Few stars better encapsulate Hollywood’s Golden Age than Ava Gardner. Her attitude and talent let her shine on screen, and she appeared in some of the most popular films of her era. Her personal life continues to fascinate several generations, with her marriage to Frank Sinatra serving as a goldmine for rumor. Despite her successful career, her life was not always easy…
Ava Gardner: The Bold Journey Of Strength, Passion, And Drama
Ava Gardner’s Rural Upbringing
Ava was born in 1922, and her early years were far removed from the Hollywood princess she would become. She grew raised on a farm with six siblings, and her family was not wealthy. Things got so bad that they couldn’t afford to keep the farm, so they relocated to Virginia to start over. However, their new life wasn’t any better. The Great Depression was right around the corner. Gardner’s father died of bronchitis when she was only 15 years old. Gardner had a devout background, but she abandoned religion after the priest forgot to see her father as he died. They returned to North Carolina after that. Gardner graduated from high school and pursued a profession as a secretary.
Ava Gardner’s Rural Upbringing
Gardner’s Path to Success
Gardner did not set out to become an actor; he fell into it by chance. When she was 18, she went to New York City and was photographed by her brother-in-law, a professional photographer. He displayed her portrait in his studio, and several clients inquired about who the girl was. One of those clients was Barnard Duhan, who claimed to be an MGM talent scout. It turns out that Duhan was a law clerk who pretended to be a scout to meet girls. The receptionist at the studio was not duped by Duhan, but when he recommended that they actually send her portrait to MGM, Gardner’s brother-in-law recognized it was not such a horrible idea.
Gardner’s Path To Success
The Audition
Gardner was eventually offered a screen test by the company, and she flew to New York for it. Gardner’s agency encouraged her not to talk due to her loud southern accent. Gardner was awarded a contract with MGM in 1941, despite her dubious acting skills. They originally cast her in pin-ups and publicity photographs, and she played over a dozen minor roles that few people noticed, but she eventually worked with an MGM-provided speech coach and singing teacher, receiving the skills she needed to one day become a leading lady.
The Audition
Meeting Mickey Rooney
At the time Ava Gardner began her career at MGM, Mickey Rooney was one of America’s biggest performers. The child actor was 21 years old when he saw Ava Gardner on the studio lot. It was her first day there, and he was immediately interested in her. She was first hesitant to go out with him because she was young, inexperienced in Hollywood, and significantly taller than Rooney. However, it proved difficult to resist a movie star. When they first met, he was performing in drag as the Brazilian dancer Carmen Miranda, “complete with false eyelashes.” This obviously caught her eye.
Meeting Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney Courted Her, but MGM Got in the Way
Gardner did go out with Rooney, and he asked her to marry him. Just like when he asked her out, she objected at first, telling him she didn’t want to marry until she was 19. MGM also did not want Rooney and Gardner to be together. Rooney played boyish characters, which was not beneficial for his film image. Many of his female fans would have been heartbroken to learn that he was stolen. However, MGM eventually gave in to their star’s requests, and when the couple married, MGM made sure it was in Santa Barbara rather than Los Angeles, away from the media.
Mickey Rooney Courted Her, But MGM Got In The Way
The Marriage Was a Rocky One
Gardner had yet to become a well-known actress, but her gorgeous beauty made her the ideal companion for Rooney. In the public view, they were the most glamorous pair. However, they had their own demons. One issue was that they both abused alcohol while partying. Rooney’s drinking became an issue, and Gardner subsequently described how vicious he became when he was drunk. She was no angel when intoxicated, and when Rooney got angry, she was known to mock him for his diminutive stature. The star-crossed pair was beginning to experience some difficulties.
The Marriage Was A Rocky One
Gardner Still Struggled to Get Roles
It makes sense that Gardner’s reputation would rise at MGM after marrying Rooney, who was almost royalty there. However, she was still receiving only modest portions. MGM only credited her for one of the 15 roles she played for the studio during her early career. It was a difficult moment for Gardner. Her work was stalled, and her marriage was causing her anguish. She may not have had the kind of control she desired over her work, as the producers determined her fate, but she did have a say in her marriage, and she was about to make a huge decision.
