Highest rated as cast or director
Biography
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Considered one of the most iconic stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, she was ranked as the 25th greatest female screen legend by the American Film Institute. Initially cast in minor roles, her breakthrough came with the classic film noir The Killers (1946), which established her as a leading lady. Her career flourished in the 1950s with notable performances in films like Mogambo (1953), for which she received an Academy Award nomination, The Barefoot Contessa (1954), and The Night of the Iguana (1964), which earned her a BAFTA nomination. Off-screen, Gardner's personal life and progressive politics attracted significant attention. Her marriages to Mickey Rooney and Artie Shaw were gossiped about, but her tumultuous relationship with Frank Sinatra particularly headlined. Gardner was a strong supporter of racial equality and desegregation, and became a member of the NAACP in 1968. Gardner was a heavy smoker, which deteriorated her health as she grew older. She continued acting in minor roles in the 1980s before she suffered a stroke in 1986 and retired. Gardner moved to Spain and England, where she spent her final years before passing away from bronchopneumonia on January 25, 1990.
Acted in 77
2010s
- 2010
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Pandora Reynolds / Maria Vargas (archive footage)
2000s
- 2000
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
archive footage
1990s
- 1994
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1992
Legends of the West
Lily Langtry in 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1980s
- 1986
Maggie
Diane Webb
Harem
Kadin
Harem
Kadin · 2 episodes
- 1985
The Long Hot Summer
Minnie Littlejohn · 2 episodes
A.D.
Agrippina · 5 episodes
- 1982
- 1981
- 1980
1970s
- 1979
- 1977
- 1976
- 1975
Permission to Kill
Katina Petersen
- 1974
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1972
- 1970
The Ballad of Tam Lin
Michaela Cazaret
1960s
- 1968
- 1966
- 1964
The Night of the Iguana
Maxine Faulk
- 1963
- 1960
The Angel Wore Red
Soledad
1950s
- 1959
- 1958
- 1957
The Sun Also Rises
Lady Brett Ashley
The Little Hut
Lady Susan Ashlow
- 1956
Bhowani Junction
Victoria Jones
- 1954
- 1953
- 1952
- 1951
My Forbidden Past
Barbara Beaurevel
1940s
- 1949
East Side, West Side
Isabel Lorrison
The Bribe
Elizabeth Hintten
- 1948
One Touch of Venus
Venus
- 1947
Singapore
Linda Grahame / Ann Van Leyden
The Hucksters
Jean Ogilvie
- 1946
- 1945
She Went to the Races
Hilda Spotts
I'm a Civilian Here Myself
Dream Girl (uncredited)
- 1944
Blonde Fever
Minor Role (uncredited)
Maisie Goes to Reno
Gloria Fullerton
Two Girls and a Sailor
Dream Girl (uncredited)
3 Men in White
Jean Brown
Twenty Years After
(archive footage)
- 1943
Lost Angel
Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Young Ideas
Co-ed (uncredited)
Hitler's Madman
Franciska Pritric (uncredited)
- 1942
Reunion in France
Marie, Parisian shopgirl (uncredited)
Mighty Lak a Goat
Girl at Theatre Boxoffice
Calling Dr. Gillespie
Student (uncredited)
Sunday Punch
Ringsider (uncredited)
Kid Glove Killer
Car Hop (uncredited)
This Time for Keeps
Girl in Car Lighting Cigarette (uncredited)
Joe Smith, American
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
We Do It Because
Lucretia Borgia (uncredited)
- 1941
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Young Socialite (uncredited)
Strange Testament
Waitress (uncredited)
Fancy Answers
Girl at Recital
Appearances23
2020s
- 2023
Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia
Self (archive footage)
- 2022
Rat Pack
Self (archive footage)
- 2020
Beautiful Like a Poem
Self (archive footage)
2010s
- 2018
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
- 2017
Ava Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies
Self (archive footage)
- 2015
Iconic Couples of Hollywood
Self (archive footage) · 1 episode
- 2013
Fallout
Self (archive footage)
- 2010
All Night Long
Self (archive footage)
2000s
- 2009
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
Self (archive)
- 2006
De Madrid a la Luna
Self (archive footage)
- 2003
Frank Sinatra glömde aldrig Finspång
Self (archive footage)
Året var 1953
Self (archive footage)
1990s
- 1998
Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century
Self (archive footage)
- 1993
1980s
- 1988
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
Self (archive footage)
1970s
- 1977
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
Self - Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba (archive footage)
1960s
- 1964
On the Trail of the Iguana
Self
- 1963
1950s
- 1950
The Costume Designer
Self (archive footage)
