Ava Gardner
Birthday: Born in 1922-12-24 in Grabtown, North Carolina, USA
Deathday: 1990-01-25
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers (1946). She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mogambo (1953). She appeared in several high-profile films from the 1950s to 1970s, including Bhowani Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Earthquake (1974), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976). Gardner continued to act on a regular basis until 1986, four years before her death of pneumonia, at age 67, in 1990. She is listed 25th among the American Film Institute's Greatest female stars. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ava Gardner, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
TV Credits
Knots Landing
Character: Ruth Sumner Galveston
The domestic adventures, misdeeds and everyday interactions of five families living on a cul-de-sac in a small California community....
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields
Character: Self (archive footage)
Actor, model, and global superstar Brooke Shields’ journey from a sexualized young girl to a woman who embraces her identity and voice....
The Long Hot Summer
Character: Minnie Littlejohn
When drifter Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town, Will Varner, a family patriarch, sees Ben as a better choice to inherit the family business than his only son, Jody. Will therefore tries to push Ben and his daughter Clara into marriage. Clara is initially reluctant to court Ben, and Jody senses that Ben threatens his position....
Intimate Portrait
Character: Self
Intimate Portrait is a biographical television series on the Lifetime Television cable network focusing on different celebrities, which includes interviews with each subject. Among the people profiled were Grace Kelly, Natalie Wood, Carly Simon, Jackie Kennedy, Katharine Hepburn, Carol Burnett, Tanya Tucker, and Marla Maples....
Harem
Character: Kadin
A two-part minseries about a beautiful woman who, at the turn of the century, is kidnapped and sold into a Turkish harem where, as she struggles to protect her life and virtue, she becomes embroiled in the historical tensions and sensuous decadence of the times....
A.D.
Character: Agrippina
A 12 hours miniseries adapted from Anthony Burgess's novel The Kingdom of the Wicked....
What's My Line?
Character: Self - Mystery Guest
Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions....
Les couples mythiques du cinéma
Character: Self (archive footage)
...
Movie Credits
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
Character: Self (archive footage)
Biography of risk-taker and raconteur John Huston from his childhood to become one of the most highly respected filmmakers in the world....
The Bible: In the Beginning...
Character: Sarah
Covering only the first 22 chapters of the Book of Genesis, vignettes include: Adam and Eve frolicking in the Garden of Eden until their indulgence in the forbidden fruit sees them driven out; Cain murdering his brother Abel; Noah building an ark to preserve the animals of the world from the coming flood; and Abraham making a covenant with God....
Calling Dr. Gillespie
Character: Student (uncredited)
Dr. Kildare's friend Dr. Gillespie is called in to investigate when a young man suffering from mental problems disappears on a killing spree....
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Character: Cynthia Green
Writer Harry Street reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection while on safari in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro....
Earthquake
Character: Remy Royce-Graff
Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California....
Seven Days in May
Character: Eleanor Holbrook
A U.S. Army colonel alerts the president of a planned military coup against him....
The Cassandra Crossing
Character: Nicole Dressler
Passengers on a European train have been exposed to a deadly disease, and nobody will let them off the train....
Mogambo
Character: Eloise Y. Kelly
On a Kenyan safari, white hunter Victor Marswell has a love triangle with seductive American socialite Eloise Kelly and anthropologist Donald Nordley's cheating wife Linda....
The Sun Also Rises
Character: Lady Brett Ashley
A group of disillusioned American expatriate writers live a dissolute, hedonistic lifestyle in 1920's France and Spain....
The Bribe
Character: Elizabeth Hintten
United States Federal agent Rigby travels to the Central American island Carlotta to investigate a stolen aircraft engines smuggling racket....
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Character: (in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'....
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Character: Lily Langtry
Outlaw and self-appointed lawmaker Judge Roy Bean rules over an empty stretch of the West that gradually grows, under his iron fist, into a thriving town, while dispensing his his own quirky brand of frontier justice upon strangers passing by....
55 Days at Peking
Character: Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals....
The Barefoot Contessa
Character: Maria Vargas
Has-been director Harry Dawes gets a new lease on his career when the independently wealthy tycoon Kirk Edwards hires him to write and direct a film. They go to Madrid to find Maria Vargas, a dancer who will star in the film....
