What was ava gardner like

Although I'd be lying to you if I told you that losing my looks is no big deal. With Sinatra dropped from his record and film contracts, Gardner noted that his fans and friends had largely abandoned him, too. Fighting and boozing. The two would separate in , eventually divorcing in , though Gardner and Sinatra stayed in touch for the remainder of her life. Gardner spent her later years in Knightsbridge, London. She suffered two strokes which left her partially paralyzed in , and passed away a few years later on January 25, In Smithfield, NC, the Ava Gardner Museum was founded in , featuring personal and professional jewelry, costumes and memorabilia that belonged to Gardner.

The large Gardner family made their home in the rural North Carolina community of Grabtown, seven miles east of Smithfield. They lived in a white, two-story farmhouse surrounded by acres of land they cultivated to grow tobacco and cotton. Tragedy struck the family in when their barn and cotton gin burned to the ground. Without the finances to rebuild, the family packed up and moved to the nearby community of Brogden.

Jonas and Mollie found lodging and work at the local public school, with him serving as property caretaker and her managing the teacherage facility, a neighboring boarding house for female teachers. When impact from the Great Depression eventually forced the state to close the teacherage in December , the family moved once again. They relocated to Newport News, Virginia where they operated a boarding house for shipyard workers. Mollie and Ava decided to return to North Carolina. They made their new home in the community of Rock Ridge, near Wilson, where Mollie obtained a position managing another teacherage.

In , Ava earned her diploma from the Rock Ridge School. Although the family income was meager, Mollie insisted that her daughter pursue higher education. After graduation, Ava enrolled at nearby Atlantic Christian College, modern day Barton College, in a secretarial program.

After her first marriage quickly ended in divorce, she left North Carolina to make a new life for herself. Following a short stint in Virginia, Bappie ultimately settled in the Big Apple where she met and married a professional photographer named Larry Tarr. During her visit, Larry Tarr produced a series of stunning photographs of teenage Ava.

He was so pleased with the finished images, that he decided to display one large print in the window of his 5 th Avenue studio.

In the portrait, Ava looked fresh-faced and youthfully innocent wearing a polka-dotted, lace-trimmed dress and a wide-brimmed straw hat with ribbon. Bappie went with her nervous little sister to the MGM offices for her initial interview. When Ava began reading from a sample film script, she quickly realized that Marvin Schenck was unable to understand her thick southern accent.

Undeterred, he suggested that she return the next day for a silent screen test, and his gamble paid off. Scott, and an unsuccessful attempt to lure Robert Stack into a foursome he suddenly got a stomachache. Their fights were legendary Sinatra once threw a douche bag filled with water at her and pal Lana Turner , and their make-ups loud.

This straightforward, sassy broad would challenge and terrify both men and women her entire life—including supposed tough guy Robert Mitchum, her former flame and costar. Years after their on-set affair, Server writes, a friend would tell Mitchum that Gardner was arriving shortly. My breathing. My thinking. Within months, they were married.

The legendary love story of Gardner and her inamorato Frank Sinatra began with a bang. According to Server, in the fall of , the very married and very drunk Sinatra convinced an equally inebriated Gardner to leave a Palm Springs party hosted by studio head Darryl Zanuck with him. They sped into the night, until they reached the quiet town of Indio.

Gardner wore a unique beige and white dress for her third wedding. Newlyweds Sinatra and Gardner jetted off to Miami days after their wedding. Here, the couple are photographed enjoying a stroll on the beach. Gardner has said that her third—and final—husband, Sinatra, was the love of her life. The relationship was intensely passionate, but with many ups and downs. Bazaar Bride. United States. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Goodbye to All That.

Sunset Boulevard Getty Images. John Springer Collection Getty Images. Eric Carpenter Getty Images. Bettmann Getty Images. Herbert Dorfman Getty Images. Hulton Archive Getty Images. William Cronenweth Getty Images. Clarence Sinclair Bull Getty Images. In , Gardner became romantically linked to Jazz musician and band leader, Artie Shaw.