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Ava Gardner is a Actor American born on 24 december 1922 at North Carolina (USA)

Ava Gardner

Ava Gardner
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Birth name Ava Lavinia Gardner
Nationality USA
Birth 24 december 1922 at North Carolina (USA)
Death 25 january 1990 (at 67 years) at London (United-kingdom)

Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress.

She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers (1946). She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mogambo (1953).

She appeared in several high-profile films from the 1950s to 1970s, including The Hucksters (1947), Show Boat (1951), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959), 55 Days at Peking (1963), Seven Days in May (1964), The Night of the Iguana (1964), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), Earthquake (1974), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976). Gardner continued to act regularly until 1986, four years before her death in London in 1990 at the age of 67.

She is listed 25th among the American Film Institute's 25 Greatest Female Stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

Biography

Marriages

Soon after her arrival in Los Angeles, Gardner met fellow MGM contract player Mickey Rooney. They married on January 10, 1942, when she was 19 years old and he was 21. The ceremony was held in the remote town of Ballard, California, because MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer was worried that fans would desert Rooney's Andy Hardy movie series if it became known that their star was married. Largely due to Rooney's serial adultery, Gardner divorced him in 1943, but agreed not to reveal the cause so as not to affect his career.

Gardner's second marriage was brief as well, to jazz musician and bandleader Artie Shaw, from 1945 to 1946. Shaw had previously been married to Lana Turner. Gardner's third and last marriage was to singer and actor Frank Sinatra, from 1951 to 1957. She would later say in her autobiography that he was the love of her life. Sinatra left his wife, Nancy, for Gardner and their subsequent marriage made headlines.

Sinatra was blasted by gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, the Hollywood establishment, the Roman Catholic Church, and by his fans for leaving his wife for a noted femme fatale. Gardner used her considerable influence, particularly with Harry Cohn, to get Sinatra cast in his Oscar-winning role in From Here to Eternity (1953). That role and the award revitalized both Sinatra's acting and singing careers.

The Gardner–Sinatra marriage was tumultuous. Gardner confided to Artie Shaw, her second husband, that “With him [Frank] it’s impossible...it’s like being with a woman. He’s so gentle. It’s as though he thinks I’ll break, as though I’m a piece of Dresden china and he’s gonna hurt me.” During their marriage Gardner became pregnant twice, but aborted both pregnancies. "MGM had all sorts of penalty clauses about their stars having babies," she said. She said years later, "We couldn't even take care of ourselves. How were we going to take care of a baby?" Gardner remained good friends with Sinatra for the remainder of her life.


Relationships
Gardner became a friend 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 Howard Hughes, but he was in and out of her life for about twenty years. Hughes's trust in Gardner was what kept their relationship alive. She describes him as "painfully shy, completely enigmatic and more eccentric...than anyone [she] had ever met."

After Gardner divorced Sinatra in 1957, she headed for Spain, where she began a friendship with writer Ernest Hemingway (she had starred in his The Sun Also Rises that year, and several years earlier, Hemingway had successfully urged producer Darryl F. Zanuck to cast Gardner in The Snows of Kilimanjaro, a film which adapted several of his short stories). While staying with Hemingway at his villa in San Francisco de Paula in Havana, Cuba, Gardner once swam alone without a swimsuit in his pool. After watching her, Hemingway ordered to his staff: "The water is not to be emptied". Her friendship with Hemingway led to her becoming a fan of bullfighting and bullfighters, such as Luis Miguel Dominguín, who became her lover. "It was a sort of madness, honey", she later said of the time.

Gardner was also involved in a relationship with her live-in boyfriend and companion, American actor Benjamin Tatar, who worked in Spain as a foreign-language dubbing director. Tatar later wrote an autobiography in which he discussed his relationship with Gardner, though the book was never published.


Death
After a lifetime of smoking, Gardner suffered from emphysema, as well as an unidentified auto-immune disorder. Two strokes in 1986 left her partially paralyzed and bedridden. Although Gardner could afford her medical expenses, 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 suffered a bad fall a week before she died, and she lay on the floor, alone and unable to move, until her housekeeper returned. Her last words (to her housekeeper) were reportedly "I'm so tired". She died of pneumonia at the age of 67, at her London home, 34 Ennismore Gardens, where she had lived since 1968.

