoon K
On the Beach
1959-12-17
In 1964, atomic war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one American submarine finds temp
The Band Wagon
1953-08-07
A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop.
Shadow of the Thin Man
1941-11-21
High society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles run into a variety of shady characters while investigatin
The Killers
1946-08-30
Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede,
The Night of the Iguana
1964-08-06
A defrocked Episcopal clergyman leads a bus-load of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexic
One Touch of Venus
1948-08-01
A window dresser's kiss brings a statue of the Roman goddess of love to life.
Lone Star
1952-10-24
Rip-roaring big star, big budget semi-historical story about cattle baron Devereaux Burke, who is en
Mayerling
1968-10-31
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, over impl
Kid Glove Killer
1942-04-17
Van Heflin stars as the head of a city crime lab who tries to solve the murder of the town mayor by
Reunion in France
1942-12-25
French woman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
1951-04-13
Pandora Reynolds is a woman who has never fallen in love – but one who men kill and die for. When sh
Ride, Vaquero!
1953-07-17
Two Mexican outlaws, Rio and Esqueda, raised as stepbrothers, have a showdown over the issue of whet
Show Boat
1951-07-19
A dashing Mississippi river gambler wins the affections of the daughter of the owner of the Show Boa
We Do It Because
1942-01-24
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short explores the origins of various customs such as shaking han
The Sentinel
1977-01-07
As a young girl, Alison Parker attempted suicide after being traumatized by her father's sexual expl
Priest of Love
1981-10-11
Following the banning and burning of his novel, "The Rainbow," D.H. Lawrence and his wife, Frieda, m
Knights of the Round Table
1953-12-22
In Camelot, kingdom of Arthur and Merlin, Lancelot is well known for his courage and honor. But one
Two Girls and a Sailor
1944-06-14
A sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with gorgeous s
Bhowani Junction
1956-05-01
Anglo-Indian Victoria Jones seeks her true identity amid the chaos of the British withdrawal from In
Singapore
1947-08-13
After the war, Matt Gordon returns to Singapore to retrieve a fortune in smuggled pearls. Arrived, h
Ghosts on the Loose
1943-07-30
The East Side Kids try to fix up a house for newlyweds, but find the place next door "haunted" by my
Whistle Stop
1946-01-25
When beautiful Mary returns to her "whistle stop" hometown, long-standing feelings of animosity betw
Chavela
2017-06-16
Inspired by an exclusive interview and performance footage of Chavela Vargas shot in 1991 and guided
The Naked Maja
1958-12-20
A historical fiction based on the lives of artist Goya and the Duchess of Alba
The Blue Bird
1976-04-30
Peasant children Mytyl and Tyltyl are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness
This Time for Keeps
1942-03-01
A young newlywed (Robert Sterling) finds working for his nasty father-in-law difficult.
The Hucksters
1947-07-17
A World War II veteran wants to return to advertising on his own terms, but finds it difficult to be
My Forbidden Past
1951-04-25
An 1890s New Orleans heiress tries to buy a married doctor's love with her tainted family fortune.
East Side, West Side
1949-12-22
A vain businessman puts strains on his happy marriage to a rich, beautiful socialite by allowing him
The Kidnapping of the President
1980-08-15
A South American quasi-revolutionary/guerilla/terrorist and a misled, admiring girl compatriot manag
City on Fire
1979-07-11
An ex-employee of a city oil refinery creates an explosion at the facility which starts a chain-reac
The Ballad of Tam Lin
1970-12-01
Based upon the Celtic legend Tam Lin, a young man is bewitched by a beautiful, heartless, aging sorc
Permission to Kill
1975-11-20
Western intelligence agents try, by all means necessary, to prevent a Communist-bloc defector from l
Legends of the West
1992-09-08
Host Jack Palance explores how Hollywood has depicted Western legends like George Armstrong Custer,
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
2018-07-27
A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir
The Great Sinner
1949-06-29
A young man succumbs to gambling fever.
