Ah, so this is Ava Gardner... her friendship with the late Charles Gray is discussed on the "Rocky Horror" commentary, I never knew who she was!
Ah, so this is Ava Gardner... her friendship with the late Charles Gray is discussed on the "Rocky Horror" commentary, I never knew who she was!
I think I have a quote for my quote game thanks. ROFLMAOOriginally Posted by Vamp
Their love affair was beautiful. My favorite quote from Ava about Frank was "he weighs 120 pounds and 100 pounds is cock".
Frank also made sure she was financially taken care of in her time of need. He paid for her docs and hospitals and her funeral. I think this is the only woman he ever really loved and it was because he coold not control her > His first wife was a kid when they got married and she did everything his way.
From this article about Mickey Rooney's visit to the Ava Gardner Museum ("Where Truckers Shower For Free") in Smithfield, NC:
From the one time I met him and from what I've read of his encounters with other, I doubt the constipated little toad was joking. Luckily I'm sure he forgot long before the 5 minute film as he needed to go wash some imaginary dishes for a commercial. (He's one of the most disgusting child stars never to have played Screech.)While viewing the Museum’s biographical video about Ava’s life, Rooney took exception to the narrator’s statement that Ava’s second husband – band leader Artie Shaw – was the first "intellectual" man she had met.
"I resent that!" Rooney chimed in, always the jokester.
An odd romance of Ava's later years (1960s-) was the poet/novelist/historian/mystic Robert Graves, most famous for I CLAUDIUS. He was 27 years her senior, married, and the father of many children (8 officially, possibly more) when their affair began, though it was hardly his first extramarital dalliance. He did have a pick-up line that's hard to beat: he worshipped the Celtic Mother Goddess and told his muses (of whom Ava was one) he believed them to be an avatar of Her. Odd how all of her avatars seemed to be attractive dark haired fair skinned women; the Venus of Willendorf and other ancient depictions all make her look far more like Kathy Bates or Della Reese, but apparently they're not quite as divine.
Interestingly, one of Graves' most famous villainesses in his most famous work was Agrippin(ill)a, the niece and later fourth wife of Claudius. One of Ava's last screen performances was as Agrippina in the toga soap opera A.D. in 1985.
Last edited by Sampiro; 06-11-2008 at 05:49 PM.
Classic!Their love affair was beautiful. My favorite quote from Ava about Frank was "he weighs 120 pounds and 100 pounds is cock".
Someone mentioned earlier that she was destroying herself with booze. Is this what killed her? How old was she when she died?
She was 67. Her death was due mostly to smoking (she was an oxygen tank dependent emphysemiac for her last few years). Not surprising considering not only the era when she was famous (when smoking was in vogue) and the fact she grew up on a tobacco farm and all of her male relatives worked directly for the cigarette companies (either as farmers or in the factories).
Here are some Ava Pics,,,,,very classy woman
Great pics!
Death Hag
I just saw the BIO-on here this weekend. She was sooooo pretty....
Death Hag
The following is a story about Ava that was posted on a Doris Day forum that I read from time to time. Thought you might enjoy it:
I would like to share with everyone, if I may, an encounter that happened to me some twenty years ago.
I had a very stressful workload about that time, and was enjoying a week long holiday, going nowhere but London, and enjoying the break. One sunny July afternoon, having spent more than I should have, I bought a newspaper and sandwich, and walked through Kensington Gardens, into Hyde Park.
As I was sitting on a park bench scoffing the last of my sandwich, I noticed a lady, walking with a limp, and a corgi dog on the end of it's leash. As she drew closer she said "Honey, would you mind if I sit beside you, that darned dog insists on walking around every acre of the Park ",she spoke with an American accent, in the softest "Caralina"way which just made you warm to her. We chatted about the weather, our love of dogs, what I did for a living, what she did for a living (she said she had retired from work after she had suffered a severe stroke). And I only noticed then that her left arm just sat there, useless. She told me where she lived, in an apartment in exclusive "Knightsbridge", and just how much she loved London. I asked her if she missed home and she said she never really had a home, until she settled in London some 25-30 years ago, because she travelled so much with her work.
It was very evident that she had gone to seed somewhat, but when we were chatting, I looked at her, and I just knew that she must have been a stunner, when she was younger. She had amazing emerald green eyes, that still gave her a beauty. So after about 30 minutes, I said "I 'ought to get going", because I had to meet some friends, and she said she had recharged her batteries, and would walk back home, as she lived (literally) at the entrance to Hyde Park. I wished her well, and she said "dont give your life to work, because in the end, you reach a point were you just are'nt needed anymore".