Gardner was buried in the Sunset Memorial Park, Smithfield, North Carolina, next to her brothers and their parents, Jonas (1878–1938) and Mollie Gardner (1883–1943). The town of Smithfield now has an Ava Gardner Museum.

Best films

Earthquake (1974)
(Actress)
Mayerling (1968)
(Actress)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
(Actress)
The Night of the Iguana (1964)
(Actress)
55 Days at Peking (1963)
(Actress)
Mogambo (1953)
(Actress)

Usually with

Cedric Gibbons
Cedric Gibbons
(22 films)
John Huston
John Huston
(5 films)
Freddie Young
Freddie Young
(6 films)
David Snell
David Snell
(6 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Ava Gardner (76 films)

Display filmography as list

Actress

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff, 1h26
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the visual arts, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Marlene Dietrich, Jack Cardiff, Martin Scorsese, Orson Welles, Leslie Caron, Kirk Douglas
Roles Pandora Reynolds / Maria Vargas (archive footage)
Rating76% 3.832483.832483.832483.832483.83248
En 2001, Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) est devenu le premier directeur de la photographie de l'histoire des Oscars à recevoir un Oscar d'honneur. Mais la première fois qu'il a serré la célèbre statuette dans sa main, c'était un demi-siècle plus tôt, lorsque son travail de caméra en Technicolor avait été récompensé pour le Narcisse noir de Powell et Pressburger. Au-delà de The African Queen de John Huston et de War and Peace de King Vidor, les films du duo créatif britannico-hongrois (The Red Shoes et A Matter of Life and Death également) garantissent l'immortalité au célèbre caméraman dont la carrière s'étend sur soixante-dix ans.
The Kid Stays in the Picture, 1h33
Directed by Nanette Burstein, Brett Morgen
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Robert Evans, Eddie Albert, Norma Shearer, Ali MacGraw, Francis Ford Coppola, Catherine Deneuve
Roles Self (archive footage)
Rating72% 3.6454853.6454853.6454853.6454853.645485
The book chronicles Evans' rise from childhood to radio star to film star to production chief of Paramount Pictures to independent producer, his marriage to Ali MacGraw, his downfall including his 1980 cocaine bust and implication in the murder of Roy Radin, aka "The Cotton Club Murder", his banishment from Paramount Pictures, and his return to the studio in the early 1990s.
That's Entertainment! III, 1h53
Genres Documentary, Musical
Themes Films about films, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentary films about cities, Musical films, Documentary films about films
Actors Gene Kelly, June Allyson, Cyd Charisse, Lena Horne, Howard Keel, Esther Williams
Roles (archive footage)
Rating74% 3.7388153.7388153.7388153.7388153.738815
Troisième volet de "Il était une fois Hollywood", "That's Entertainment III" nous propose un nouveau panorama de l'age d'or de la MGM mais aussi des chutes rarissimes, des séquences coupées lors de la sortie des films et des essais d'autres stars que celles qui furent finalement choisies.
A.D. (miniseries), 5h
Directed by Stuart Cooper
Genres Drama, Historical
Actors Anthony Andrews, Colleen Dewhurst, Ava Gardner, David Hedison, John Houseman, Richard Kiley
Roles Agrippina
Rating71% 3.584053.584053.584053.584053.58405
The story tells the life histories about Saint Peter and Paul of Tarsus after the crucifixion of Jesus, and their individual fates in old Rome in the time of the persecution of Christians. Events in the New Testament Book of Acts by Luke and in the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius are dramatized and interwoven with the contrasting histories of political intrigues in the public and private lives of the Caesars from Tiberius through Nero related in The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, together with the fictional drama of the lives of two Jews and two Romans: Caleb the Zealot and his sister Sarah, and Julius Valerius the Imperial Guard and Corinna the patrician woman who has chosen to be a gladiator.
Harem
Harem (1985)
, 1h53
Directed by Arthur Joffé
Origin France
Genres Drama, Historical, Romance
Themes Psychologie
Actors Nastassja Kinski, Ben Kingsley, Zohra Sehgal, Ava Gardner, Michel Robin, Art Malik
Roles Kadin
