INTRODUCTION

HER STORY

QUOTES

Ava confided in her best gal pal, Lana Turner, that "Robert (Taylor) and Clark (Gable) weren't worth messing up your mouth with." Lana, who had also seduced both men, ranked both Taylor and Gable a "2" on a scale of 1 to 10.

Years of sexual dissipation and heavy boozing caused Ava to lose her legendary beauty. Her housekeeper reported that she'd often stare at her face in the mirror and say to her image, "Too many bullfighters, baby. Too many dicks. Too many George C. Scotts. Too many Artie Shaws. Too many Roberts." (No doubt, among others she was referring to Robert Walker, Robert Taylor, and Robert Evans.)

Her only beauty secret was soap and water at night and cold water in the morning.

Filming My Forbidden Past, she was attracted to co-star Robert Michum, who was under contract to Howard Hughes. Mitchum called up his boss and asked, "Do you mind if I go to bed with Ava?" "If you don't," Hughes replies, "they'll think you're a pansy."

Once Ava and a friend went to a German restaurant in Madrid. She ordered a dry martini. When it was served she shouted, "Falsificado!" She poured the drink on the floor and shouted, "That's Spanish gin, and they're passing it off as genuine English!" The waiter presented her with an unopened bottle, broke the seal, and mixed another drink at her table. Without tasting it, Ava poured the cocktail on the floor. The waiter calmly suggested she switch to vodka "because we do not make it in Spain." She nodded and was served a vodka martini. "I hope this will please you, Miss Gardner," the waiter bowed. Without looking up at him she took hold of his belt, pulled it forward and poured the drink inside his pants.

Confidential magazine linked her with Sammy Davis, Jr. and accused her of being involved with several "bronze boyfriends."

In One Touch of Venus she wore a sexy Grecian gown off one shoulder. It was Ava's only costume in the movie. The dress was made of flimsy material tied around the waist by a cord. Supposedly she wore nothing underneath. The big news at Universal were the times director William Seiter turned on the wind machines. Ava was allowed a good stiff drink to get her circulation going again after the chill. The technicians had a few to cool off.

She tried to seduce her co-star Stewart Granger when they were filming Bhowani Junction in Pakistan. One night she burst into his room wearing a sari that clung gracefully over every curve of her body. Granger was in bed and sat up in a sweat.  "Ava, you're probably the most attractive woman in the world, but I'm married. Remember? I'm married to Jean (Simmons)" "Oh, fuck Jean!" Ava shouted. "I'd love to, darling, but she's not here." Ava laughed it off and found someone else to keep her company.

By the end of 1950, MGM's publicity department was sending out black-and-white photos of Ava Gardner to the tune of three thousand requests per week, a figure that only Esther Williams bettered.

Ava never forgot seeing Bette Davis at the Hilton in Madrid. She went up to her and said, "Miss Davis, I'm Ava Gardner and I'm a great fan of yours."  "Of course you are, my dear," Bette said. "Of course you are." And she swept on.

George Cukor once said of her, "Ava is a gentleman."  She claimed it was the nicest thing that's ever been said about her.

Ava divorced Mickey Rooney on May 21, 1943, the same day her mother died of breast cancer.

At age 36, she developed a phobia about being photographed and was convinced her career was doomed.

Louis B. Mayer viewed her screen test and remarked, "She can't act. She can't talk. She's terrific."

Humphrey Bogart nicknamed her the Boon Hill Gypsy.  Frank Sinatra's old pet name for her was Chi-Chi.

When MGM gave her star status, she was given Norma Shearer's old dressing room, the largest occupied by an MGM actress. The three-room suite consisted of a boudoir, bathroom, kitchen and the actual dressing room, which was lined with mirrors, light bulbs and closets.

Her full name is Ava Lavinia Gardner. She was named after her grandmother, Ava, who died giving birth to her nineteenth child, Lavinia.

When she died, she left her beloved Welsh corgi, Morgan, his own maid and limo, plus a monthly allowance.

Married Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra. Her three husbands had nineteen wives between them; Rooney with eight, Shaw with seven and Sinatra with four.

In 1953 Ava and her then husband Frank Sinatra were both nominated for an Oscar. Ava for Mogambo and Frank for From Here To Eternity. Frank won, Ava lost to Audrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday.

When Ava heard Sinatra had married Mia Farrow, she exclaimed, "Hah! I always knew Frank would wind up in bed with a boy."