Ava Gardner
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 24, 1922
- Died
- January 25, 1990
- Birthplace
- Grabtown, North Carolina, USA
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
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)
Fallout 2013
as Self (archive footage)
All Night Long 2010
as Self (archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff 2010
as Pandora Reynolds / Maria Vargas (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)
Frank Sinatra glömde aldrig Finspång 2003
as Self (archive footage)
Året var 1953 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) (uncredited)
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
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
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
On the Trail of the Iguana 1964
as Self
Seven Days in May 1964
as Eleanor Holbrook
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
Lone Star 1952
as Martha Ronda
The Snows of Kilimanjaro 1952
as Cynthia Green
Show Boat 1951
as Julie LaVerne
My Forbidden Past 1951
as Barbara Beaurevel
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman 1951
as Pandora Reynolds
The Costume Designer 1950
as Self (archive footage)
- Screen Actors
Screen Actors 1950
as Self (uncredited)
East Side, West Side 1949
as Isabel Lorrison
The Great Sinner 1949
as Pauline Ostrovsky
The Bribe 1949
as Elizabeth Hintten
One Touch of Venus 1948
as Venus
Singapore 1947
as Linda Grahame / Ann Van Leyden
The Hucksters 1947
as Jean Ogilvie
The Killers 1946
as Kitty Collins
Whistle Stop 1946
as Mary
She Went to the Races 1945
as Hilda Spotts
I'm a Civilian Here Myself 1945
as Dream Girl (uncredited)
Blonde Fever 1944
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Maisie Goes to Reno 1944
as Gloria Fullerton
Two Girls and a Sailor 1944
as Dream Girl (uncredited)
3 Men in White 1944
as Jean Brown
Twenty Years After 1944
as (archive footage)
Lost Angel 1943
as Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Swing Fever 1943
as Receptionist (uncredited)
Du Barry Was a Lady 1943
as Perfume Girl (uncredited)
Young Ideas 1943
as Co-ed (uncredited)
Ghosts on the Loose 1943
as Betty
Hitler's Madman 1943
as Franciska Pritric (uncredited)
Reunion in France 1942
as Marie, Parisian shopgirl (uncredited)
Mighty Lak a Goat 1942
as Girl at Theatre Boxoffice
Calling Dr. Gillespie 1942
as Student (uncredited)
Sunday Punch 1942
as Ringsider (uncredited)
Kid Glove Killer 1942
as Car Hop (uncredited)
This Time for Keeps 1942
as Girl in Car Lighting Cigarette (uncredited)
Joe Smith, American 1942
as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
We Do It Because 1942
as Lucretia Borgia (uncredited)
H.M. Pulham, Esq. 1941
as Young Socialite (uncredited)
Shadow of the Thin Man 1941
as Passerby at Racetrack (uncredited)
Strange Testament 1941
as Waitress (uncredited)
Fancy Answers 1941
as Girl at Recital
Credits from TMDB.