Rating47% 2.363162.363162.363162.363162.36316
Diane Andrews (Nastassja Kinski) is a haughty Wall Street floor trader without any romantic interests. One day, Sheikh Selim (Ben Kingsley), the ruler of an oil-rich Gulf country, who has been tracking Diane has her drugged, kidnapped, and brought to his harem overseen by eunuch Massoud (Dennis Goldson). Despite Diane's initial protests, as the two come to appreciate each other, they fall in love. Meanwhile, a series of events makes Selim realise that he can no longer rule his country and harem the way he and his ancestors used to do. Eventually, he takes the radical decision to evacuate his isolated castle.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, 1h28
Directed by Carl Reiner
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Comedy thriller, Action, Crime, Romance
Actors Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Carl Reiner, Alan Ladd, Reni Santoni, Barbara Stanwyck
Roles (in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Rating67% 3.398353.398353.398353.398353.39835
In the opening scene, John Hay Forrest (George Gaynes), noted scientist and cheesemaker, dies in a single-vehicle car accident (represented by the car wreck scene from Keeper of the Flame). In the next scene, private investigator Rigby Reardon (Steve Martin) is reading a newspaper when Forrest's daughter, Juliet (Rachel Ward), enters his office and faints when the paper's headline reminds her of her father's death. Upon coming to, she hires Rigby to investigate the death, which she thinks was murder. In Dr. Forrest's lab, Rigby finds two lists, one titled "Friends of Carlotta" and the other "Enemies of Carlotta", as well as an affectionately autographed photo of singer Kitty Collins, whose name appears on one of the lists. His search is interrupted by a man posing as an exterminator (Alan Ladd, in This Gun for Hire), who shoots Rigby in the arm and frisks the lists from the seemingly dead investigator.
Regina Roma, 1h26
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Ava Gardner, Anthony Quinn, Anna Karina, Ray Sharkey
Roles Mama
Rating52% 2.614162.614162.614162.614162.61416
Retour à la maison d'un homme avec une fiancée, stimule une confrontation avec sa mère dominatrice.
Priest of Love, 1h38
Directed by Christopher Miles
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Ian McKellen, Janet Suzman, Ava Gardner, Sarah Miles, Penelope Keith, Jorge Rivero
Roles Mabel Dodge Luhan
Rating60% 3.043563.043563.043563.043563.04356
Il s'agit d'un film biographique à propos de l'écrivain britannique D. H. Lawrence et sa femme Frieda (née Von Richthofen).
The Kidnapping of the President, 1h54
Directed by George Mendeluk
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Adventure
Themes Politique, Political films
Actors William Shatner, Hal Holbrook, Van Johnson, Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Shepherd, Michael J. Reynolds
Roles Beth Richards
Rating54% 2.7046552.7046552.7046552.7046552.704655
During a diplomatic visit to Toronto, the U.S. President Adam Scott (Hal Holbrook) is abducted by a South American terrorist, Roberto Assanti (Miguel Fernandes), and his female accomplice, and is held captive in an armored truck booby-trapped with high explosives. The elaborate bomb keeps the Secret Service at bay until Assanti is killed. However, the explosives are timed to detonate at midnight, so Secret Service agent Jerry O'Connor (Shatner) has to find a way into the truck to rescue the President before it detonates. Also involved are U.S Vice-President Ethan Richards (Johnson) and his wife Beth (Gardner).
City on Fire, 1h46
Directed by Alvin Rakoff
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action
Themes La fin du monde, Films about music and musicians, Films about the labor movement, Musical films, Disaster films, American disaster films
Actors Barry Newman, Susan Clark, Shelley Winters, Leslie Nielsen, James Franciscus, Ava Gardner
Roles Maggie Grayson
Rating44% 2.2134052.2134052.2134052.2134052.213405