On the Beach
Character: Moira Davidson
In 1964, atomic war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one American submarine finds temporary safe haven in Australia, where life-as-usual covers growing despair. In denial about the loss of his wife and children in the holocaust, American Captain Towers meets careworn but gorgeous Moira Davidson, who begins to fall for him. The sub returns after reconnaissance a month (or less) before the end; will Towers and Moira find comfort with each other?...
The Band Wagon
Character: Ava Gardner (uncredited)
A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop....
Shadow of the Thin Man
Character: Passerby at Racetrack (uncredited)
High society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles run into a variety of shady characters while investigating a race-track murder....
The Killers
Character: Kitty Collins
Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man....
The Night of the Iguana
Character: Maxine Faulk
A defrocked Episcopal clergyman leads a bus-load of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life....
One Touch of Venus
Character: Venus
A window dresser's kiss brings a statue of the Roman goddess of love to life....
Lone Star
Character: Martha Ronda
Rip-roaring big star, big budget semi-historical story about cattle baron Devereaux Burke, who is enlisted by an aging Andrew Jackson to dissuade Sam Houston from establishing Texas as a republic. Burke must fight state senator Thomas Craden, in the process winning the heart of Craden's newspaper-editor girlfriend Martha Ronda....
Mayerling
Character: Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, over implementing progressive policies for their country. Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that doesn't realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales, later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides comic relief. Rudolf finds refuge from a loveless marriage with Princess Stéphanie by taking a mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera. Their untimely demise at Mayerling...
Kid Glove Killer
Character:
Van Heflin stars as the head of a city crime lab who tries to solve the murder of the town mayor by scientifically analyzing evidence....
Reunion in France
Character:
Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed American flyer, Pat Talbot, and attempts to get him safely out of the country....
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
Character: Pandora Reynolds
Pandora Reynolds is a woman who has never fallen in love – but one who men kill and die for. When she meets dashing and mysterious ship's captain Hendrik van der Zee, he pushes her to commit the ultimate act of love....
Ride, Vaquero!
Character: Cordelia Cameron
Ranchers in New Mexico have to face Indians and bandits....
Show Boat
Character: Julie LaVerne
A dashing Mississippi river gambler wins the affections of the daughter of the owner of the Show Boat....
We Do It Because
Character: Lucretia Borgia (uncredited)
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short explores the origins of various customs such as shaking hands, kissing, and why ships are christened....
The Sentinel
Character: Helen Logan
As a young girl, Alison Parker attempted suicide after being traumatized by her father's sexual exploits. Now an elite fashion model, she moves to a Brooklyn Heights apartment building that houses a number of bizarre, eccentric tenants. After experiencing a string of disturbing occurrences, she attempts to uncover the building's sinister secret....
Priest of Love
Character: Mabel Dodge Luhan
Following the banning and burning of his novel, "The Rainbow," D.H. Lawrence and his wife, Frieda, move to the United States, and then to Mexico. When Lawrence contracts tuberculosis, they return to England for a short time, then to Italy, where Lawrence writes "Lady Chatterley's Lover."...
Knights of the Round Table
Character: Guinevere
In Camelot, kingdom of Arthur and Merlin, Lancelot is well known for his courage and honor. But one day he must quit Camelot and the Queen Guinevere's love, leaving the Round Table without protection....
Two Girls and a Sailor
Character: Dream Girl (uncredited)
A sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with gorgeous sister Jean, unaware that her sibling Patsy is also in love with him....
Bhowani Junction
Character: Victoria Jones
Anglo-Indian Victoria Jones seeks her true identity amid the chaos of the British withdrawal from India....
Singapore
Character: Linda Grahame / Ann Van Leyden
After the war, Matt Gordon returns to Singapore to retrieve a fortune in smuggled pearls. Arrived, he reminisces in flashback about his prewar fiancée, alluring Linda, and her disappearance during the Japanese attack. But now Linda resurfaces...with amnesia and married to rich planter Van Leyden. Meanwhile, sinister fence Mauribus schemes to get Matt's pearls....
Ghosts on the Loose
Character: Betty
The East Side Kids try to fix up a house for newlyweds, but find the place next door "haunted" by mysterious men....