Gardner Still Struggled To Get Roles
The Split
Ava Gardner’s marriage to Mickey Rooney was short-lived. They tied and loosened the knot in 1942 and 1943, respectively. Though she kept quiet in public to protect Rooney’s reputation as Andy Hardy, the respectable son of a judge, court documents reveal a more troubling story. According to the records, she experienced “grievous mental suffering” and “extreme mental cruelty” during their marriage, and he was accused of having affairs as well as a gambling issue. She received $25,000 in the settlement, paid for her own legal bills, and was relieved to be out of there.
The Split
Gardner Lost Her Mom the Same Day She Separated From Rooney
Gardner’s situation was improving as she was getting out of her disastrous marriage and having her contract with MGM renewed, which resulted in a raise. However, at the same time, she was dealing with a significant personal loss. In a tragic, ironic turn of events, her mother died on the same day she finalized her divorce from Rooney. Her mother died from uterine cancer after a protracted struggle with the disease. Unfortunately, Mary Elizabeth “Molly” Gardner never got to see her youngest child, Ava, become one of the world’s most recognized movie actresses. The split and her mother’s death served as reminders that she was on her own and had to forge her own path in the profession.
Gardner Lost Her Mom The Same Day She Separated From Rooney
Meeting Howard Hughes
Many prominent men had courted Ava Gardner, but few matched Howard Hughes’ status. He met her before she became single. Her mother was still living at the time, and the family had a lot of medical bills to pay, so Hughes helped out. It was a golden era for Hughes, who took time away from his other economic interests to produce films in Hollywood and romance starlets. Despite his request for her hand in marriage, she rejected, having learnt her lesson from marrying Rooney. She and Hughes had an on-and-off relationship for decades, and she described him in her memoir as “painfully shy, completely enigmatic, and more eccentric… than anyone [she] had ever met.”
Meeting Howard Hughes
Husband Number Two
Gardner didn’t take long to find someone new after her divorce, and while she and Rooney were both too young and inexperienced when they married, she was determined to try again, this time with someone more mature, the conductor and jazz musician Artie Shaw. While she and Rooney were only a few years apart, Gardner’s second husband, Artie Shaw, was more than a decade her senior, and his intelligence and masculinity made him the perfect match. The catch, however, is that Shaw was married when he and Gardner became connected. However, he left his wife for Gardner, and the two married in 1945.
Husband Number Two
More Marriage Woes
Gardner’s marriage to Shaw, despite her dreams, was fraught with issues, just like her previous. In reality, despite their seeming differences, the two men shared much in their attitudes toward women. Gardner later spoke out about how Shaw emotionally abused her, a sentiment shared by Lana Turner, another of Shaw’s ex-wives. This had an impact on Gardner, who was still relatively new to the industry. She also felt insecure about the relationship. Shaw and his pals were intellectuals, and she felt inferior to them. She even stated that at the time, the only novels she had read were Gone With the Wind and the Bible. She felt out of place and unworthy.
More Marriage Woes
Gardner Made an Effort
Shaw’s mistreatment of Gardner was deplorable, but in some ways, their relationship was beneficial to her since it motivated her to pursue an education. She became serious about reading books and took time off from acting to study at the University of California. While an education is usually beneficial, Gardner was going through a difficult mental stage during which she believed she was never good enough for her spouse. He constantly put her down, and no matter how hard she worked, she thought she would never be on the same level as Shaw and his colleagues.
Gardner Made An Effort
Gardner Took To Drinking
When Ava Gardner married Mickey Rooney, she began drinking. She had to sneak out because she was underage, and the two tolerated one other’s habits, but it was never a major issue. However, once she was with Shaw and mature enough to no longer have to disguise her drinking, it became more serious. Gardner was frequently inebriated throughout her second marriage and went through spells of severe sadness. Shaw, being the academic that he was, would seek psychoanalysis, so he sent his wife to a therapist to address their marital troubles. However, this would not be sufficient to solve their difficulties.
Gardner Took To Drinking
Split Number Two
Gardner loved Shaw for reasons only the heart could understand, despite the fact that he treated her so badly. She never had the courage to leave her second spouse in the same manner she did her first. Even though she realized it wasn’t working, she considered having a child as a means for them to remain together. Shaw, on the other hand, recognized that they could not succeed as a pair and ended things. They had barely been married for a year and one week when he handed her the paperwork. It marked the end of Gardner’s second marriage and Shaw’s sixth.
