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01
She once met J.R.R. Tolkien and neither knew why the other was famous.
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02
While filming Earthquake 1974, she insisted on performing her own stunts, surprising director Mark Robson by dodging blocks of concrete and heavy steel pipes.
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03
Her three husbands were eventually married to a total of 20 brides between them.
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04
A statue of her from The Barefoot Contessa 1954 was given to Frank Sinatra as a gift; he kept it in his backyard garden until his wife Barbara forced him to get rid of it.
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05
After her death in 1990, her housekeeper Carmen Vargas and her Welsh Corgi Morgan were taken in by her former co-star Gregory Peck.
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06
Frank Sinatra bought her a Corgi puppy named Rags during their courtship; she always had a Corgi for the rest of her life.
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07
During the first two years of her marriage to Frank Sinatra, he was at his career low, and she often loaned him money so he could buy presents for his children; she also paid for plane tickets to Africa for Mogambo 1953.
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08
Her early education was limited; by 1945 she had read only the Bible and Gone with the Wind, but she later made up for it through self-education.
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09
She spent her final years as a recluse in London with her housekeeper and her Corgi; after two strokes in 1986, she was partially paralyzed and bedridden, and her last words to her housekeeper were ‘I’m so tired.
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10
An Australian reporter found her skilled at foul language; she threw a glass of champagne at him, but he called her bloody gorgeous.
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11
She sang in her own voice for The Killers 1946 but was dubbed in all MGM films, much to her disgust.
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12
In later life she suffered from severe emphysema and needed an oxygen tank for travel.
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13
She learned flamenco for The Barefoot Contessa 1954 and often danced all night, needing little sleep.
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14
She had a brief love affair with Robert Taylor during the filming of The Bribe 1949.
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15
She confessed to Mickey Rooney that she had contemplated suicide after being left partially paralyzed by two strokes in 1986.
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16
Frank Sinatra nicknamed her Angel.
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17
Production designer John Hawkesworth said she could eat twice as much and drink three times as much as anyone.
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18
Charlton Heston revealed in his autobiography that she behaved badly during the troubled shoot of 55 Days at Peking 1963, and her character was killed off to avoid dealing with her.
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19
She sought the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate 1967 and called Mike Nichols, but he did not seriously consider her; she famously said I strip for nobody.
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20
She was good friends with Kathryn Grayson and Lena Horne, despite competing with Horne for the role of Julie LaVerne in Show Boat 1951.
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21
She appeared in three films based on Ernest Hemingway stories: The Sun Also Rises 1957, The Snows of Kilimanjaro 1952, and The Killers 1946.
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22
By 1945 she was smoking three packs of Winston cigarettes a day.
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23
Yvonne De Carlo once said of her, ‘She’s one of the few women in Hollywood that I like.
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24
Louis B. Mayer once said of her, ‘She can’t talk, she can’t act, she’s terrific.
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25
Her hometown is a crossroads community named Brogden, nicknamed Grabtown; Smithfield is a larger town west of it.
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26
Artie Shaw recorded an instrumental with his Gramercy Five called The Grabtown Grapple as a tribute to her hometown.
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27
In 1995 Empire magazine ranked her #68 among the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history.
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28
She was considered for Giant 1956 but was unable to leave Pakistan during Bhowani Junction 1956; the role went to Elizabeth Taylor.
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29
While living in Spain, she became a good friend of writer Ernest Hemingway, both fans of bullfighting.
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30
The Ava Gardner Museum of memorabilia is in Smithfield, NC; she is buried at Sunset Memorial Park.
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31
During her final years in London, she was the dinner companion of director Michael Winner.
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32
She underwent two abortions during her marriage to Frank Sinatra, both while filming Mogambo 1953.
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33
The American Film Institute placed her #25 on its list of greatest American female screen legends.
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34
She has been portrayed by Marcia Gay Harden, Deborah Kara Unger, Christine Andreas, Jon Mack, and Kate Beckinsale in various productions.
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35
Her parents, Jonas Bailey and Mary Elizabeth Gardner, were born, raised, married, and died in North Carolina.
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36
She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street on February 8, 1960.
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37
She was under contract at MGM from 1941 to 1958.
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38
Her singing voice in Show Boat 1951 was dubbed by Annette Warren, though her voice is left on the soundtrack album.
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39
She was severely beaten by George C. Scott during filming of The Bible… In the Beginning 1966, with whom she was in a romantic relationship.
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40
She was once named ‘The World’s Most Beautiful Animal’ in a 1950s publicity campaign.
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41
She did not like to watch her own performances.
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42
She was the youngest of seven children: Raymond, Melvin Jack, Beatrice Bappie, Elsie Mae, Inez, and Myra.
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43
For the film The Little Hut 1957, a small island in Fiji was renamed Ava Ava and leased to a contest winner.
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44
Dirk Bogarde nicknamed her Snowdrop because, he said, anything less likely was difficult to imagine.
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45
On August 8, 2019, Turner Classic Movies honored her with a day of her film work during Summer under the Stars.
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46
She was basically shy, disliked interviews, and did not believe she was very good at acting.
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47
She and Yvonne De Carlo both portrayed biblical matriarchs: Gardner as Sarah in The Bible… In the Beginning 1966 and De Carlo as Moses’ wife in The Ten Commandments 1956.
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48
Her paternal great-grandparents were also the paternal great-great-great-great-grandparents of Mary Elizabeth Winstead, making them second cousins three times removed.
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49
In 2022, Turner Classic Movies honored her as Star of the Month on her 100th birthday.
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50
An MGM publicity man accompanied her and Mickey Rooney on their honeymoon when she was barely 19.