William Dudley (Leslie Nielsen) is a corrupt mayor of a nameless Midwestern U.S. city who has allowed an oil refinery to be built right in the center of town, far from any river, lake or reservoir. On one typical hot summer day, Herman Stover (Jonathan Welsh), a dangerously disturbed employee at the works has been denied an expected promotion and in addition, finds himself fired. He then decides to take his revenge against the works by opening the valves to the storage vats and their interconnecting pipes, flooding the area and sewers with gasoline and chemicals. It doesn't take long for this act of petty vandalism to start a fire, which starts a chain reaction that causes massive explosions at the refinery, destroying it and spreading a mushroom-cloud of flame that soon engulfs the entire metropolis. The drama focuses on a newly built hospital which, like the refinery and all civic buildings that went up during the mayor's crooked administration, is shoddily built and poorly equipped where the head doctor, Frank Whitman (Barry Newman), and his staff treat thousands of casualties from the fire while the city fire chief Risley (Henry Fonda) keeps in constant contact with the fire companies fighting a losing battle against the fires, and Maggie Grayson (Ava Gardner), an alcoholic reporter, sees it as her chance to make it nationwide with her coverage of the story of the "city on fire".
The Sentinel, 1h32
Directed by Michael Winner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror
Themes Ghost films
Actors Chris Sarandon, Cristina Raines, Martin Balsam, Burgess Meredith, Christopher Walken, Beverly D'Angelo
Roles Helen Logan
Rating62% 3.1483453.1483453.1483453.1483453.148345
Alison Parker, a beautiful but severely neurotic fashion model (Raines) moves into a gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone house that has been divided into apartments. The house is inhabited on the top floor by Father Halliran (John Carradine), a reclusive blind priest who spends all of his time sitting at his open window. Alison begins having strange physical problems, including insomnia, and has some terrifying flashbacks of her attempted suicide. She complains to the real estate agent of the noise caused by her strange neighbors, only to be told that the house is occupied only by the priest and herself. The behavior of her "non-existent" neighbors becomes increasingly surreal and disturbing.
The Blue Bird, 1h39
Directed by George Cukor
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Fantastic, Fantasy, Adventure
Themes Films about magic and magicians, Théâtre, Films based on plays, Children's films
Actors Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Ava Gardner, Cicely Tyson, Robert Morley, Patsy Kensit
Roles Luxury
Rating54% 2.7029752.7029752.7029752.7029752.702975
Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl are peasant children who are led on a quest for the Blue Bird of Happiness by the Queen of Light, who gives them a hat with a magic diamond that allows them to call forth the souls of all things, both living and inanimate. On their journey, they are accompanied by the human personifications of a dog, a cat, water, sugar, bread, milk, light, fire, and the like. They visit the kingdoms of the past and future and the queendoms of night and luxury, at each place absorbing more wisdom. Eventually they discover the blue bird they've been seeking has been in their own backyard all along.
The Cassandra Crossing, 2h9
Directed by George Cosmatos
Origin German
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action
Themes La fin du monde, Medical-themed films, Transport films, Rail transport films, Films about viral outbreaks, Catastrophe épidémiologique, Disaster films, Film se déroulant dans un train
Actors Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Burt Lancaster, Martin Sheen, Lee Strasberg, Ava Gardner
Roles Nicole Dressler
Rating62% 3.1488553.1488553.1488553.1488553.148855
When the existence of a strain of plague (vaguely identified as pneumonic) is revealed at the U.S. mission at the International Health Organization, three terrorists seek to blow up the U.S. mission. Two of them are shot, one mortally, by security personnel but one escapes. The surviving terrorist is hospitalized and quarantined and identified as Swedish. Dr. Elena Stradner (Ingrid Thulin) and U.S. Colonel Stephen Mackenzie (Burt Lancaster) (Military Intelligence assigned to the IHO) argue over the nature of the strain, which Stradner suspects is a biological weapon but which Colonel Mackenzie claims was in the process of being destroyed.