Pictures of old time stars usually do not convey to us the beauty they represented in their era. See a picture of Ava Gardner taken in the 40s, 50s, or 60s and you will understand why she was called the most beautiful woman in the world. One hopes the first edition of this comprehensive new biography will contain pictures to capture her image as clearly as the text does.
Pitch Gardner's life as a script and Hollywood would not buy it. A tomboy is born amid the dirt rich tobacco fields of North Carolina in a house with no running water or electricity. Her family soon moves away but she returns every summer and as often as possible for the remainder of her life. How did she overcome the attitude of a town which until the early 1980s had a huge billboard on the outskirts welcoming visitors to Ku Klux Klan country? And, overcome she certainly did. In 1968 she became a lifelong member of the NAACP, although Server does not share this information.
Pitch Gardner's life as a script and Hollywood would not buy it. A tomboy is born amid the dirt rich tobacco fields of North Carolina in a house with no running water or electricity. Her family soon moves away but she returns every summer and as often as possible for the remainder of her life. How did she overcome the attitude of a town which until the early 1980s had a huge billboard on the outskirts welcoming visitors to Ku Klux Klan country? And, overcome she certainly did. In 1968 she became a lifelong member of the NAACP, although Server does not share this information.
When Gardner was a teenager she visited her older sister and her husband in New York City. In the most clichéd truth possible, he took a picture of her and posted it in the window of his shop. It changed her world. Barney Duhan, a messenger at Loew's Incorporated, saw the picture in the spring of '41. He got her signed to a contract and out to Hollywood, where she met Mickey Rooney (in his Carmen Miranda costume) on her first day.
Virgin to Voluptuary
She came to Hollywood a virgin. Rooney cajoled her for months, finally marrying her. The first night was not good, but Rooney recovered and it was "sex and golf, sex and golf." A new world opened to her. She was courted and spied on by Howard Hughes. She drank and enjoyed sex. "I'm alone. I'm bored," was usually an invitation to come up to her room.
Virgin to Voluptuary
She came to Hollywood a virgin. Rooney cajoled her for months, finally marrying her. The first night was not good, but Rooney recovered and it was "sex and golf, sex and golf." A new world opened to her. She was courted and spied on by Howard Hughes. She drank and enjoyed sex. "I'm alone. I'm bored," was usually an invitation to come up to her room.
The filming of "Mogambo" is illustrative. She was having a love-hate marriage with then has-been Frank Sinatra. He left the jungle to return to the States for a screen test, which turned out to be the first step on his way back. She slept with her co-star Clark Gable (whom she and her mother had adored in the movies when Ava was a child), the great hunter Bunny Allen, and a couple of other men. Visiting in Paris, she and co-star Grace Kelly spent a night visiting brothels where they bought drinks for the house and talked to the girls.
It was the filming of "Mogambo" and "Knights of the Round Table" and tax advice which kept her out of the States for the greater part of two years, but never long enough to reap the tax benefits. She also discovered a young matador, Luis Dominguin. She bought a home in Spain and lived there a number of years, drinking more, working less, continuing to entertain a parade of lovers.
Fall and Decline, then Resurgence
It was the filming of "Mogambo" and "Knights of the Round Table" and tax advice which kept her out of the States for the greater part of two years, but never long enough to reap the tax benefits. She also discovered a young matador, Luis Dominguin. She bought a home in Spain and lived there a number of years, drinking more, working less, continuing to entertain a parade of lovers.
Fall and Decline, then Resurgence
While at a bullfight, she had too much to drink and was placed on a horse which was spooked by a bull. Nearly killed, her fall resulted in a severe bruise and a goose egg on her cheek. Concern over her face, her breakup with Sinatra (who remained her lifelong love), and more drink led to greater imperious behavior on and off the set. She could not settle, moving between Spain, England, Mexico, and the United States. Yet, she continued to make movies when she wanted and remained emotionally and physically linked to Sinatra.
