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Ava Gardner

Known for: Acting

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.

Filmography 48

Pe plajă 1959Movie as Moira Davidson
Podul Cassandra 1976Movie as Nicole Dressler
55 de zile la Pekin 1963Movie as Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
Ucigașii 1946Movie as Kitty Collins
Cutremurul 1974Movie as Remy Royce-Graff
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid 1982Movie as (in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Seven Days in May 1964Movie as Eleanor Holbrook
Mogambo 1953Movie as Eloise Y. Kelly
Orchestra ambulantă 1953Movie as Ava Gardner (uncredited)
The Sun Also Rises 1957Movie as Lady Brett Ashley
Mayerling 1968Movie as Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Show Boat 1951Movie as Julie LaVerne
Chavela 2017Movie as Self (archive footage)
Lone Star 1952Movie as Martha Ronda
Ferma lui Cameron 1953Movie as Cordelia Cameron
The Great Sinner 1949Movie as Pauline Ostrovsky
H.M. Pulham, Esq. 1941Movie as Young Socialite (uncredited)
The Naked Maja 1958Movie as Maria Teresa, duchess of Alba, nicknamed Cayetana
Hitler's Madman 1943Movie as Franciska Pritric (uncredited)
Priest of Love 1981Movie as Mabel Dodge Luhan
Calling Dr. Gillespie 1942Movie as Student (uncredited)