The Little Hut
1957-05-03
Sir Philip Ashlow (Stewart Granger), his neglected wife, Lady Ashlow (Ava Gardner) and his best frie
The Angel Wore Red
1960-04-14
A clergyman travels to Spain to join the Loyalist side during the Spanish Civil War and finds himsel
3 Men in White
1944-05-25
Gillespie has to finally choose his official assistant, or Red and Lee are going to kill themselves
Regina Roma
1982-01-01
An aging couple search for peace and family harmony when their only son returns home after a long ab
Maisie Goes to Reno
1944-08-15
A Brooklyn showgirl gets mixed up in a divorce between a soldier and his wife.
Ava Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies
2017-06-09
A barefoot contessa, a screwed-up princess, an exquisite drunk, a bawdy aristocrat, a nightmare for
Du Barry Was a Lady
1943-08-13
Hat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with a p
She Went to the Races
1945-11-04
A group of scientists develop a system to pick winners at the racetrack. Comedy.
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
1941-12-04
A middle-aged businessman who has lived a conservative life according to the routine conventions of
Rat Pack
2022-01-11
In the 1950s, a small group of artists monopolized the attention of the cameras and the public. Fran
That's Entertainment!
1974-06-21
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year hi
All Night Long
2010-09-21
Like so many other actors, Ava Gardner hated to watch her films. She said that the woman on the scre
Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia
2023-11-04
With his mafia wiseguy links and access to entertainment industry star power, Frank Sinatra helped J
Harem
1986-02-09
A young British woman is kidnapped by an Arabian sheikh and held captive in his harem. At first she
Fallout
2013-07-26
During the 1940s, Nevil Shute had a steady job as an engineer in the British military but in his spa
Sunday Punch
1942-05-08
Ma Galestrum (Connie Gilchrist) is a boardinghouse owner whose tenants are a group of aspiring boxer
Frank Sinatra glömde aldrig Finspång
2003-09-21
Frank Sinatra was at rock bottom as far as his career in Hollywood was concerned, but made his way b
Hitler's Madman
1943-06-10
In 1942, a young paratrooper in the RAF returns to Czechoslovakia to encourage his fellow countrymen
Young Ideas
1943-08-02
A widow's grown children try to break up her romance with a college professor.
That's Entertainment! III
1994-07-01
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Fancy Answers
1941-11-01
In this Pete Smith Speciality, the audience is asked a series of multiple-choice questions on variou
Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century
1998-05-15
Acknowledged as one of the greatest singers of the twentieth century, Arena explores the rise of the
De Madrid a la Luna
2006-10-24
Lost Angel
1943-12-23
Alpha's been raised along scientific principles, and will make Mike Regan a great human interest sto
On the Trail of the Iguana
1964-04-30
Behind the scenes documentary of the filming of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana.
Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood
2018-03-10
At the height of her fame in 1954, actress Ava Gardner transplanted herself from Hollywood to the co
Twenty Years After
1944-01-01
This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then
The Costume Designer
1950-07-13
This short focuses on the job of the costume designer in the production of motion pictures. The cost
Strange Testament
1941-11-15
This MGM Passing Parade series short tells the story of Julian Poydras, whose encounter with a girl
I'm a Civilian Here Myself
1945-01-01
A comic training film designed to help sailors readjust to civilain life after World War II.
Mighty Lak a Goat
1942-10-10
The Our Gang gets splashed by mud from a passing car and so using some cleaning fluid to get rid of
La Rabbia
1963-04-13
Documentary footage (from the 1950s) and accompanying commentary to attempt to answer the existentia
Joe Smith, American
1942-02-01
Joe Smith is an ordinary American family man who works in an aircraft factory. Shortly after being a
Swing Fever
1943-11-01
Comedy about a bandleader with hypnotic powers.
Blonde Fever
1944-12-05
Peter and Delilah are a married couple running a roadside café in Nevada. Their stable partnership t
Screen Actors
1950-05-13
This short film takes a look at the off-screen personas of screen actors. Preserved by the Academy
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2010-05-05
In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Acad
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
2009-03-10
During the 1950s, musical masterpieces that have yet to be equaled were produced in Cinemascope with
Året var 1953
2003-01-07
1953 - this is the year when Frank Sinatra tours Sweden and Stockholm celebrates 700 years with the
Beautiful Like a Poem
2020-05-11
I have a lot of interest and respect for classic cinema. I tried to make a film with at least 20 por