Ava Gardner

Acting

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.

Filmography Movies

Acting

MOVIE

John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick

6.0(0.0K)

Biography of risk-taker and raconteur John Huston from his childhood to become one of the most highly respected filmmakers in the world.

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John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick

Self (archive footage)

MOVIE

The Bible: In the Beginning...

7.3(0.3K)

Covering only the first 22 chapters of the Book of Genesis, vignettes include: Adam and Eve frolicking in the Garden of Eden until their indulgence in the forbidden fruit sees them driven out; Cain murdering his brother Abel; Noah building an ark to preserve the animals of the world from the coming flood; and Abraham making a covenant with God.

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The Bible: In the Beginning...

Sarah

MOVIE

Calling Dr. Gillespie

7.0(0.0K)

Dr. Kildare's friend Dr. Gillespie is called in to investigate when a young man suffering from mental problems disappears on a killing spree.

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Calling Dr. Gillespie

Student (uncredited)

MOVIE

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

5.9(0.1K)

Writer Harry Street reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection while on safari in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro.

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The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Cynthia Green

MOVIE

Earthquake

6.1(0.4K)

Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.

Seven Days in May

7.3(0.2K)

A U.S. Marine Corps colonel alerts the president of a planned military coup against him.

The Cassandra Crossing

6.3(0.2K)

Passengers on a European train have been exposed to a deadly disease, and nobody will let them off the train.

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The Cassandra Crossing

Nicole Dressler

MOVIE

Mogambo

6.4(0.2K)

On a Kenyan safari, white hunter Victor Marswell has a love triangle with seductive American socialite Eloise Kelly and anthropologist Donald Nordley's cheating wife Linda.

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Mogambo

Eloise Y. Kelly