As we started to walk in opposite directions, she said "Honey, I didnt get your name", and I said "Dave, whats your name"?
"I'm Ava honey", she said , "Ava Gardner".
I still fill up with tears(even now)when I think about that brief encounter on a park bench in the middle of London. Truth be told, I knew very little about her then, now-a-days I know a helluva lot more. And when I heard that she had died about 2 years later, I just went over, and over that afternoon. I am sure that there would be many who would have sold their soul for that kind of meeting, and if it was fate (which I think it was) then I can go to my grave (hopefully after I meet Doris), with that wonderful afternoon when I looked into the eyes of one of Hollywood's other "Bombshell's" and was the better for it. Bless her heart.
I cry every time I recall those memories (and I am still crying now, discussing them with you.) But what a humbling experience, 30 minutes with a lady who was once dubbed, "The Most Beautiful Animal On Earth", and although her looks had faded, I will still hold fast to opinion, that her beauty faded, it did not go out until the very end. If anyone lives in, or around London, or are planning a trip, go to "Ennismore Gardens" Her friends and neighbours have erected a stunning memorial urn, in the fabulous Garden Square, where Ava lived, and died.
I read the biography "Love Is Nothing" a while ago, and the one thing that sticks out in my mind is that she wanted to play Maxine Faulk as really earthy and natural, meaning sans girdle. When whoever the studio big wigs saw the rushes they freaked out because Gardner's ass was "down around her knees". Why that sticks with me, I've no idea.
God, I'm in love with this woman.
Ava Gardner Trivia Mania
http://www.meredy.com/gardnertriv.htm
Enjoy!
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What great pics. Another drop dead beauty. Those eyes.
"We have recently discovered additional photographs of Ava at age 14. The backlit photograph was used often in Ava??s publicity. The July 1941 Daily Press; New Port News Va. used this photo in July of 1941 (Hollywood Bound). The Smithfield Herald, July 25, 1941; also used this image (Star on the Horizon). The remaining images are in the same series and are believed to be previously unpublished."
- Ava Gardner Museum
.
More unpublished...
How old is she in this pics havoc? She looks so young.
According to the dates of the photos, she would have been 19 years old.
OMG, a 19 year old Ava Gardner....
.
19, wow. Thanks havoc
Renowned Death Hag
Note how much hotter and more beautiful Ava was than Kate Beckinsale (The Aviator) of course they also though Gwen Stefani was worthy of playing Jean Harlow.
Beautiful as it gets when she was young. Aged fast and hard.
Senior Death Hag
I adore Ava and I've always loved the idea of her and Sinatra together. I think he was just the coolest guy ever and she totally held her own with him. I love women like that. She was confident without being cocky and she easily could've been looking the way she did.
It's still hard to believe she was married to Mickey freakin' Rooney. I guess he probably wasn't as irritating back then as he is now, but if she were alive, I'm sure she'd probably tell him to sit his sawed off ass down somewhere. He's acts sooooo high and mighty!
"You live alone, creating your life as you go." - Edie Sedgwick
I adore Ava and I've always loved the idea of her and Sinatra together. I think he was just the coolest guy ever and she totally held her own with him. I love women like that. She was confident without being cocky and she easily could've been looking the way she did.
It's still hard to believe she was married to Mickey freakin' Rooney. I guess he probably wasn't as irritating back then as he is now, but if she were alive, I'm sure she'd probably tell him to sit his sawed off ass down somewhere. He's acts sooooo high and mighty!
I always found the progression of her marriages throughout her life to be so interesting. She was a young, shy very virginal kid when she married Rooney, She was struggling to find herself and her identity as more than an actress when she married Shaw, and in Sinatra she found somewhat of an equal. She had a voice with him, wasn't afraid to give him hell. They were a trainwreck in a lot of ways (I really think most great passions are), but she'd sort of come full circle.
1984 with her dog.
More real life encounters of Ava please! She is probably my favourite old-Hollywood female personality.
One of the great beauties and I love her strength and power, her vulnerablity and intellegence!
I just wanted to bump up this thread because I think Ava Gardner was absolutley the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I even use her picture as my FB profile picture as if I could ever look that beautiful but it sure makes me feel better. And to think that she might have just been the love of Frank Sinatra's life WOW.
