A Sort of Madness: The Life of Ava Gardner

Proclaimed by the media to be a "love goddess", Ava Gardner continues to fascinate and captivate classic film fans. Through all her personal stuggles, she managed to produce sensational movies that became studio era favorites. Even now, almost 20 years after her death, her memory refuses to be forgotten.

Becoming a Star

On December 24th, 1922, Ava Lavinia Gardner was born, being the youngest out of seven children.( Raymond, Melvin, Beatrice, Elsie Mae, Inez, and Myra) Ava grew up in the rural community of Grabtown, North Carolina and was always a tomboy during her younger years, and never truly had aspirations of becoming an actress. However, she was very beautiful. When she was 18, she took a trip to New York to visit her sister Beatrice, who’s husband happened to be a photographer. This trip would alter her life greatly.

He took some nonchalant pictures of Ava, and had them displayed in the front windows of the Tarr Photography Studio on 5th Avenue in New York. Luck had it that a scout from MGM's film company would see those pictures and fall in love with Ava. She was given a contract in 1941 and dropped out of school to move to Los Angeles, with her sister's company. Not long after she moved to California, she met a man named Mickey Rooney, and they were married on January 10th of 1942, but the relationship would only last 17 months. After this failed relationship, she was proposed to on countless occasions by Howard Hughes, whom she turned down each time. He went as far as to bribe her with money, jewlery and whatever else he could think of. One night he came on to her so strongly it resulted in him being knocked out with a paperweight. This was also around the time that Ava had truly started to become famous, with her movie The Killers.

Ava seemed to be a magnent for chaotic relationships, and her second marriage to Artie Shaw was most definitely far from perfect. Artie was extremely degrading and abusive, and constantly harassed Ava about her lack of education. The stress from this marriage led to Ava developing an alcohol addiction, and not even a year after they were married, they got divorced in 1946.

Rising Career and Later Life

Her next marriage was to the famous musician, Frank Sinatra. Frank, at the time, was married to a woman called Nancy, and had two children with her. Frank divorced Nancy, and shortly after (3 days later to be exact) married Ava, the media couldn’t publicize it enough. Ava received hate mail and Frank was ridiculed by every tabloid in existance at the time, which did anything but help Ava's drinking problem. However, despite all this Ava’s career continued to prosper, and she even landed Frank a role in the film From Here to Eternity in 1953. Frank went on to win an Oscar for this movie. During the same year Ava was nominated for an Oscar, but she lost to Audrey Hepburn. At some point during their marriage, Ava became pregnant, but she had an abortion in London, claiming that they were in no situation to handle raising a child. The relationship was not blissful and happy for long, it was filled with a lot of jealousy. Frank accused her of having affairs constantly, and she did the same to him, which would end in her third divorce, however the two remained friends their entire life.

Ava never truly had a liking for Hollywood, and when she was 33, she left Hollywood to go film in Madrid, Spain. She grew very attatched to Spain and did spend quite some time there, ten years. During this time, she developed a strong friendship with the famous writer Ernest Hemingway who also resided in Spain. The two presumably met after Ava starred in The Snows of Kilimanjaro, a film based on Hemingway's short story. Hemingway helped foster her love of bullfighting, and lead her to a romantic interest named Luis Migel Dominguin, a bull fighter. When describing this period in her life, Ava simply said "It was a sort of madness, honey." After living in Spain, she moved to London.

Ava’s life in London was not glamourus at all, in fact it was borderline depressing. All of her drinking and partying was begining to show its effects, and she was no longer the stunning actress she once was. For a brief periodshe was on the TV show Knot's Landing, but her health lead to her leaving the show. Ava had a stroke in 1989, which left her semi-paralyzed and confined to her bed. Her last months were spent with only the company of her house keeper Carmen, and her Welsh Corgi dog named Morgan. Not long after, in January of 1990 she died of pneumonia at her home in London at the age of 67. Frank Sinatra was devistated by her death, and paid for all of the funeral costs and her medical bills, but was not in attendance at her funeral.

Abbreviated Filmography

• 1941 - Babes on Broadway
• 1941 - H.M. Pulham, Esq
• 1941 - Shadow of the Thin Man
• 1941 - Fancy Answers
• 1942 - Reunion in France
• 1942 - Mighty Lak a Goat
• 1942 - Calling Dr. Gillespie
• 1942 - Sunday Punch
• 1942 - Kid Glove Killer
• 1942 - This Time for Keeps
• 1942 - Joe Smith, American
• 1942 - We Do It Because
• 1943 - Lost Angel
• 1943 - Swing Fever
• 1943 - Du Barry Was a Lady
• 1943 - Young Ideas
• 1943 - Ghosts on the Loose
• 1943 - Hitler's Madman
• 1944 - Music For Millions
• 1944 - Blonde Fever
• 1944 - Maisie Goes to Reno
• 1944 - Three Men in White
• 1944 - Two Girls and a Sailor
• 1945 - She Went to the Races
• 1946 - The Killers
• 1946 - Whistle Stop
• 1947 - Singapore
• 1948 - One Touch of Venus
• 1948 - The Hucksters
• 1949 - East Side, West Side
• 1949 - The Great Sinner
• 1949 - The Bribe
• 1951 - Show Boat
• 1951 - My Forbidden Past
• 1951 - Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
• 1952 - The Snows of Kilimanjaro
• 1952 - Lone Star
• 1953 - Mogambo
• 1953 - Ride, Vaquero!
• 1953 - Knights of the Round Table
• 1954 - The Barefoot Congessa
• 1956 - Bhowani Junction
• 1957 - The Sun Also Rises
• 1957 - The Little Hut
• 1958 - The Naked Maja
• 1959 - On The Beach
• 1960 - The Angel Wore Red
• 1963 - 55 Days at Peking
• 1964 - The Night of the Iguana
• 1964 - Seven Days in May
• 1966 - The Bible: In the Beginning
• 1968 - Mayerling
• 1970 - Tam Lin
• 1972 - The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
• 1974 - Earthquake
• 1975 - Permission to Kill
• 1976 - The Cassandra Crossing
• 1976 - The Blue Bird
• 1977 - The Sentinel
• 1979 - City On Fire
• 1980 - The Kidnapping of the President
• 1981 - The Priest of Love
• 1982 - Regina Roma
• 1985 - The Long Hot Summer
• 1985 - Knots Landing
• 1985 - A.D.
• 1986 - Harem