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Ava Gardner

Acting Born Dec 24, 1922 Grabtown, North Carolina, USA 24 credits

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.

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Known for

Knots Landing

as Ruth Sumner Galveston

What's My Line?

as Self

Intimate Portrait

as Self

TFI Friday

as Sarah
Film

The Killers

as Kitty Collins

Magical Project S

as Maria Vargas

Full filmography

  • Knots Landing (1979) as Ruth Sumner Galveston
  • What's My Line? (1950) as Self
  • Intimate Portrait (1993) as Self
  • Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023) as Self (archive footage)
  • A.D. (1985) as Agrippina
  • Earthquake (1974) as Remy Royce-Graff
  • The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966) as Sarah
  • 55 Days at Peking (1963) as Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
  • The Sentinel (1977) as Helen Logan
  • The Long Hot Summer (1985) as Minnie Littlejohn
  • The Cassandra Crossing (1976) as Nicole Dressler
  • The Killers (1946) as Kitty Collins
  • Mayerling (1968) as Empress Elisabeth of Austria
  • On the Beach (1959) as Moira Davidson
  • Iconic Couples of Hollywood (2015) as Self (archive footage)
  • The Barefoot Contessa (1954) as Maria Vargas
  • The Night of the Iguana (1964) as Maxine Faulk
  • Seven Days in May (1964) as Eleanor Holbrook
  • The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) as Lily Langtry
  • Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) as (in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
  • The Band Wagon (1953) as Ava Gardner (uncredited)
  • Show Boat (1951) as Julie LaVerne
  • The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) as Cynthia Green
  • Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018) as Self (archive footage)