Please, anybody can tell me why on earth she married Mickey Rooney??
I have no idea why she married him...maybe he begged?? Maybe she saw him as a stepping stone to fame (and I don't mean that in a bad way either)?
BTW...lee you have the BEST behind the scenes pix...
Is that Rosalind Russel with Ava & Mickey in that pix?[/quote]
I thought it was lana Turner with slightly darker hair. It looks like it could have been taken on the set of "DuBarry Was a Lady."
Ava Gardner was one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL women in the country, no question, but, like many of you, it just AMAZES me that she married Rooney! In Ava's Autobiography, regarding her abortion, I seem to recall her not going on about it the way one would think. I seem to recall it almost as an afterthought. Now, understand, it has been several years since I read her book, but I do remember thinking even then, that it just seemed odd to me that she didn't write all that much about it.
Renowned Death Hag
man, I have always thought Ave was so beautiful, she is in my top 3. But reading she had potty mouth doesn't even bother me.
I have often heard and read comments about her aging badly. Perhaps she did, but I think she was beautiful as she aged naturally, not the plastic babes of today. I always think of her as such a free soul, and she didn't fear losing her beauty as she got older. She just didn't give a damn, and I would give anything to have the self confidence she had. My heroine!!
I came across this website almost by accident and it brought back memories of my time living in Ennismore Gardens, Knightsbridge in the late 1960's.
The story from the Doris Day forum brought back a fond memory of meeting Ava gardner with her friend Charles Gray.
Around the corner from where I lived in Ennismore Gardens was a small public house in Rutland Street called the Ennismore Arms and at the end of the day, after work, a group of us invariably met up there for a drink on our way home.
Some days Charles Gray used to come in for a drink and this one time he was accompanied by an elegant attractive lady and we (our group) got chatting with them both and assumed they were a happily married middle aged couple.
Shortly thereafter I moved to Australia and whilst there I saw a film (can't remember the name) in which I there was an actress who looked very similar to Charles Gray's friend and it was some time later that I realised the lady was in fact Ava Gardner.
I never realised how famous she had been and I will always remember meeting her and Mr Gray.
The fact she was married to that gangster kind of puts a damper on my feelings for her. Sad, but true. But, she did end up divorcing the bum.I just wanted to bump up this thread because I think Ava Gardner was absolutley the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I even use her picture as my FB profile picture as if I could ever look that beautiful but it sure makes me feel better. And to think that she might have just been the love of Frank Sinatra's life WOW.
Wow, that's a nice anecdote.
Renowned Death Hag
I don't remember who it was but another actress said that no picture was half as beautiful as she was in person.
Knowlege Comes With Deaths release
Heaven's on the pillow,it's Silence competes with Hell
"If you don't go to other peoples' funerals,they won't come to yours."-Yogi Berra
Renowned Death Hag
Today is the 23rd anniversary of her death. I never knew much about her, and the only film I ever saw her in that I can remember was the made-for-TV movie Earthquake with Charleton Heston. It was obviously past her prime, and at the time I have to admit she looked like the alcohol and cigarettes had taken their toll. I have no doubt that she was once the most beautiful woman in her day, and I have a lot of respect that she marched to the beat of her own drum. Those that question why she would have married Mickey Rooney need look no further than Billy Bob Thorton and Angela Jolie. It's a lifestyle most of us will never know, called "Hollywood".
By my troth, I care not; a man can die but once; we owe God a death.... He that dies this year is quit for the next.
--William Shakespeare!
Renowned Death Hag
I'm kinda self conscious about my shoulders. She had the best shoulders and cheek bones to me. I like Greta Garbo's shoulders too though. I wonder how beautiful her and Frank's babies would have been.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"Do mind the pedestrian, Richard." - Hyacinth Bucket
Ok guys, my Grandfather use to date Ava before she got famous. It was in Princeton NC just a couple of miles from Smithfield. I visited her grave and went to her museum in Smithfield. My Grandfather said she was the nicest and most sincere person he had ever met. Would like to have met her.
Senior Death Hag
I'm not so sure she aged badly. I watched her in "Tam Lin" tonight from I think 1969 and she was absolutely stunning.
"The gore of the tomato dribbles from your lips..."-Brother Theodore
Renowned Death Hag
"Earthquake" was actually a theatrical release. It had a gimmick called "Sensurround", which you were supposed to feel the quake as it happened on screen. It was awful! My school friends and I were dropped off at the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Blvd. to see this epic (
The fact that Ava played the daughter of Lorne Greene was in itself hilarious. She was only 7 years younger the Green. It makes you wonder what goes through some people's minds when they cast a film.
