Ava Gardner
Acting
Born: December 24, 1922 · Grabtown, North Carolina, USA
Died: January 25, 1990 (aged 67)
Highest Rated
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
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
The Killers
1946
Earthquake
1974
The Bible: In the Beginning...
1966
The Barefoot Contessa
1954
On the Beach
1959
The Band Wagon
1953
The Cassandra Crossing
1976
The Sentinel
1977
Seven Days in May
1964
55 Days at Peking
1963
Mogambo
1953
Photos (12)
Movies (73)
The Cassandra Crossing
Nicole Dressler
The Bible: In the Beginning...
Sarah
Earthquake
Remy Royce-Graff
On the Beach
Moira Davidson
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Cynthia Green
The Night of the Iguana
Maxine Faulk
The Killers
Kitty Collins
The Sentinel
Helen Logan
The Barefoot Contessa
Maria Vargas
Mayerling
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Lone Star
Martha Ronda
Seven Days in May
Eleanor Holbrook
Priest of Love
Mabel Dodge Luhan
The Band Wagon
Ava Gardner (uncredited)
55 Days at Peking
Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage) (uncredited)
Knights of the Round Table
Guinevere
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage) (uncredited)
Show Boat
Julie LaVerne
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Lily Langtry
The Blue Bird
Luxury
The Sun Also Rises
Lady Brett Ashley
The Bribe
Elizabeth Hintten
Mogambo
Eloise Y. Kelly
Shadow of the Thin Man
Passerby at Racetrack (uncredited)
The Great Sinner
Pauline Ostrovsky
City on Fire
Maggie Grayson
Two Girls and a Sailor
Dream Girl (uncredited)
The Naked Maja
Maria Teresa, duchess of Alba, nicknamed Cayetana
Reunion in France
Marie, Parisian shopgirl (uncredited)
Du Barry Was a Lady
Perfume Girl (uncredited)
Ride, Vaquero!
Cordelia Cameron
Legends of the West
Lily Langtry in 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Hucksters
Jean Ogilvie
Swing Fever
Receptionist (uncredited)
Regina Roma
Mama
One Touch of Venus
Venus
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
Pandora Reynolds
Twenty Years After
(archive footage)
Whistle Stop
Mary
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Pandora Reynolds / Maria Vargas (archive footage)
Hitler's Madman
Franciska Pritric (uncredited)
Singapore
Linda Grahame / Ann Van Leyden
Maggie
Diane Webb
East Side, West Side
Isabel Lorrison
Bhowani Junction
Victoria Jones
Fancy Answers
Girl at Recital
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Young Socialite (uncredited)
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
archive footage
The Angel Wore Red
Soledad
The Little Hut
Lady Susan Ashlow
Harem
Kadin
The Ballad of Tam Lin
Michaela Cazaret
Permission to Kill
Katina Petersen
Kid Glove Killer
Car Hop (uncredited)
Sunday Punch
Ringsider (uncredited)
This Time for Keeps
Girl in Car Lighting Cigarette (uncredited)
My Forbidden Past
Barbara Beaurevel
Calling Dr. Gillespie
Student (uncredited)
Joe Smith, American
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
Lost Angel
Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Maisie Goes to Reno
Gloria Fullerton
The Kidnapping of the President
Beth Richards
I'm a Civilian Here Myself
Dream Girl (uncredited)
Ghosts on the Loose
Betty
We Do It Because
Lucretia Borgia (uncredited)
Blonde Fever
Minor Role (uncredited)
3 Men in White
Jean Brown
She Went to the Races
Hilda Spotts
Young Ideas
Co-ed (uncredited)
Strange Testament
Waitress (uncredited)
Mighty Lak a Goat
Girl at Theatre Boxoffice
TV Shows (4)
Self / Appearances (23)
Intimate Portrait
Self · 1 eps
What's My Line?
Self · 1 eps
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields
Self (archive footage) · 1 eps
Iconic Couples of Hollywood
Self (archive footage) · 1 eps
Beautiful Like a Poem
Self (archive footage)
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
Self (archive footage)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
Chavela
Self (archive footage)
Rat Pack
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
Self (archive)
La Rabbia
Self (archive footage)
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
Self - Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba (archive footage)
The Costume Designer
Self (archive footage)
Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia
Self (archive footage)
On the Trail of the Iguana
Self
Ava Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies
Self (archive footage)
Frank Sinatra glömde aldrig Finspång
Self (archive footage)
Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century
Self (archive footage)
Året var 1953
Self (archive footage)
Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
Fallout
Self (archive footage)
De Madrid a la Luna
Self (archive footage)
All Night Long
Self (archive footage)