Split Number Two
Shaw’s Sixth Marriage Was a Slap in the Face to Gardner
Following Gardner, Shaw began dating a novelist named Kathleen Winsor, and the two married in 1946. Winsor rose to prominence with her debut book, Forever Amber, which was released in 1944 and became controversial due to its sexual content, even being prohibited in 14 states on the basis that it was pornographic. Winsor had an intellect to match Shaw’s, making them a suitable fit. However, their connection was a smack in the face to Gardner because she read Forever Amber shortly after its release, and Shaw blasted her for reading such a rubbish work. Perhaps Gardner was relieved to learn that Shaw and Winsor’s romance would terminate after only a few years, only for Winsor to marry her lawyer.
Shaw’s Sixth Marriage Was A Slap In The Face To Gardner
Gardner Finally Catches a Break With the Killers
Ava Gardner’s early years were difficult due to bad relationships and low-quality roles. However, she received her big break when director Robert Siodmak saw her and decided she’d be ideal for the femme fatale in his noir picture The Killers. The film was being produced by Universal, but Siodmak persuaded them to strike a deal with MGM to loan Gardner over. Based on Ernest Hemingway’s short tale, the film was a major hit, earning critical praise and multiple accolades before becoming a genre classic. Ava Gardner went from being a relatively unknown actress whose only claim to fame was the renowned men she had dated to being a star almost overnight.
Gardner Finally Catches A Break With The Killers
With the Spotlight Comes the Negative Press
Ava Gardner sought fame, but once she gained it, she discovered the evil side of it. The newspapers gave her a poor reputation, pointing out that the 23-year-old woman had previously been separated twice. With her romantic history and her prominent role as a femme fatale, they transformed Ava Gardner into a lady of low morals who could be discovered with a different guy every night. Gardner claims that reality presents a very different narrative. She rarely went out and spent most of her nights alone at home. Also, we can see now that her first two marriages were blunders and painful experiences for her, but they were not blemishes on her character, as many others thought at the time.
With The Spotlight Comes The Negative Press
Work Picks up for Gardner
Gardner’s career took off after The Killers, with MGM finally providing her some important roles. One of these was Show Boat, a 1951 film. Gardner was paid $140,000 to star in this musical, which gave her the opportunity to showcase her singing talent, which she had honed over the years. However, Gardner’s singing received unfavorable feedback during the film’s preview screenings, so MGM had her voice dubbed over by singer Annette Warren. Gardner’s original voice can be heard on the soundtrack, for which she got royalties. Some people still think Gardner’s voice is better.
Work Picks Up For Gardner
Ava Gardner’s True Love
When Ava Gardner first met Frank Sinatra, she was an unknown young wannabe actress. He was one of America’s most renowned faces, and she was unknown. However, their paths met again after about a decade, and this time Gardner was a bona fide star, whereas Sinatra’s fame was fading. Gardner, fading or not, was upset with Sinatra, and unlike their prior encounter, he noticed her as well. Sinatra’s marriage stood in the way of their love. He was with his first wife, Nancy Barbato, with whom he has three children.
Ava Gardner’s True Love
Sinatra Tells His Wife
While Sinatra was married, he and Gardner had an affair. Sinatra eventually told his wife what was going on and said that he and Gardner were in love. His wife kicked him out and locked the door behind him, essentially terminating their decade-long marriage. Sinatra and Barbato’s breakup took some time to settle because they were Catholics. Gardner was in Spain at the time, filming a movie. While she was there, Sinatra paid her a visit, and she learnt of Sinatra’s jealousy. He demanded to know if she was with any guys while she was there, but he insisted that as long as she told him the truth, he wouldn’t mind. She admitted to spending the night with a bullfighter, which infuriated Sinatra because he had failed to keep his promise.
Sinatra Tells His Wife
Gardner Made Sinatra Prove That He Was Getting Separated
Gardner was aware that Sinatra was not always sincere about love. Even if he professed to love her and was leaving his wife for her, how much can you believe a man who has affairs in the first place? Gardner pressed on proof that Sinatra’s marriage was genuinely ending. To accomplish this, they drove to Sinatra’s home, where his wife was. “Nancy, will you please tell Ava that I’ve asked you for a divorce?” Sinatra spoke through the buzzer. It was a ludicrous moment, but it wonderfully foreshadowed their marriage, which would be so deep and passionate that it would make all other marriages look out of date.
