- Home
- Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Known for: ActingAva 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.
Filmography 48
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
+8
as Cynthia Green 
On the Beach
+1
as Moira Davidson 
The Cassandra Crossing
+6
as Nicole Dressler 
55 Days at Peking
as Baroness Natalie Ivanoff 
The Bible: In the Beginning...
+2
as Sarah 
The Killers
as Kitty Collins 
Earthquake
as Remy Royce-Graff 
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
as Lily Langtry 
The Sentinel
+2
as Helen Logan 
The Long Hot Summer
as Minnie Littlejohn 
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
as (in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage) 
The Barefoot Contessa
+6
as Maria Vargas 
The Night of the Iguana
+1
as Maxine Faulk 
Seven Days in May
+1
as Eleanor Holbrook 
Mogambo
as Eloise Y. Kelly 
The Band Wagon
+1
as Ava Gardner (uncredited) 
Harem
as Kadin 
The Sun Also Rises
as Lady Brett Ashley 
Harem
as Kadin 
Mayerling
as Empress Elisabeth of Austria 
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
as Pandora Reynolds 
The Blue Bird
as Luxury 
Show Boat
+1
as Julie LaVerne 
Chavela
as Self (archive footage) 
Knights of the Round Table
+1
as Guinevere 
Lone Star
+1
as Martha Ronda 
Regina Roma
as Mama 
East Side, West Side
as Isabel Lorrison 
Ride, Vaquero!
+2
as Cordelia Cameron 
One Touch of Venus
as Venus 
The Great Sinner
as Pauline Ostrovsky 
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
as Young Socialite (uncredited) 
Whistle Stop
+1
as Mary 
City on Fire
as Maggie Grayson 
Bhowani Junction
as Victoria Jones 
The Naked Maja
as Maria Teresa, duchess of Alba, nicknamed Cayetana 
The Kidnapping of the President
as Beth Richards 
Ghosts on the Loose
+5
as Betty 
Permission to Kill
as Katina Petersen 
Hitler's Madman
as Franciska Pritric (uncredited) 
My Forbidden Past
+1
as Barbara Beaurevel 
3 Men in White
as Jean Brown 
Priest of Love
as Mabel Dodge Luhan 
The Hucksters
as Jean Ogilvie 
Calling Dr. Gillespie
as Student (uncredited) 
Maisie Goes to Reno
as Gloria Fullerton 
Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood
as Self (archive footage) 
Ava Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies
as Self (archive footage)