Whistle Stop
Character: Mary
When beautiful Mary returns to her "whistle stop" hometown, long-standing feelings of animosity between two of her old boyfriends leads to robbery and murder....
Chavela
Character: Self (archive footage)
Inspired by an exclusive interview and performance footage of Chavela Vargas shot in 1991 and guided by her unique voice, the film weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being....
The Naked Maja
Character: Maria Teresa, duchess of Alba, nicknamed Cayetana
A historical fiction based on the lives of artist Goya and the Duchess of Alba...
The Blue Bird
Character: Luxury
Peasant children Mytyl and Tyltyl are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness by the fairy Berylune. On their journey, they're accompanied by the anthropomorphized presences of a Dog, a Cat, Light, Fire, and Bread, among other entities....
This Time for Keeps
Character: Girl in Car Lighting Cigarette (uncredited)
A young newlywed (Robert Sterling) finds working for his nasty father-in-law difficult....
The Hucksters
Character: Jean Ogilvie
A World War II veteran wants to return to advertising on his own terms, but finds it difficult to be successful and maintain his integrity....
My Forbidden Past
Character: Barbara Beaurevel
An 1890s New Orleans heiress tries to buy a married doctor's love with her tainted family fortune....
East Side, West Side
Character: Isabel Lorrison
A vain businessman puts strains on his happy marriage to a rich, beautiful socialite by allowing himself to be seduced by a former girlfriend....
The Kidnapping of the President
Character: Beth Richards
A South American quasi-revolutionary/guerilla/terrorist and a misled, admiring girl compatriot manage to kidnap the U.S. President during a diplomatic visit to Toronto....
City on Fire
Character: Maggie Grayson
An ex-employee of a city oil refinery creates an explosion at the facility which starts a chain-reaction of fires that engulf the entire city....
The Ballad of Tam Lin
Character: Michaela Cazaret
Based upon the Celtic legend Tam Lin, a young man is bewitched by a beautiful, heartless, aging sorceress to become her lover. When his attention wanders to a lovely girl, he is doomed to ritual sacrifice by the sorceress....
Permission to Kill
Character: Katina Petersen
Western intelligence agents try, by all means necessary, to prevent a Communist-bloc defector from leaving the West in his bid to return home to lead an uprising....
Legends of the West
Character: Lily Langtry in 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean'
Host Jack Palance explores how Hollywood has depicted Western legends like George Armstrong Custer, Billy the Kid, Crazy Horse and the O.K. Corral...
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Character: Self (archive footage)
A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars....
The Great Sinner
Character: Pauline Ostrovsky
A young man succumbs to gambling fever....
The Little Hut
Character: Lady Susan Ashlow
Sir Philip Ashlow (Stewart Granger), his neglected wife, Lady Ashlow (Ava Gardner) and his best friend Henry Brittingham-Brett (David Niven) are shipwrecked on a desert island. This potential ménage à trois where the two men compete for the lady's attention is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a fourth inhabitant of the island....
The Angel Wore Red
Character: Soledad
A clergyman travels to Spain to join the Loyalist side during the Spanish Civil War and finds himself attracted to a beautiful entertainer....
3 Men in White
Character: Jean Brown
Gillespie has to finally choose his official assistant, or Red and Lee are going to kill themselves in competition. So, it's another diagnosis competition. Lee's assignment is a small girl who falls ill whenever she eats candy. Red has to cure a girl's mother of a debilitating case of arthritis. But when Red needs Lee's help, will either one live with Gillespie's choice?...
Regina Roma
Character: Mama
An aging couple search for peace and family harmony when their only son returns home after a long absence with his fiancee....
Maisie Goes to Reno
Character: Gloria Fullerton
A Brooklyn showgirl gets mixed up in a divorce between a soldier and his wife....
Ava Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies
Character: Self (archive footage)
A barefoot contessa, a screwed-up princess, an exquisite drunk, a bawdy aristocrat, a nightmare for puritanical America and the moguls of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Ava Gardner never stopped loving those she loved. She turned women green and made men sweat. And rejected with all her force the bulwark of normality....