Gardner Made Sinatra Prove That He Was Getting Separated
Gardner’s Thing for Married Men
Gardner seems to have a penchant for married men. In addition to Sinatra and Shaw, she co-starred with Fred MacMurray in the film Singapore. This was just before she met Sinatra, and she had no problem being with a married man. However, she had her limits, and when she learned that MacMurray’s wife was ill, she couldn’t take it anymore. There was also Robert Taylor, who married Barbara Stanwyck. Their romance was kept a secret since revealing that Taylor was cheating on Stanwyck would be combustible. Their affair lasted barely a few months because the risk was simply too high. She had another brief affair with Howard Duff just before he married Ida Lupino.
Gardner’s Thing For Married Men
Gardner’s Fling With Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum was a classic Hollywood icon, best known for his roles in films noir like Out of the Past. He was also one of the renowned guys Ava Gardner got to know well, and the two of them had an affair while she was with Sinatra but before he left his wife. Gardner was candid with Mitchum, telling him about her relationship with Sinatra. He was upset to learn about this, but not out of envy. It was more about what Sinatra may do if he found out. “Get into a fight with him [Sinatra], and he won’t stop until one of you is dead,” he added, implying that their relationship will soon end.
Gardner’s Fling With Robert Mitchum
One Marriage Ends, Another Begins
Despite the lengthy judicial proceedings, Sinatra’s divorce from his wife was finalized in 1951, and he and Gardner married barely 10 days later. It had been a long time coming, and the press was just as thrilled as the pair. They turned the marriage into a massive scandal, influencing public perceptions of the two stars. Gardner had already been described by the press as a femme fatale, similar to the figure she played in her debut performance. They now had even more fuel to pour on the fire as she broke apart Sinatra’s family. Sinatra was also chastised for abandoning his family, attracting criticism from the press, the public, and even the Catholic Church.
One Marriage Ends, Another Begins
Sinatra Was Going Through a Rough Phase
It was a difficult moment for Sinatra, since public opinion of him was low and his career was stalled. In addition, suspicions circulated that he had mob links. The hardest aspect was that he didn’t have enough money. Fortunately, his wife was soaring high and supporting him, even purchasing a ticket for him to see her in Africa while she was filming Mogambo in 1963 because he couldn’t afford it himself. She also helped him find jobs by wielding her influence. Gardner fought for Sinatra’s casting in From Here to Eternity, which rejuvenated his career and earned him an Oscar. Given Sinatra’s image in popular culture, it’s difficult to believe he had to leverage his famous wife to acquire parts, but it was true at the time.
Sinatra Was Going Through A Rough Phase
Fear of a Communist Couple
It’s normal for people to gossip about celebrities, and the idea that Gardner was a femme fatale who ended Sinatra’s marriage was far more sensational back then than it is now. Another aspect of celebrity life back then was the dread of being labeled a communist, and Gardner and Sinatra were concerned that they might be reported to Senator McCarthy’s House of Un-American Activities. Gardner and Sinatra were concerned because Hedda Hopper, the gossip “journalist” who covered their romance, was reporting celebrities for communist sympathies, and they could have been targeted. They both supported Democrats, with Sinatra actively working for them and fiercely opposing racism. Artie Shaw had numerous communist pals with whom Gardner also interacted, and he had to go in and give one of them away. Fortunately, Gardner and Sinatra were spared the worst of it.
Fear Of A Communist Couple
MGM Forced Gardner to Abort
Despite being married three times, Ava Gardner had no children. This was not due to a lack of desire to have children or because she was physically incapable. It was actually because MGM tried to control its actresses’ bodies, not wanting their leading ladies to get pregnant. Gardner became pregnant twice while married to Sinatra, and both times she had to have an abortion. “MGM had all sorts of penalty clauses about their stars having babies,” Gardner explained in her memoir. Her husband was upset over the abortions. Today, there are numerous special effects employed to conceal pregnant actresses, but back then, the options were more limited. Still, it’s terrible to learn that the studios pushed actresses to get abortions.
