Ava Gardner

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#68).

Her singing voice in Show Boat was dubbed by Annette Warren , although her voice is left in on the soundtrack album.

Daughter of Jonas Bailey (October 30, 1878-March 26, 1938) and Mary Elizabeth Gardner (November 22, 1883-May 21, 1943). Both were born, raised, married and died in North Carolina.

The youngest of 7 children. Her older siblings were Raymond, Melvin ("Jack"), Beatrice ("Bappie"), Elsie Mae, Inez, and Myra.

Her early education was sketchy; by 1945, she had read two books, the Bible and "Gone with the Wind." In later life, she more than made up for this lack by continual self-education.

She sang in her own voice for The Killers but in all MGM films her singing voice was dubbed (much to her disgust).

Flamenco became one of Avas favorite pastimes after she learned it for The Barefoot Contessa ; increasingly proficient and needing little sleep, she often danced all night.

In a promotion for The Little Hut , a small island in Fiji was renamed Ava Ava and leased to a contest winner.

She was continuously under contract at MGM, 1941-1958.

There is an Ava Gardner Museum of memorabilia in Smithfield, North Carolina. She is buried at Sunset Memorial Park.

She spent her final years as a recluse in her London apartment -- her only companions were her longtime housekeeper Carmen Vargas and her beloved Welsh Corgi, Morgan. Two strokes in 1986 left her partially paralyzed and bedridden. Although Gardner could easily afford her medical expenses, Frank Sinatra wanted to pay for her to visit a specialist in the United States, and she allowed him to make the arrangements for a medically-staffed private plane. Her last words (to her housekeeper Carmen), were, "Im so tired", before she died of pneumonia at age 67. Vargas took her body home to her native North Carolina for private burial. None of her ex-husbands attended.

After her death in 1990, Avas longtime housekeeper, Carmen Vargas, and her dog, a Welsh Corgi named Morgan, were taken in by her former co-star Gregory Peck.

Once met J.R.R. Tolkien and neither knew why the other was famous.

Ex-daughter-in-law of Joe Yule (Mickey Rooney s father).

Was a good friend of Kathryn Grayson and Lena Horne , despite the fact that Ava and Lena both competed for the part of Julie LaVerne in Show Boat .

When shooting Earthquake , she surprised director Mark Robson by insisting that she do her own stuntwork, which included dodging blocks of concrete and heavy steel pipes.

A statue of her from The Barefoot Contessa was given to Frank Sinatra as a gift. He kept it in his backyard garden well after their divorce. When he married Barbara Marx , she forced him to get rid of it.

During the first two years of her marriage to Frank Sinatra , he was at the lowest point of his career. She often had to lend him money so he could buy presents for his children. He went broke in 1951, and Gardner had to pay for plane tickets for him so that he could go with her to Africa, where she was shooting Mogambo . This all changed after he won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in the film From Here to Eternity .

Once named "The Worlds Most Beautiful Animal" (in a 1950s publicity campaign).

Chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest American female screen legends (Number 25).

Although she often gave the name of her North Carolina hometown as Grabtown, and at other times as Smithfield, the township is a crossroads community named Brogden. "Grabtown" is a nickname given to it by locals. Smithfield is a larger town seven miles west.

Is portrayed by Marcia Gay Harden in "Sinatra" , Deborah Kara Unger in The Rat Pack , by Christine Andreas in Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story , Jon Mack in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge , and by Kate Beckinsale in The Aviator .

Frank Sinatra nicknamed her "Angel".

Had appeared in three films based on Ernest Hemingway stories: The Sun Also Rises , The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) and The Killers .

During her final years living in London, she became the dinner companion of director Michael Winner.

While living in Spain, became a good friend of the writer Ernest Hemingway , whom she and his other friends called "Papa". Both of then were fans of bullfighting.

An Australian reporter found that Gardner was quite adept at foul language, and her swearing was "like a sailor and a truck driver were having a competition." She threw a glass of champagne at the reporter, who said that at the moment she did so "the only thing I could think was how bloody gorgeous the woman was.".

The production designer John Hawkesworth , an Englishman who was the set designer of her movie Pandora and the Flying Dutchman , said about Gardner that she "could eat twice as much as anyone, and drink three times as much.".

Her three husbands were eventually married to a total of 20 brides between them.

Her The Angel Wore Red co-star Dirk Bogarde nicknamed her "Snowdrop" because, he said, anything less likely was difficult to imagine.

Avas paternal great-grandparents, William Gardner and Cynthia Eliza Batts, were also the paternal great-great-great-great-grandparents of actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead. This makes Ava and Mary Elizbaeth second cousins, three times removed.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives." Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 319-321. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1999.

In Italy, most of her films were dubbed by Rosetta Calavetta. She was occasionally dubbed by Dhia Cristiani , Lydia Simoneschi and Andreina Pagnani.

She suffered from a severe case of emphysema in her later life, and she could not travel far without an oxygen tank for breathing.

When her first husband, Mickey Rooney , brought his hugely successful musical "Sugar Babies" to London in the late 1980s, Gardner confessed to him that she had contemplated suicide after being left partially paralyzed by two strokes in 1986.

Frank Sinatra bought her a puppy for her birthday during their courtship, a Corgi she named Rags. For the rest of her life she always had a Corgi with her. After Rags died, she had Cara and then Morgan.

She and Robert Taylor had a brief love affair during the filming of The Bribe .

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

London neighbor and close friend of Charles Gray.

Charlton Heston revealed that Gardner behaved badly during the troubled shoot of 55 Days at Peking in his autobiography "In the Arena". For example, she stopped the filming when a Chinese extra took her picture without permission. Heston also stated that her character was killed off to keep the producers and director from having to deal with her anymore.

Aunt of Billy Grimes.

Louis B. Mayer once said of her, "She cant talk, she cant act, shes terrific".

When he was married to her, Artie Shaw paid tribute to her home town by making an instrumental record with his Gramercy Five (a small group within his big band) called "The Grabtown Grapple.".

She and Gregory Walcott both came from the same hometown.

Underwent two abortions during her marriage to Frank Sinatra , both during the filming of Mogambo .

I have only one rule in acting -- trust the director and give him heart,and soul.

I must have seen more sunrises than any other actress in the history of,Hollywood.

Nobody ever called it an intellectual profession.

I wish to live until 150 years old but the day I die, I wish it to be,with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.

[in 1985, on why she came out of retirement to appear on a prime-time,soap opera] For the loot, honey, for the loot.

And the news got worse. It appeared that there was this whole other person Jesus Christ whose birthday a lot of people tended to confuse with mine. I was personally outraged. It was a long time before I forgave the Lord for that.

I wish to live to 150 years old, but the day I die, I wish it to be with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.

He always called me Daughter. It was to distinguish me from his sister Ava. I loved being called Daughter. It sounded so possessive, and to be possessed when you are a child is just a wonderful feeling. It makes you feel safe. It makes you feel loved.

Then, aided by the booze, like a fool I tossed off one of those throwaway lines that would have been better thrown away. "Ah, Frank! I thought you were going to be down here fucking Lana.