Arka Evren

ACTOR

Ava Gardner

Known for
Earthquake (1974), Seven Days in May (1964), On the Beach (1959), Knights of the Round Table (1953)

46 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026

Ava Gardner is an actor best known for Earthquake, Seven Days in May and On the Beach.

31 Interesting Facts About Ava Gardner

  1. #001

    At one point, Ava Gardner and J. R. R. Tolkien had no idea why the other was famous.

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  2. #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.

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  3. #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.

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  4. #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.

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  5. #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.

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  6. #008

    In her later years, Ava Gardner suffered a severe case of emphysema and could not go far without an oxygen tank to breathe.

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  7. #011

    Ava Gardner and Robert Taylor had a brief affair during the filming of The Bribe (1949).

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  8. #012

    Frank Sinatra called Ava Gardner "Angel."

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  9. #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.

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  10. #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).

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  11. #016

    By 1945, Ava Gardner was smoking three packs of Winston cigarettes a day.

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  12. #018

    In 1995, Empire magazine named Ava Gardner one of the 100 sexiest stars in film history (#68).

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  13. #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.

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  14. #020

    There is an Ava Gardner museum in Smithfield, NC. She is buried in Sunset Memorial Park.

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  15. #021

    In her final years living in London, Ava Gardner was a dinner companion of director Michael Winner.

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  16. #024

    Ava Gardner ranked 25th on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest American female screen legends.

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  17. #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).

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  18. #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.

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  19. #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.

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  20. #029

    Ava Gardner did not like watching her own performances.

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  21. #031

    Ava Gardner was the youngest of seven children. Her older siblings were Raymond, Melvin ("Jack"), Beatrice ("Bappie"), Elsie Mae, Inez and Myra.

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  22. #032

    On 8 August 2019, Ava Gardner was honored with a day of film programming on Turner Classic Movies' Summer Under the Stars.

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  23. #033

    Ava Gardner was fundamentally shy, disliked doing interviews and did not believe she was very good at acting.

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  24. #036

    Ava Gardner and Mickey Rooney were accompanied on their honeymoon by an MGM publicity agent. She was only 19 years old.

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  25. #037

    Although Ava Gardner was raised Baptist, she described herself as an atheist later in life.

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  26. #038

    Ava Gardner was a lifelong Democrat.

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  27. #042

    Ava Gardner and Gregory Walcott came from the same hometown.

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  28. #043

    Ava Gardner is mentioned in Kasabada (1949).

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  29. #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.

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  30. #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.

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  31. #046

    On August 31, 2026, Ava Gardner was honored in Turner Classic Movies' Summer Under the Stars.

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