Ava Gardner

Ava Lavinia Gardner
was born on a tobacco farm in Grabtown, North Carolina on Christmas Eve. When she was old enough she moved to Hollywood with her sister Bappie. Upon viewing her screen test, L.B. Mayer shouted, "She can't act. She can't talk. She's terrific." She signed a six-month option with M-G-M . Lillian Burns, their best dramatic coach, taught her how to act. Gertrude Vogeler taught her how to speak (coming from the south, she had a very thick accent). She took thousands of publicity stills, waiting for her first film.
She was cast in bit parts until 1946 . Whistle Stop was her first leading role. The film, as a whole, was not very good. However, it got her good notices and a foot in the door. Her next "big hit" was The Hucksters . Cast opposite Clark Gable and Deborah Kerr did much to boost her career. This movie really was a big hit. It established her at the box offices and at M-G-M. After this, she had a little more variety in her roles.
Ernest Hemingway picked her out for three of his scripts. The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Killers, and The Sun Also Rises were all very good productions. Mogambo , a remake of Red Dust, went very well; again, she was opposite Clark Gable. The Barefoot Contessa with Humphry Bogart was also a hit. This was the peak of her career. She made On the Beach in 1959 and slowly her films began fewer and fewer. No one wanted to see her any more. In her own words, "My face, shall we say, looks lived in."
Ava’s love life
was not as successful as her films, but it was just as enthralling. Her first marriage was to Mickey Rooney . This was a far cry from a match made in heaven. They quickly divorced. Shortly after that, she met and married Artie Shaw . He insisted on educating her. She took night classes and went to a therapist and read all sorts of books. One time, to impress Artie, she chose a book to read when he arrived home. Kathleen Windsor wrote the book. He told her never to read $h!t like that again. Ironically, he married Kathleen just two days after his divorce to Ava. Needless to say, they had an unhappy marriage.
After their divorce, she was looking for some one. Instead of finding someone, she ran around with Howard Hughes . Then she began affairs with every co-star until she met Robert Mitchum . He refused to be seduced. It just so happens, however, that she had already began her torrid affair with Frank Sinatra . They were seen together at a hotel and the public cried out in protest because he was already married. Eventually, he divorced his wife.
Ava and Frank had an extremely bumpy marriage. He felt she should quit her career to help him with his. She, of course, wouldn't do it. Often he attempted suicide and suffered from depression. She did what she could. Granted they did end up divorced, they were both heartbroken. In reality, they loved each other immensely. The movie and music industries are not conducive to relationships. They were torn apart by it. They could have been happy, if the circumstances were different.
In 1990, she died of pneumonia in London. She was writing her memoirs. Her last words were,
"If I had to my life to live over again, I'd live it the same way. The truth is, honey, I've enjoyed my life. I've had a hell of a good time…"