Acting · Grabtown, North Carolina, USA · Born December 24, 1922
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.
MovieKennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia
2023
as Self (archive footage)
TVPretty Baby: Brooke Shields
2023
as Self (archive footage)
MovieRat Pack
2022
as Self (archive footage)
MovieBeautiful Like a Poem
2020
as Self (archive footage)
MovieScotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
2018
as Self (archive footage)
MovieAva Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood
2018
as Self (archive footage)
MovieChavela
2017
as Self (archive footage)
MovieAva Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies
2017
as Self (archive footage)
TVIconic Couples of Hollywood
2015
as Self (archive footage)
MovieFallout
2013
as Self (archive footage)
MovieAll Night Long
2010
as Self (archive footage)
MovieCameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2010
as Pandora Reynolds / Maria Vargas (archive footage)
MovieHollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
2009
as Self (archive)
MovieDe Madrid a la Luna
2006
as Self (archive footage)
MovieFrank Sinatra glömde aldrig Finspång
2003
as Self (archive footage)
MovieÅret var 1953
2003
as Self (archive footage)
MovieHoward Hughes: His Women and His Movies
2000
as archive footage
MovieFrank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century
1998
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThat's Entertainment! III
1994
as (archive footage)
TVIntimate Portrait
1993
as Self
MovieLegends of the West
1992
as Lily Langtry in 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean' (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieJohn Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
1988
as Self (archive footage)
MovieMaggie
1986
as Diane Webb
MovieHarem
1986
as Kadin
TVHarem
1986
as Kadin
TVThe Long Hot Summer
1985
as Minnie Littlejohn
TVA.D.
1985
as Agrippina
MovieDead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
as (in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
MovieRegina Roma
1982
as Mama
MoviePriest of Love
1981
as Mabel Dodge Luhan
MovieThe Kidnapping of the President
1980
as Beth Richards
TVKnots Landing
1979
as Ruth Sumner Galveston
MovieCity on Fire
1979
as Maggie Grayson
MovieThe Sentinel
1977
as Helen Logan
MovieKolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
1977
as Self - Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba (archive footage)
MovieThe Cassandra Crossing
1976
as Nicole Dressler
MovieThe Blue Bird
1976
as Luxury
MoviePermission to Kill
1975
as Katina Petersen
MovieEarthquake
1974
as Remy Royce-Graff
MovieThat's Entertainment!
1974
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieThe Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
1972
as Lily Langtry
MovieThe Ballad of Tam Lin
1970
as Michaela Cazaret
MovieMayerling
1968
as Empress Elisabeth of Austria
MovieThe Bible: In the Beginning...
1966
as Sarah
MovieThe Night of the Iguana
1964
as Maxine Faulk
MovieOn the Trail of the Iguana
1964
as Self
MovieSeven Days in May
1964
as Eleanor Holbrook
Movie55 Days at Peking
1963
as Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
MovieLa Rabbia
1963
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Angel Wore Red
1960
as Soledad
MovieOn the Beach
1959
as Moira Davidson
MovieThe Naked Maja
1958
as Maria Teresa, duchess of Alba, nicknamed Cayetana
MovieThe Sun Also Rises
1957
as Lady Brett Ashley
MovieThe Little Hut
1957
as Lady Susan Ashlow
MovieBhowani Junction
1956
as Victoria Jones
MovieThe Barefoot Contessa
1954
as Maria Vargas
MovieKnights of the Round Table
1953
as Guinevere
MovieMogambo
1953
as Eloise Y. Kelly
MovieThe Band Wagon
1953
as Ava Gardner (uncredited)
MovieRide, Vaquero!
1953
as Cordelia Cameron
MovieLone Star
1952
as Martha Ronda
MovieThe Snows of Kilimanjaro
1952
as Cynthia Green
MovieShow Boat
1951
as Julie LaVerne
MovieMy Forbidden Past
1951
as Barbara Beaurevel
MoviePandora and the Flying Dutchman
1951
as Pandora Reynolds
MovieThe Costume Designer
1950
as Self (archive footage)
Screen Actors
1950
as Self (uncredited)
TVWhat's My Line?
1950
as Self
MovieEast Side, West Side
1949
as Isabel Lorrison
MovieThe Great Sinner
1949
as Pauline Ostrovsky
MovieThe Bribe
1949
as Elizabeth Hintten
MovieOne Touch of Venus
1948
as Venus
MovieSingapore
1947
as Linda Grahame / Ann Van Leyden
MovieThe Hucksters
1947
as Jean Ogilvie
MovieThe Killers
1946
as Kitty Collins
MovieWhistle Stop
1946
as Mary
MovieShe Went to the Races
1945
as Hilda Spotts
MovieI'm a Civilian Here Myself
1945
as Dream Girl (uncredited)
MovieBlonde Fever
1944
as Minor Role (uncredited)
MovieMaisie Goes to Reno
1944
as Gloria Fullerton
MovieTwo Girls and a Sailor
1944
as Dream Girl (uncredited)
Movie3 Men in White
1944
as Jean Brown
MovieTwenty Years After
1944
as (archive footage)
MovieLost Angel
1943
as Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
MovieSwing Fever
1943
as Receptionist (uncredited)
MovieDu Barry Was a Lady
1943
as Perfume Girl (uncredited)
MovieYoung Ideas
1943
as Co-ed (uncredited)
MovieGhosts on the Loose
1943
as Betty
MovieHitler's Madman
1943
as Franciska Pritric (uncredited)
MovieReunion in France
1942
as Marie, Parisian shopgirl (uncredited)
MovieMighty Lak a Goat
1942
as Girl at Theatre Boxoffice
MovieCalling Dr. Gillespie
1942
as Student (uncredited)
MovieSunday Punch
1942
as Ringsider (uncredited)
MovieKid Glove Killer
1942
as Car Hop (uncredited)
MovieThis Time for Keeps
1942
as Girl in Car Lighting Cigarette (uncredited)
MovieJoe Smith, American
1942
as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
MovieWe Do It Because
1942
as Lucretia Borgia (uncredited)
MovieH.M. Pulham, Esq.
1941
as Young Socialite (uncredited)
MovieShadow of the Thin Man
1941
as Passerby at Racetrack (uncredited)
MovieStrange Testament
1941
as Waitress (uncredited)
MovieFancy Answers
1941
as Girl at Recital
