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Ava Gardner
46 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (46)
- #001
At one point, Ava Gardner and J. R. R. Tolkien had no idea why the other was famous.
- #002
While filming Earthquake (1974), Ava Gardner insisted on doing her own stunts, including dodging concrete blocks and heavy steel pipes, which surprised director Mark Robson.
- #003
A statue from The Barefoot Contessa (1954) was given to Frank Sinatra as a gift. After their divorce, he kept it in his backyard. When he married Barbara Sinatra, she forced him to get rid of it.
- #004
After Ava Gardner's death in 1990, her longtime maid Carmen Vargas and her Welsh Corgi named Morgan were taken in by her former co-star Gregory Peck.
- #005
During their courtship, Frank Sinatra gave Ava Gardner a Corgi puppy for her birthday, which she named Rags. She always had a Corgi by her side for the rest of her life. After Rags died, she got Cara and then Morgan.
- #006
Ava Gardner's three husbands eventually married a total of 20 brides.
- #007
Ava Gardner spent her final years as a recluse in her London apartment; her only companions were her longtime maid Carmen Vargas and her beloved Welsh Corgi, Morgan. Two strokes in 1986 left her partially paralyzed and bedridden. Although Frank Sinatra could easily cover her medical expenses, he wanted to pay for her to see a specialist in the US and arranged a private plane with medical staff. Before she died of pneumonia at 67, her last words (to her housekeeper Carmen) were "I'm so tired." Vargas took her body to her native North Carolina for a private funeral. None of her ex-husbands attended.
- #008
In her later years, Ava Gardner suffered a severe case of emphysema and could not go far without an oxygen tank to breathe.
- #009
Flamenco became one of Ava Gardner's favorite pastimes after she learned it for The Barefoot Contessa (1954); growing increasingly skilled and needing very little sleep, she often danced all night.
- #010
Ava Gardner sang in her own voice for The Killers (1946), but her singing voice was dubbed in all her MGM films (which disgusted her).
- #011
Ava Gardner and Robert Taylor had a brief affair during the filming of The Bribe (1949).
- #012
Frank Sinatra called Ava Gardner "Angel."
- #013
When her first husband, Mickey Rooney, brought the highly successful musical "Sugar Babies" to London in the late 1980s, he confessed to Ava Gardner that he had considered suicide after being left partially paralyzed by two strokes in 1986.
- #014
Ava Gardner was a good friend of Kathryn Grayson and Lena Horne, even though she and Lena had competed for the role of Julie LaVerne in Show Boat (1951).
- #015
Ava Gardner appeared in three films based on Ernest Hemingway's stories: The Sun Also Rises (1957), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) and The Killers (1946).
- #016
By 1945, Ava Gardner was smoking three packs of Winston cigarettes a day.
- #017
Ava Gardner was considered for the role of Leslie Benedict in Giant (1956) but could not leave Pakistan, where she was filming Bhowani Junction (1956). The role ultimately went to Elizabeth Taylor.
- #018
In 1995, Empire magazine named Ava Gardner one of the 100 sexiest stars in film history (#68).
- #019
While living in Spain, Ava Gardner became a good friend of the writer Ernest Hemingway, whom she and other friends called "Papa." Both were fans of bullfighting.
- #020
There is an Ava Gardner museum in Smithfield, NC. She is buried in Sunset Memorial Park.
- #021
In her final years living in London, Ava Gardner was a dinner companion of director Michael Winner.
- #022
During her marriage to Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner had two abortions, both while they were shooting the film Mogambo (1953).
- #023
Ava Gardner was the daughter of Jonas Bailey (1878-1938) and Mary Elizabeth Gardner (1883-1943). Both were born, raised, married and died in North Carolina.
- #024
Ava Gardner ranked 25th on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest American female screen legends.
- #025
Ava Gardner was portrayed by Marcia Gay Harden in Sinatra (1992), Deborah Kara Unger in The Rat Pack (1998), Christine Andreas in Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story (1995), Jon Mack in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) and Kate Beckinsale in The Aviator (2004).
- #026
During the shooting of the film "The Bible" (1966), Ava Gardner was severely beaten by George C. Scott. They were in a romantic relationship at the time.
- #027
On 8 February 1960, Ava Gardner was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine St.
- #028
Ava Gardner's singing voice in Show Boat (1951) was dubbed by Annette Warren, but her own voice was kept on the soundtrack album.
- #029
Ava Gardner did not like watching her own performances.
- #030
Dirk Bogarde, her co-star in The Angel Wore Red (1960), nicknamed her "Snowdrop" because he said it was hard to imagine anything less likely.
- #031
Ava Gardner was the youngest of seven children. Her older siblings were Raymond, Melvin ("Jack"), Beatrice ("Bappie"), Elsie Mae, Inez and Myra.
- #032
On 8 August 2019, Ava Gardner was honored with a day of film programming on Turner Classic Movies' Summer Under the Stars.
- #033
Ava Gardner was fundamentally shy, disliked doing interviews and did not believe she was very good at acting.
- #034
In December 2022, Ava Gardner was named Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in honor of her 100th birthday.
- #035
Her father's great-grandparents William Gardner and Cynthia Eliza Batts were also the paternal great-great-great-great-grandparents of Mary Elizabeth Winstead. This makes Ava Gardner and Mary Elizabeth Winstead third cousins twice removed.
- #036
Ava Gardner and Mickey Rooney were accompanied on their honeymoon by an MGM publicity agent. She was only 19 years old.
- #037
Although Ava Gardner was raised Baptist, she described herself as an atheist later in life.
- #038
Ava Gardner was a lifelong Democrat.
- #039
Ava Gardner had Native American ancestry.
- #040
Dolly, Frank Sinatra's mother, appears to have favored Ava Gardner. It was Dolly who gave Gardner a sparkling pearl necklace, stayed in touch with her, and remained a topic of conversation between them even after Gardner and Sinatra separated.
- #041
Ava Gardner was the former daughter-in-law of Joe Yule, Mickey Rooney's father.
- #042
Ava Gardner and Gregory Walcott came from the same hometown.
- #043
Ava Gardner is mentioned in Kasabada (1949).
- #044
Although Ava Gardner's heritage was mostly English and Scots-Irish, with some Irish and Native American ancestry, her dark hair and prominent cheekbones let her convincingly play a Hebrew, a Roman and a biracial woman.
- #045
In Italy, most of Ava Gardner's films were dubbed by Rosetta Calavetta. She was occasionally dubbed by Dhia Cristiani, Lydia Simoneschi and Andreina Pagnani.
- #046
On August 31, 2026, Ava Gardner was honored in Turner Classic Movies' Summer Under the Stars.
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