MGM Forced Gardner To Abort
Mogambo Was a Nightmare to Shoot
Most film shoots run quite smoothly, but every now and then you get a disaster in which nothing appears to go right and the major egos collide. That was the case with Mogambo. She went into the shoot with tensions between her and Sinatra, and the shoot itself created its own set of issues. John Ford, the famed director, wanted to cast Maureen O’Hara but had to settle with Gardner, which made for an unhappy working environment as he took it out on her. Clark Gable, who was pals with Gardner, was co-starring, and he was unhappy with how his co-star was treated. This influenced his attitude, and with the director and the two stars all having negative mindsets, it was not a nice set.
Mogambo Was A Nightmare To Shoot
Cooling off at the End of the Day
Mogambo was shot in a variety of locations in Africa, and the heat weather affected everyone. By the end of the day, the cast and crew were drenched in sweat, and Ava Gardner chose to decompress and relax by taking a bath. She had one of the local lads fill up her canvas tub so she could wash outside, but this did not sit well with the British Colonial administration in charge. Modesty was obviously crucial in their environment, and they were upset that Gardner would take a bath in public. Rather than listening to their protests, she proceeded to bathe openly as her own kind of protest. Gardner was known for refusing to be told what to do.
Cooling Off At The End Of The Day
Gardner and the Elephant
One memorable scene in Mogambo is when the baby elephant pushes Gardner, who lands in a puddle of mud. It turns out that this was not scripted and was caused by the elephant misbehaving. Gardner was not pleased with her fall, even if it looked wonderful on camera. Gardner called for assistance, anticipating some crew members to rush to her aid. However, director John Ford was determined to torture Gardner and instructed the crew to disregard her calls for assistance. Cruel as it was, it made for fantastic cinema, so there may have been a method to Ford’s madness.
Gardner And The Elephant
Gardner Gets an Oscar Nomination but Loses Her Husband
The Mogambo filming was difficult, and Gardner was sent to England to recover from a case of diarrhea, but her efforts were rewarded with an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. It was her lone Oscar nomination in her whole career, and while she lost to Audrey Hepburn, it was a tremendous honor to be recognized for her performance rather than her looks and connections. She may have been riding high in her job, but her marriage was not going well. She and Sinatra encouraged each other’s drinking habits, and they frequently fought in public when under the influence. They split up in 1953 after only two years of marriage, but it took many years for their divorce to be formalized.
Gardner Gets An Oscar Nomination But Loses Her Husband
Gardner and Sinatra’s Wild Times
Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra had many crazy times together, which few people knew about during their lifetimes. One was when they went to jail for driving around in the middle of the night while intoxicated and shooting.38 firearms, shattering shop windows. They had to pay a $20,000 bribe to keep the story from getting out. With such exploits, it’s no surprise they remained friends over the years. He was even claimed to phone her three times per week after their marriage ended. This is the man who had affairs simply to make Gardner jealous after their breakup. It was a tumultuous and turbulent relationship, but it was evident to both of them that it was pure love, and Gardner described him as the love of her life.
Gardner And Sinatra’s Wild Times
He Needed Her More
According to Sinatra writer J. Randy Taraborrelli, one of the factors that always strained the artists’ relationship was Sinatra’s emotional and financial reliance on Gardner, and his jealousy drove him to dangerous extremes. According to Taraborrelli’s Sinatra biography, the crooner committed suicide, or at least pretended to, multiple times over his wife. The first occurred after an explosive fight, and Ava went to see her ex-husband, Artie Shaw. When Ava returned to their hotel, Sinatra called her from the other room and pretended to kill himself over the phone, while actually shooting bullets into his mattress. Another time, Sinatra took many sleeping pills after another dispute drove Ava away from their Lake Tahoe getaway.
He Needed Her More
Gardner and Hemingway
If Rooney, Shaw, Sinatra, Hughes, and Gable aren’t enough for you, add Ernest Hemingway to the mix. They became close friends when she and Sinatra split up. She spent time with him in Spain and stayed at his property in Cuba, where she famously went swimming naked in his pool, prompting Hemingway to remark, “The water is not to be emptied.” Gardner became interested in bullfighting after reading Hemingway. She had an affair with a bullfighter before, and chose to try it again when Hemingway introduced her to Luis Miguel Dominguín, a world-famous bullfighter. The two became passionate lovers, and their fights were as intense as their love. He remarked of Gardner, “She was the prettiest and the most fierce.” I kept a very vicious wolf in a cage.”
