Ava Gardner was one of the most beautiful women in the world


A star more famous for her off-screen love affairs than her film roles, Ava Gardner was one of the last studio-created six sirens. Called the most beautiful woman in the world by no less a beauty than ELIZABETH TAYLOR, Ava Gardner's sultry eroticism was a powerful antidote to such saccharine stars as June Allyson, and though Hollywood had a hard time casting her, in the right films, she was the woman every man wanted and the woman every woman wanted to be. Ava Lavinia Gardner was born in Grabtown, North Carolina, to a poor tenant-farmer family. She showed no inclination toward acting while she grew up, and her ambition was merely to get a good job as a secretary in New York. With a shorthand speed of 120 words per minute, her ambition was quickly realized. But Hollywood lightning struck when her picture, taken by her photographer brother-in-law, was seen by an MGM scout.

The beautiful 19-year-old girl with a thick southern accent was given a screen test at the MGM studio in 1941. According to John Daniell in his book, Ava Gardner, after LOUIS B. MAYER saw the test, he exclaimed, "She can't act, she can't talk, she's terrific!" MGM gave her speech and drama lessons, but the studio didn't use her very much. Her first tiny film appearance was in a Norma Shearer movie, We Were Dancing (1942). Her marriage that year to MGM's number-one star, Mickey Rooney, received more attention than her movie debut. Neither the marriage nor her career did very well, but she later stated that Rooney taught her a good deal about acting in front of a camera.

Her big break came in Whistle Stop (1945), her first leading role in a UNITED ARTISTS movie (she had been loaned by MGM for the part). Then Ava Gardner was loaned out yet again, this time to Universal, where she made the movie that put her over the top, The Killers (1946). She starred with a young BURT LANCASTER (in his debut), and both of them burned up the screen. Ava Gardner had finally found her niche in the film noir movies of the latter 1940s, projecting a dark, dangerous sensuality. Unfortunately, MGM was dedicated to family entertainment rather than dark melodramas, and the studio found it difficult to take advantage of their new sexy star. Ava Gardner had a few good roles in films such as The Hucksters (1947) and One Touch of Venus (1948), but for the most part, MGM wasted her talents in lackluster movies until the studio decided to make a musical version of Showboat (1951).

Against great opposition, she was given the role of Julie Laverne, the black woman who tries to pass as white. Remarkably, Judy Garland had been originally cast, but she was ill and had to withdraw. The film, of course, was a huge hit and represented the best work of Ava Gardner's career. Meanwhile, her personal life was becoming increasingly notorious. Her short marriage to bandleader Artie Shaw, a romance with Howard Hughes, and a torrid affair and eventual marriage to FRANK SINATRA were a boon to the gossip columnists.

Her films of the 1950s were more successful than her private life. The best of the lot were Mogambo (1953), a remake of Red Dust, in which she played the JEAN HARLOW role, The Barefoot Contessa (1954), and Bhowani Junction (1956). She finally fulfilled her contract with MGM in 1959, and the last of the studio sex sirens was on her own. Since the 1960s, Ava Gardner's films were rather poor, with the exception of On the Beach (1960) and The Night of the Iguana (1964). In later years, she made modest supporting or cameo appearances in movies.

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