Ava Gardner
Known for: Acting
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
Series
Knots Landing
Ruth Sumner Galveston
1979
Series
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Series
Intimate Portrait
Self
1993
Series
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields
Self (archive footage)
2023
Series
A.D.
Agrippina
1985
Film
Earthquake
Remy Royce-Graff
1974
Film
On the Beach
Moira Davidson
1959
Film
The Bible: In the Beginning...
Sarah
1966
Film
The Cassandra Crossing
Nicole Dressler
1976
Film
55 Days at Peking
Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
1963
Film
The Night of the Iguana
Maxine Faulk
1964
Film
The Sentinel
Helen Logan
1977
Film
The Killers
Kitty Collins
1946
Film
Mayerling
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
1968
Series
The Long Hot Summer
Minnie Littlejohn
1985
Film
The Barefoot Contessa
Maria Vargas
1954
Film
The Band Wagon
Ava Gardner (uncredited)
1953
Film
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage) (uncredited)
1974
Film
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage)
1994
Film
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
1982
Film
Seven Days in May
Eleanor Holbrook
1964
Film
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Lily Langtry
1972
Film
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Cynthia Green
1952
Film
The Blue Bird
Luxury
1976
Film
Show Boat
Julie LaVerne
1951
Film
Mogambo
Eloise Y. Kelly
1953
Film
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
Pandora Reynolds
1951
Series
Iconic Couples of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2015
Film
Knights of the Round Table
Guinevere
1953
Film
The Sun Also Rises
Lady Brett Ashley
1957
Film
Lone Star
Martha Ronda
1952
Series
Harem
Kadin
1986
Film
The Naked Maja
Maria Teresa, duchess of Alba, nicknamed Cayetana
1958
Film
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2018
Film
City on Fire
Maggie Grayson
1979
Film
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
Self - Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba (archive footage)
1977
Film
Ride, Vaquero!
Cordelia Cameron
1953
Film
Swing Fever
Receptionist (uncredited)
1943
Film
Shadow of the Thin Man
Passerby at Racetrack (uncredited)
1941
Film
Fancy Answers
Girl at Recital
1941
Film
Two Girls and a Sailor
Dream Girl (uncredited)
1944
Film
Legends of the West
Lily Langtry in 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1992
Film
Regina Roma
Mama
1982
Film
The Great Sinner
Pauline Ostrovsky
1949
Film
Du Barry Was a Lady
Perfume Girl (uncredited)
1943
Film
Whistle Stop
Mary
1946
Film
Chavela
Self (archive footage)
2017
Film
Rat Pack
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Priest of Love
Mabel Dodge Luhan
1981
Film
Bhowani Junction
Victoria Jones
1956
Film
The Costume Designer
Self (archive footage)
1950
Film
Twenty Years After
(archive footage)
1944
Film
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Pandora Reynolds / Maria Vargas (archive footage)
2010
Film
The Ballad of Tam Lin
Michaela Cazaret
1970
Film
One Touch of Venus
Venus
1948
Film
Harem
Kadin
1986
Film
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
Self (archive footage)
1988
Film
The Bribe
Elizabeth Hintten
1949
Film
Reunion in France
Marie, Parisian shopgirl (uncredited)
1942
Film
East Side, West Side
Isabel Lorrison
1949
Film
The Hucksters
Jean Ogilvie
1947
Film
Singapore
Linda Grahame / Ann Van Leyden
1947
Film
The Kidnapping of the President
Beth Richards
1980
Film
Hitler's Madman
Franciska Pritric (uncredited)
1943
Film
The Angel Wore Red
Soledad
1960
Film
Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2018
Film
Ghosts on the Loose
Betty
1943
Film
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Young Socialite (uncredited)
1941
Film
Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia
Self (archive footage)
2023
Film
Maisie Goes to Reno
Gloria Fullerton
1944
Film
Maggie
Diane Webb
1986
Film
On the Trail of the Iguana
Self
1964
Screen Actors
Self (uncredited)
1950
Film
La Rabbia
Self (archive footage)
1963
Film
We Do It Because
Lucretia Borgia (uncredited)
1942
Film
Kid Glove Killer
Car Hop (uncredited)
1942
Film
The Little Hut
Lady Susan Ashlow
1957
Film
Joe Smith, American
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
1942
Film
My Forbidden Past
Barbara Beaurevel
1951
Film
Young Ideas
Co-ed (uncredited)
1943
Film
Strange Testament
Waitress (uncredited)
1941
Film
Calling Dr. Gillespie
Student (uncredited)
1942
Film
Beautiful Like a Poem
Self (archive footage)
2020
Film
Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century
Self (archive footage)
1998
Film
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
Self (archive)
2009
Film
Lost Angel
Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
1943
Film
This Time for Keeps
Girl in Car Lighting Cigarette (uncredited)
1942
Film
Permission to Kill
Katina Petersen
1975
Film
She Went to the Races
Hilda Spotts
1945
Film
I'm a Civilian Here Myself
Dream Girl (uncredited)
1945
Film
3 Men in White
Jean Brown
1944
Film
Blonde Fever
Minor Role (uncredited)
1944
Film
Sunday Punch
Ringsider (uncredited)
1942
Film
Fallout
Self (archive footage)
2013
Film
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
archive footage
2000
Film
Ava Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies
Self (archive footage)
2017
Film
All Night Long
Self (archive footage)
2010
Film
Året var 1953
Self (archive footage)
2003
Film
De Madrid a la Luna
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
Mighty Lak a Goat
Girl at Theatre Boxoffice
1942
Film
Frank Sinatra glömde aldrig Finspång
Self (archive footage)
2003