Ava Gardner

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.

Known For

Knots Landing

What's My Line?

Intimate Portrait

A.D.

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields

Earthquake

The Cassandra Crossing

The Bible: In the Beginning...

All Movies (92)

• Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia2023 · as Self (archive footage)
• Rat Pack2022 · as Self (archive footage)
• Beautiful Like a Poem2020 · as Self (archive footage)
• Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood2018 · as Self (archive footage)
• Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood2018 · as Self (archive footage)
• Chavela2017 · as Self (archive footage)
• Ava Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies2017 · as Self (archive footage)
• Fallout2013 · as Self (archive footage)
• All Night Long2010 · as Self (archive footage)
• Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff2010 · as Pandora Reynolds / Maria Vargas (archive footage)
• Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical2009 · as Self (archive)
• De Madrid a la Luna2006 · as Self (archive footage)
• Frank Sinatra glömde aldrig Finspång2003 · as Self (archive footage)
• Året var 19532003 · as Self (archive footage)
• Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century1998 · as Self (archive footage)
• That's Entertainment! III1994 · as (archive footage)
• Legends of the West1992 · as Lily Langtry in 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean' (archive footage) (uncredited)
• John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick1988 · as Self (archive footage)
• Maggie1986 · as Diane Webb
• Harem1986 · as Kadin
• Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid1982 · as (in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
• Regina Roma1982 · as Mama
• Priest of Love1981 · as Mabel Dodge Luhan
• The Kidnapping of the President1980 · as Beth Richards
• City on Fire1979 · as Maggie Grayson
• The Sentinel1977 · as Helen Logan
• Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti1977 · as Self - Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba (archive footage)
• The Cassandra Crossing1976 · as Nicole Dressler
• The Blue Bird1976 · as Luxury
• Permission to Kill1975 · as Katina Petersen
• Earthquake1974 · as Remy Royce-Graff
• That's Entertainment!1974 · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
• The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean1972 · as Lily Langtry
• The Ballad of Tam Lin1970 · as Michaela Cazaret
• Mayerling1968 · as Empress Elisabeth of Austria
• The Bible: In the Beginning...1966 · as Sarah
• The Night of the Iguana1964 · as Maxine Faulk
• On the Trail of the Iguana1964 · as Self
• Seven Days in May1964 · as Eleanor Holbrook
• 55 Days at Peking1963 · as Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
• La Rabbia1963 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Angel Wore Red1960 · as Soledad
• On the Beach1959 · as Moira Davidson
• The Naked Maja1958 · as Maria Teresa, duchess of Alba, nicknamed Cayetana
• The Sun Also Rises1957 · as Lady Brett Ashley
• The Little Hut1957 · as Lady Susan Ashlow
• Bhowani Junction1956 · as Victoria Jones
• The Barefoot Contessa1954 · as Maria Vargas
• Knights of the Round Table1953 · as Guinevere
• Mogambo1953 · as Eloise Y. Kelly
• The Band Wagon1953 · as Ava Gardner (uncredited)
• Ride, Vaquero!1953 · as Cordelia Cameron
• Lone Star1952 · as Martha Ronda
• The Snows of Kilimanjaro1952 · as Cynthia Green
• Show Boat1951 · as Julie LaVerne
• My Forbidden Past1951 · as Barbara Beaurevel
• Pandora and the Flying Dutchman1951 · as Pandora Reynolds
• The Costume Designer1950 · as Self (archive footage)
• Screen Actors1950 · as Self (uncredited)
• East Side, West Side1949 · as Isabel Lorrison
• The Great Sinner1949 · as Pauline Ostrovsky
• The Bribe1949 · as Elizabeth Hintten
• One Touch of Venus1948 · as Venus
• Singapore1947 · as Linda Grahame / Ann Van Leyden
• The Hucksters1947 · as Jean Ogilvie
• The Killers1946 · as Kitty Collins
• Whistle Stop1946 · as Mary
• She Went to the Races1945 · as Hilda Spotts
• I'm a Civilian Here Myself1945 · as Dream Girl (uncredited)
• Blonde Fever1944 · as Minor Role (uncredited)
• Maisie Goes to Reno1944 · as Gloria Fullerton
• Two Girls and a Sailor1944 · as Dream Girl (uncredited)
• 3 Men in White1944 · as Jean Brown
• Twenty Years After1944 · as (archive footage)
• Lost Angel1943 · as Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
• Swing Fever1943 · as Receptionist (uncredited)
• Du Barry Was a Lady1943 · as Perfume Girl (uncredited)
• Young Ideas1943 · as Co-ed (uncredited)
• Ghosts on the Loose1943 · as Betty
• Hitler's Madman1943 · as Franciska Pritric (uncredited)
• Reunion in France1942 · as Marie, Parisian shopgirl (uncredited)
• Mighty Lak a Goat1942 · as Girl at Theatre Boxoffice
• Calling Dr. Gillespie1942 · as Student (uncredited)
• Sunday Punch1942 · as Ringsider (uncredited)
• Kid Glove Killer1942 · as Car Hop (uncredited)
• This Time for Keeps1942 · as Girl in Car Lighting Cigarette (uncredited)
• Joe Smith, American1942 · as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
• We Do It Because1942 · as Lucretia Borgia (uncredited)
• H.M. Pulham, Esq.1941 · as Young Socialite (uncredited)
• Shadow of the Thin Man1941 · as Passerby at Racetrack (uncredited)
• Strange Testament1941 · as Waitress (uncredited)
• Fancy Answers1941 · as Girl at Recital

All TV Shows (8)

• Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields2023 · as Self (archive footage)
• Iconic Couples of Hollywood2015 · as Self (archive footage)
• Intimate Portrait1993 · as Self
• Harem1986 · as Kadin
• The Long Hot Summer1985 · as Minnie Littlejohn
• A.D.1985 · as Agrippina
• Knots Landing1979 · as Ruth Sumner Galveston
• What's My Line?1950 · as Self