Gardner And Hemingway
The Statue of the Barefoot Contessa
While still dating Sinatra, Ava Gardner acted in the 1954 film The Barefoot Contessa. The Joseph L. Mankiewicz film is regarded as one of her best, and it offered Sinatra something to remember as well. The studio gifted him a statue of Gardner featured in the film, which he placed in his garden. The statue remained in his garden for years after the two separated. However, the moment has come to take it down. Sinatra married his fourth and last wife in 1976, and she did not appreciate the notion of her husband having a statue of his ex-wife in his garden, so he eventually had to remove it.
The Statue Of The Barefoot Contessa
More Success and More Abusive Men
Gardner’s 20-year contract expired in 1959, and she appeared in the post-apocalyptic picture On the Beach. It increased Gardner’s success, but it gave director Stanley Kramer headaches since people would swarm the beach to see Gardner while he was working. One of her next notable roles was in The Bible: In the Beginning, when she costarred with George C. Scott. Despite being married, the couple had an affair during the shoot. Scott, on the other hand, had some significant difficulties and became aggressive, even going so far as to kick down her hotel room door. Director John Huston had to enlist local mobsters to keep Gardner safe from Scott’s frightening actions.
More Success And More Abusive Men
An Aging Actress
Gardner’s biggest part in the 1970s was in the catastrophe picture Earthquake, and while it isn’t one of her best films, she gave it her all, insisting on doing her own stunts. This was impressive, but for many, her star power appeared to be fading. Many said she was too old for her co-star, Charlton Heston. This was particularly disrespectful given that they were nearly the same age. Aging had an impact not only on her career, but also on her physical health. She decided to have a hysterectomy in 1968 because she didn’t want to develop uterine cancer like her mother. She had no idea that she would have a plethora of other health issues. She was a heavy smoker, had lupus, and contracted pneumonia. Things took a turn for the worse in 1986, when she suffered a stroke that left her largely disabled.
An Aging Actress
Telling Her Story
Gardner was in a bad place after her stroke, and she even admitted to Mickey Rooney that she was considering suicide. During this period, she decided to recount her life story and recruited Peter Evans as a ghostwriter for her memoir. Gardner abandoned the project after learning that Evans claimed Frank Sinatra had mafia ties. However, following Gardner’s death, Evans’ notes were disclosed, and they contained many juicy anecdotes. One such narrative concerned her marriage to Sinatra. When they were married, she awoke in the middle of the night to hear a gunshot in the living room. She suspected her husband of committing suicide, as he had previously warned. When she entered the room, she discovered that her husband had just fired through a pillow and was now sitting there smiling.
Telling Her Story
Gardner Meets Her End
Ava Gardner led a glamorous life, but her later years were everything but. She was reclusive, spending her final years in an apartment in London with a dog and a staff to care for her. When the housekeeper returned home, she saw Gardner on the floor, where she had been for hours after fainting. “I’m so tired,” she whispered, taking her last breath. Gardner died from pneumonia at the age of 67. It was only a few weeks before she was scheduled to see a specialist in America whom Sinatra had chosen for her who might be able to help her recover from the strokes. Perhaps the doctor could have rescued her, but we’ll never know.
Gardner Meets Her End
Regrets
Ava Gardner clearly lived a full life, but near the end, she made admissions that suggested she had some regrets. “I am sad I spent 25 years making films. “I wish I had the things that are most important to a woman: a good marriage, children, and a better education,” she stated. It’s a surprising declaration from a lady who bucked expectations and rejected traditional female roles. For all of her fame, the attention she commanded, the men she loved and who loved her back, the money she earned, and the adulation she received, it seems that when she was sad and lonely in the end, she wished she had a family.
Regrets
Paying Tribute to Gardner
Gardner experienced a lot of love in her life, but it also brought about a lot of grief. For whatever reason, none of her ex-husbands attended her funeral, despite Sinatra’s daughter, Tina, claimed that Frank never recovered from her death. The funeral was held in North Carolina and attended by a small group of family and friends. She was interred in Sunset Memorial Park beside her parents and siblings. In the same town, the Ava Gardner Museum debuted in 1996. It was a tribute to the actress, who shone brightly before dying far too young. Today, we remember the star who sparkled on screen in countless classic films and whose life was as full of love, drama, victory, and tragedy as any of her films.
Paying Tribute To Gardner