Real Name: Ava Lavinia Gardner
Birthdate: December 24,1922
Deathdate: January 25,1990
Birthplace: Grabtown, North Carolina
Deathplace: Westminster, London, England
Cause of Death: Bronchial Pneumonia
Husbands:
Mickey Rooney (January 10,1942 - May 21,1943) (divorced)
Artie Shaw (October 17,1945 - October 25,1946) (divorced)
Frank Sinatra (November 7,1951 - July 5,1957) (divorced)
Height: 5'6"
Her singing voive was dubbed in the film "Show Boat, " with Annette Warren's voice.
Mother, Mary Elizabeth 'Molly' Gardner, nee Baker; father, Jonas Gardner, tobacco farmer, died of bronchitis 1935.
Youngest of 7 children, her older siblings were Raymond, Melvin 'Jack', Beatrice 'Bappie', Elsie Mae, Inez and Myra.
Her early education was sketchy; by 1945, she had read two books, the Bible and 'Gone with the Wind'. In later life, she more than made up for this lack by continual self-education.
She sang in her own voice for Killers, The (1946) but in all MGM films her singing voice was dubbed (to her disgust).
Flamenco became one of Ava's favorite pastimes after she learned it for Barefoot Contessa, The (1954); increasingly proficient and needing little sleep, she often danced all night.
While in Spain, she also became a bullfight fan.
In a promotion for Little Hut, The (1957), a small island in Fiji was renamed Ava Ava and leased to a contest winner.
She was continuously under contract at MGM, 1941-1958.
There is an Ava Gardner Museum of memorabilia in Smithfield, North Carolina.
She spent her final years as a recluse in her London apartment - her only companions were her longtime housekeeper Carmen Vargas and her beloved Welsh corgi, Morgan. Sinatra paid all her medical expenses after her 1989 stroke which left her partially paralyzed and bedridden. Vargas took her body home to her native North Carolina for private burial. None of her ex-husbands attended.
After her death in 1990, Ava's long time housekeeper, Carmen Vargas, and her dog, a Welsh Corgi named Morgan were taken in by her former co-star Gregory Peck.
Once met J.R.R. Tolkien and neither knew why the other was famous.
All three of her marriages were childless.
Daughter-in-law of Joe Yule.
Was a good friend of Lena Horne, despite the fact that they both competed for the part of 'Julie' in Show Boat (1951).
When shooting "Earthquake" (1974) Gardner surprised director Mark Robson by insisting that she do her own stuntwork, which included dodging blocks of concrete and heavy steel pipes.
