Ava Gardner
Biography
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24 1922 – January 25 1990) was an American actress born in Grabtown, North Carolina. She rose to prominence in the 1940s and 1950s, becoming one of the most iconic stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age. The American Film Institute ranked her as the 25th greatest female screen legend. After early minor parts, her breakthrough arrived with the classic film‑noir The Killers (1946), which established her as a leading lady. Her 1950s career included notable performances in Mogambo (1953), for which she earned an Academy Award nomination, The Barefoot Contessa (1954), and The Night of the Iguana (1964), which brought a BAFTA nomination. Gardner’s body of work comprises over one hundred credited roles.
Career overview
Ava Lavinia Gardner was born on December 24, 1922 in Grabtown, North Carolina, and died on January 25, 1990 at the age of 67. An American actress whose career began with minor parts, she achieved her first major recognition with the film‑noir classic The Killers in 1946, a role that elevated her to leading‑lady status. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s she became one of the most popular figures of the era, appearing in a wide range of productions that contributed to a total of more than one hundred credited performances.
The 1950s marked the height of Gardner’s cinematic prominence. She delivered notable performances in Mogambo (1953), a film for which she earned an Academy Award nomination, and in The Barefoot Contessa (1954). Her work continued into the 1960s, and she received a BAFTA nomination for her role in The Night of the Iguana (1964). In recognition of her lasting impact on American cinema, the American Film Institute later ranked her as the twenty‑fifth greatest female screen legend. Gardner’s career, spanning several decades, left a substantial legacy within the Golden Age of Hollywood, reflected in the extensive list of over one hundred credited roles she accumulated during her lifetime.
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Career timeline
Full filmography
- Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023) as Self (archive footage)
- Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia (2023) as Self (archive footage)
- Rat Pack (2022) as Self (archive footage)
- Beautiful Like a Poem (2020) as Self (archive footage)
- Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018) as Self (archive footage)
- Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood (2018) as Self (archive footage)
- Chavela (2017) as Self (archive footage)
- Ava Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies (2017) as Self (archive footage)
- Iconic Couples of Hollywood (2015) as Self (archive footage)
- Fallout (2013) as Self (archive footage)
- Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010) as Pandora Reynolds / Maria Vargas (archive footage)
- All Night Long (2010) as Self (archive footage)
- Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical (2009) as Self (archive)
- De Madrid a la Luna (2006) as Self (archive footage)
- Året var 1953 (2003) as Self (archive footage)
- Frank Sinatra glömde aldrig Finspång (2003) as Self (archive footage)
- Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies (2000) as archive footage
- Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century (1998) as Self (archive footage)
- That's Entertainment! III (1994) as (archive footage)
- Intimate Portrait (1993) as Self
- Legends of the West (1992) as Lily Langtry in 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean' (archive footage) (uncredited)
- John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick (1988) as Self (archive footage)
- Maggie (1986) as Diane Webb
- Harem (1986) as Kadin
- Harem (1986) as Kadin
- A.D. (1985) as Agrippina
- The Long Hot Summer (1985) as Minnie Littlejohn
- Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) as (in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
- Regina Roma (1982) as Mama
- Priest of Love (1981) as Mabel Dodge Luhan
- The Kidnapping of the President (1980) as Beth Richards
- Knots Landing (1979) as Ruth Sumner Galveston
- City on Fire (1979) as Maggie Grayson
- The Sentinel (1977) as Helen Logan
- Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti (1977) as Self - Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba (archive footage)
- The Cassandra Crossing (1976) as Nicole Dressler
- The Blue Bird (1976) as Luxury
- Permission to Kill (1975) as Katina Petersen
- Earthquake (1974) as Remy Royce-Graff
- That's Entertainment! (1974) as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) as Lily Langtry
- The Ballad of Tam Lin (1970) as Michaela Cazaret
- Mayerling (1968) as Empress Elisabeth of Austria
- The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966) as Sarah
- The Night of the Iguana (1964) as Maxine Faulk
- Seven Days in May (1964) as Eleanor Holbrook
- On the Trail of the Iguana (1964) as Self
- 55 Days at Peking (1963) as Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
- La Rabbia (1963) as Self (archive footage)
- The Angel Wore Red (1960) as Soledad
- On the Beach (1959) as Moira Davidson
- The Naked Maja (1958) as Maria Teresa, duchess of Alba, nicknamed Cayetana
- The Sun Also Rises (1957) as Lady Brett Ashley
- The Little Hut (1957) as Lady Susan Ashlow
- Bhowani Junction (1956) as Victoria Jones
- The Barefoot Contessa (1954) as Maria Vargas
- Knights of the Round Table (1953) as Guinevere
- Mogambo (1953) as Eloise Y. Kelly
- The Band Wagon (1953) as Ava Gardner (uncredited)
- Ride, Vaquero! (1953) as Cordelia Cameron
- The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) as Cynthia Green
- Lone Star (1952) as Martha Ronda
- Show Boat (1951) as Julie LaVerne
- Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) as Pandora Reynolds
- My Forbidden Past (1951) as Barbara Beaurevel
- What's My Line? (1950) as Self
- The Costume Designer (1950) as Self (archive footage)
- Screen Actors (1950) as Self (uncredited)
- The Great Sinner (1949) as Pauline Ostrovsky
- East Side, West Side (1949) as Isabel Lorrison
- The Bribe (1949) as Elizabeth Hintten
- One Touch of Venus (1948) as Venus
- The Hucksters (1947) as Jean Ogilvie
- Singapore (1947) as Linda Grahame / Ann Van Leyden
- Whistle Stop (1946) as Mary
- The Killers (1946) as Kitty Collins
- I'm a Civilian Here Myself (1945) as Dream Girl (uncredited)
- She Went to the Races (1945) as Hilda Spotts
- Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) as Dream Girl (uncredited)
- Twenty Years After (1944) as (archive footage)
- Blonde Fever (1944) as Minor Role (uncredited)
- 3 Men in White (1944) as Jean Brown
- Maisie Goes to Reno (1944) as Gloria Fullerton
- Swing Fever (1943) as Receptionist (uncredited)
- Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) as Perfume Girl (uncredited)
- Hitler's Madman (1943) as Franciska Pritric (uncredited)
- Ghosts on the Loose (1943) as Betty
- Young Ideas (1943) as Co-ed (uncredited)
- Lost Angel (1943) as Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
- Reunion in France (1942) as Marie, Parisian shopgirl (uncredited)
- Joe Smith, American (1942) as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
- This Time for Keeps (1942) as Girl in Car Lighting Cigarette (uncredited)
- Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942) as Student (uncredited)
- We Do It Because (1942) as Lucretia Borgia (uncredited)
- Sunday Punch (1942) as Ringsider (uncredited)
- Kid Glove Killer (1942) as Car Hop (uncredited)
- Mighty Lak a Goat (1942) as Girl at Theatre Boxoffice
- Fancy Answers (1941) as Girl at Recital
- Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) as Passerby at Racetrack (uncredited)
- H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941) as Young Socialite (uncredited)
- Strange Testament (1941) as Waitress (uncredited)