Du Barry was a Lady
Character: Perfume Girl (uncredited)
Hat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with a poor dancer but wants to marry for money. When Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes, he asks May to marry him and she accepts even though she doesn't love him. Soon after, Louis has an accident and gets knocked on the head, where he dreams that he's King Louis XV pursuing the infamous Madame Du Barry....
She Went to the Races
Character: Hilda Spotts
A group of scientists develop a system to pick winners at the racetrack. Comedy....
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Character: Young Socialite (uncredited)
A middle-aged businessman who has lived a conservative life according to the routine conventions of society, still remembers the beautiful young woman who once brought him out of his shell....
Rat Pack
Character: Self (archive footage)
In the 1950s, a small group of artists monopolized the attention of the cameras and the public. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford together form the "rat pack": they sing the most popular hits of the moment, star in the most profitable Hollywood films and are already making a splash on television . This documentary, produced by a recognized specialist in the history of Hollywood, recounts the exceptional destiny of this informal group which flirted with th...
That's Entertainment!
Character: (archive footage)
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history....
All Night Long
Character: Self (archive footage)
Like so many other actors, Ava Gardner hated to watch her films. She said that the woman on the screen wasn't her. But all films tell two stories: the plot and the tale of the bodies filmed. This film narrates what happened between two images: a first shot of 'Pandora' and a first shot of 'Harem', the first and last movie filmed by the actress in Spain. Ava must certainly have thought that neither of these two women had anything in common with herself....
Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia
Character: Self (Archive Footage)
With his mafia wiseguy links and access to entertainment industry star power, Frank Sinatra helped John F. Kennedy into the White House in 1960. But it all came to a bitter end....
Harem
Character: Kadin
A young British woman is kidnapped by an Arabian sheikh and held captive in his harem. At first she frantically tries to escape, but as they slowly get to know and appreciate each other the difference between captor and captive dissolves....
Fallout
Character: Self (archive footage)
During the 1940s, Nevil Shute had a steady job as an engineer in the British military but in his spare time, he wrote novels that were being well-received. Once the war was over, Shute choose to move to Australia and focus on writing, soon becoming an internationally acclaimed novelist. His novel On The Beach, particularly hit a chord with the international community, depicting the impact of global nuclear destruction. This documentary studies Shute's career and the adaptation of his most famous...
Sunday Punch
Character: Ringsider (uncredited)
Ma Galestrum (Connie Gilchrist) is a boardinghouse owner whose tenants are a group of aspiring boxers. When her young niece, Judy (Jean Rogers), comes to stay for a visit, college dropout Ken Burke (William Lundigan) and Swedish janitor Ole (Dan Dailey Jr.) immediately fall for her charms. Ken considers going back to college for Judy, but his fight promoter is less than thrilled with this idea. Meanwhile, Ole is determined to meet Ken in the ring to vie for Judy's heart....
Frank Sinatra glömde aldrig Finspång
Character: Self (archive footage)
Frank Sinatra was at rock bottom as far as his career in Hollywood was concerned, but made his way back to the spotlight via Finspångs Folkets park in 1953 in front of 537 local fans. Hollywood no longer wanted to know about Frank Sinatra, he divorced his wife Nancy in 1951 to marry the actress Ava Gardner, "the most beautiful woman in the world" and he went to Las Vegas to get his career going again. But in 1952 he was fired from Columbia Pictures.. A year later he was in Sweden on tour and per...
Hitler's Madman
Character: Franciska Pritric (uncredited)
In 1942, a young paratrooper in the RAF returns to Czechoslovakia to encourage his fellow countrymen to sabotage the German war effort....
Young Ideas
Character: Co-ed (uncredited)
A widow's grown children try to break up her romance with a college professor....
That's Entertainment! III
Character: (archive footage)
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain....
Fancy Answers
Character: Girl at Recital
In this Pete Smith Speciality, the audience is asked a series of multiple-choice questions on various subjects....
Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century
Character: Self (archive footage)
Acknowledged as one of the greatest singers of the twentieth century, Arena explores the rise of the legendary crooner Frank Sinatra from his early family background to overwhelming show business success. Interviews with friends, family and associates reveal a star-studded career in music and film alongside a fascinating private life of four marriages, liaison with the Kennedy family, Las Vegas business interests and an alleged association with the Mafia...
