Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress.
Ava Lavinia Gardner was born in the small farming community of Grabtown, Johnston County, North Carolina, the last of seven children of poor tobacco farmers.
She was married to Mickey Rooney from 1941 to 1943, to Artie Shaw from 1945 to 1946, and to Frank Sinatra from 1951 to 1957. She was regarded as one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood. She also had affairs with the Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin and Mario Cabré, industrialist Howard Hughes, and actor George C. Scott, in the mid-1960s. (Scott was rumored to have beaten Gardner during their relationship.)
She met author J.R.R. Tolkien at Oxford University in November 1964. Neither was aware of the fame of the other.
After a stroke in 1989, which left her partially paralyzed and bedridden, Frank Sinatra paid all her medical expenses. She died of pneumonia in London, England.
Ava Gardner is interred in the Sunset Memorial Park, Smithfield, North Carolina; the town of Smithfield now has an Ava Gardner Museum.
Gardner is portrayed by Kate Beckinsale in The Aviator (2004), a film by Martin Scorsese about Howard Hughes.
(From 
Wikipedia
, the free encyclopedia.)
Ava Gardner Museum
Location:
The museum is located at 325 E. Market Street in downtown Smithfield, NC and is readily accessible from US 70 Highway and Interstate 95, Exit 95.
From Raleigh, NC, the museum is a short 40 minute drive on US 70 east. South of Clayton take "US 70 Business" into Smithfield.
From Interstate 95, take "Exit 95" onto US 70 west for a one mile drive to the museum. US Highway 301 passes through Smithfield also.
The museum occupies approximately 6000 square feet and contains and a large collection of memorabilia including theater posters, promotional photos by the movie studios, media coverage including photos and papers, numerous articles of clothing worn by Ava at notable occasions, copies of books about Ava, personal family pictures and related artifacts, her acting awards, and many of her films on video tape. A video documentary is available for showing to all visitors. Preview Admission(during our setup period, Oct-Dec) is $4.00 for adults, $3.00 Senior Citizens (65+) and teens. Children 6-12, $2.00.
Ava Gardner Museum
325 E. Market St.
Smithfield, NC 27577
Filmographie
* Fancy Answers (1941) (short subject)
* H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
* Sunday Punch (1942)
* We Do It Because- (1942) (short subject)
* This Time for Keeps (1942)
* Kid Glove Killer (1942)
* Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942)
* Mighty Lak a Goat (1942) (short subject)
* Reunion in France (1942)
* Pilot #5 (1943)
* Hitler's Madman (1943)
* Ghosts on the Loose (1943)
* Young Ideas (1943)
* Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
* Swing Fever (1943)
* Lost Angel (1943)
* Three Men in White (1944)
* Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
* Maisie Goes to Reno (1944)
* Blonde Fever (1944)
* Music for Millions (1944)
* She Went to the Races (1945)
* Whistle Stop (1946)
* The Killers (1946)
* Singapore (1947)
* The Hucksters (1947)
* One Touch of Venus (1948)
* The Bribe (1949)
* The Great Sinner (1949)
* East Side, West Side (1949)
* Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
* My Forbidden Past (1951)
* Show Boat (1951)
* Lone Star (1952)
* The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
* Knights of the Round Table (1953)
* Ride, Vaquero! (1953)
* The Band Wagon (1953) (cameo)
* Mogambo (1953)
* The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
* Bhowani Junction (1956)
* The Little Hut (1957)
* The Sun Also Rises (1957)
* The Naked Maja (1959)
* On the Beach (1959)
* The Angel Wore Red (1960)
* 55 Days at Peking (1963)
* On the Trail of the Iguana (1964) (short subject)
* Seven Days in May (1964)
* The Night of the Iguana (1964)
* The Bible (1966)
* Vienna: The Years Remembered (1968) (short subject)
* Mayerling (1968)
* Tam Lin (1970)
* The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
* Earthquake (1974)
* Permission to Kill (1975)
* The Blue Bird (1976)
* The Cassandra Crossing (1976)
* The Sentinel (1977)
* City on Fire (1979)
* The Kidnapping of the President (1980)
* Priest of Love (1981)
* Regina Roma (1982)
© Sinatra - The Main Event | Online since 1999
This Website is dedicated to Thelma Bowers –
"You hold the world on a string, sitting on your rainbow"