Ava Gardner

From Wiki 5A

Ava Gardner was an actress, model, and singer from the 1940s-1960s. She was famous for acting and singing in a big movie called Show Boat.

She was born on December 24, 1922 in Grabtown, North Carolina, to Molly and Jonas Bailey Gardner. Ava Gardner was the seventh and last child of a cotton and tobacco farmer. Not much in known about her education except she had read two books, the Bible and Gone With the wind.

She got her start from a photo that her brother-in-law had hanging in a New York window photo gallery. That picture got the attention of MGM which lead to film contracts based on her beauty in Hollywood. Her first starring role was in a movie called Whistle Stop. Ava was under contract with MGM for 17 years; however, they would loan her out to other studios such at Universal.

Ava was married three times. The first marriage was Mickey Rooney in 1942-1943. Then she married Artie Shaw in 1945-1946. Her last marriage was to Frank Sinatra in 1951-1957. After three failed marriages she was unhappy with Hollywood life and moved to Spain. Most of her films were made aboard after this.

Although she was consider one the best actresses of her time, she did not like all of the Hollywood business. She always felt like a country girl with country values. Ava’s date of death was January 25 1990, Westminster, London, England, UK from bronchial pneumonia.