The Kid Stays in the Picture
Character: Self (archive footage)
Documentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans, based on his famous 1994 autobiography....
De Madrid a la Luna
Character: Self (archive footage)
...
Lost Angel
Character: Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Alpha's been raised along scientific principles, and will make Mike Regan a great human interest story for his paper. But when his interview prompts Alpha to run away from the institute and ask him to show her some magic, Mike gets more responsibility than he bargained for. Especially since another story of his, one involving gangsters, has also come home to roost....
On the Trail of the Iguana
Character: Self
Behind the scenes documentary of the filming of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana....
Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood
Character: Self (archive footage)
At the height of her fame in 1954, actress Ava Gardner transplanted herself from Hollywood to the country of Spain. As she lovingly stated in her autobiography, “I don’t know if it was the climate, the men, or the music, but as soon as I set foot in Spain, I had a crush on this country.” In this documentary by Sergio Mondelo, the filmmaker explores the motivations behind this move and contrasts Gardner’s glitz and glam lifestyle with the hardships faced by the Spainish people under Franco’s rule...
Twenty Years After
Character: (archive footage)
This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases....
The Costume Designer
Character: Self (archive footage)
This short focuses on the job of the costume designer in the production of motion pictures. The costume designer must design clothing that is correct for the film historically and geographically, and must be appropriate for the mood of the individual scene. We see famed costume designer Edith Head at work on a production. The Costume Designer was part of The Industry Film Project, a twelve-part series produced by the film studios and the Academy. Each series episode was produced to inform the pu...
Hollywood, la vie rêvée de Lana Turner
Character: Self (archive footage)
Portrait of Julia Jean Turner, from her childhood to her rise of fame as Lana Turner, to her last role....
Strange Testament
Character: Waitress (uncredited)
This MGM Passing Parade series short tells the story of Julian Poydras, whose encounter with a girl at Mardi Gras had a profound effect on his later life....
Mighty Lak a Goat
Character: Girl at Theatre Boxoffice
The Our Gang gets splashed by mud from a passing car and so using some cleaning fluid to get rid of the mud; they unknowingly created a bad odour among themselves....
La Rabbia
Character: Self (archive footage)
Documentary footage (from the 1950s) and accompanying commentary to attempt to answer the existential question, Why are our lives characterized by discontent, anguish, and fear? The film is in two completely separate parts, and the directors of these respective sections, left-wing Pier Paolo Pasolini and conservative Giovanni Guareschi, offer the viewer contrasting analyses of and prescriptions for modern society. Part I, by Pasolini, is a denunciation of the offenses of Western culture, particu...
Joe Smith, American
Character: Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
Joe Smith is an ordinary American family man who works in an aircraft factory. Shortly after being a promoted to a much higher position, Joe is kidnapped by enemy agents who are determined to get military secrets out of him by any means possible. Will Joe keep quiet or betray his country......
Swing Fever
Character: Receptionist (uncredited)
Comedy about a bandleader with hypnotic powers....
Blonde Fever
Character: Minor Role (uncredited)
Peter and Delilah are a married couple running a roadside café in Nevada. Their stable partnership turns rocky, though, with the arrival of the sultry Sally, a waitress who catches Peter's wandering eye. Delilah strikes back by hiring Sally's boyfriend as a waiter. Sally is initially dismissive of Peter's advances, but when he wins $40,000 in a lottery, she quickly pounces, turning on the charm and eyeing the easy life....
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Character: Pandora Reynolds / Maria Vargas (archive footage)
In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette in his hand was a half-century earlier when his Technicolor camerawork was awarded for Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus. Beyond John Huston's The African Queen and King Vidor's War and Peace, the films of the British-Hungarian creative duo (The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death too) guaranteed im...
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
Character: Self (archive)
During the 1950s, musical masterpieces that have yet to be equaled were produced in Cinemascope with stereophonic sound. These two episodes explore how the post-war years were alive with bold experimentation in musical film. Later in the decade, Rock & Roll became the musical choice of the younger generation and movie musicals followed suit. Highlights of this 2-part program include: Films based on smash Broadway musicals become the rage. A pretty starlet with no musical training named Marilyn M...