Can't believe it's been 23 years since Ava's death. I swear it was only a few years ago! I think she was still a beauty up till the end.
Last edited by Buttercup; 01-26-2013 at 06:45 AM.
Cindy
I hope you continue posting. Ava was a kid back then and this was probably learned behavior. Face it people don't like
hearing the truth about their favorite stars. (I used to love O.J. Simpson until the murders!) Ava sounds like she grew up and changed? I had the most wonderful grandmother yet I heard her say something unkind about blacks. As she aged she changed her tune.
What is weird about her behavior is once in the 30's my grandmother was asked out of the white section at a movie theater in New Mexico during that state's segregation period. Go figure?
Last edited by MoonRabbit; 01-26-2013 at 08:06 AM.
Renowned Death Hag
LOL! I must have thought it was made for TV because I actually saw it on TV, it was cheesy and awful, and it's been almost 40 years ago..."Earthquake" was actually a theatrical release. It had a gimmick called "Sensurround", which you were supposed to feel the quake as it happened on screen. It was awful! My school friends and I were dropped off at the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Blvd. to see this epic (
The fact that Ava played the daughter of Lorne Greene was in itself hilarious. She was only 7 years younger the Green. It makes you wonder what goes through some people's minds when they cast a film.
Can't believe it's been 23 years since Ava's death. I swear it was only a few years ago! I think she was still a beauty up till the end.
By my troth, I care not; a man can die but once; we owe God a death.... He that dies this year is quit for the next.
--William Shakespeare!
Probably more along the lines of dysfunctional and unhealthy, imo.Their love affair was beautiful. My favorite quote from Ava about Frank was "he weighs 120 pounds and 100 pounds is cock".
This book looks to be a good read. Mickey Rooney seems like such a creepy bastard...
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/06/ava-gardner-deathbed-confessions-sex-with-sinatra-rooney-mitchum-howard-hughes/
Ava Gardner??s Deathbed Confessions: Raunchy Tale Of Sex With Sinatra, Rooney, Mitchum & Howard Hughes
Ava Gardner was a broke alcoholic when in 1988, in a desperate bid to raise some cash, she decided to write her memoir and made what turned out to be a deathbed confessions detailing her many affairs and marriages.
She died in 1990 after canceling the project and her ghostwriter, Peter Evans, took the tapes to his grave last year.
Now they??ve been compiled in a new book, Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations and the book is giving new meaning to tell-all.
Her first husband was Mickey Rooney who she revealed had the nickname Mickey Hard-On.
She quotes Rooney as saying, ??I wanted to f**k you the moment I saw you.? Gardner was an 18-year-old virgin at the time, and told Evans, ??I was shocked. He??d screw anything that moved.?
He even cheated on Ava ?? then one of the most glamorous women in Hollywood ?? within the first months of their marriage while she was in the hospital having her appendix out.
An affair with Howard Hughes followed, and Ava revealed he was a strident racist.
The Barefoot Contessa and Killers star married and divorced band leader Artie Shaw who she called a ??bully? and then simultaneously dated Frank Sinatra and Robert Mitchum, both of whom were married at the time.
She said she was ??crazy about? Mitchum but when she told him she was also seeing the Chairman of the Board, he told her, ??Get into a fight with him, and he won??t stop until one of you is dead.?
Not wanting Sinatra to think that he was competition, Mitchum stepped out of the way.
Sinatra left his wife and he and Gardner wed. They had one of the most tumultuous marriages in Hollywood history, and divorced in 1957. It was her last marriage.
Numerous affairs followed including a brutal one with George C. Scott. While co-starring in 1966′s The Bible: In The Beginning, Scott beat her up so badly, Gardner had to be hospitalized.
Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations is already getting rave reviews. It comes out July 3.
Renowned Death Hag
Very interesting! I didn't know that George C. Scott was abusive towards women; disappointing, to say the least.
If Gardner's ghost writer, Peter Evans, took her memoir tapes "to his grave last year", how is it that the information is now available?
The verbiage quoted above reminds me of Hollywood Babylon.
"We've had threads about guys fucking picnic tables, animals and dead bodies. Third boob ain't going to stop a damn thing." - cleanskull
Renowned Death Hag
Okay - Now I want this book...
My Posse's On Broadway
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