Happy Birthday: Ava Gardner (1922–1990)

Ava Gardner (1922–1990)

Born: December 24, 1922 in Grabtown, North Carolina, USA
Died: January 25, 1990 (age 67) in Westminster, London, England, UK

[when asked if her time at MGM had been any fun at all] Christ, after 17 years of slavery, you can ask that question? I hated it, honey. I mean, I’m not exactly stupid or without feeling, and they tried to sell me like a prize hog.

[on her career] Christ, what did I ever do worth talking about? Every time I tried to act, they stepped on me. That’s why it’s such a goddamn shame, I’ve been a movie star for 25 years and I’ve got nothing, nothing, to show for it.

I really had very little to contribute, so I played a lot of hatcheck girls, and did mob scenes, extra scenes, dancing scenes, just to have the experience of being on a set. I spent years at that. If the studio wanted a photograph to advertise a film they’d say, ‘Who is it that has a good pair of legs and a good pair of breasts and is pretty and not working?’ And it was always Ava because she was never working.

Seven Days in May 1964 dir. John Frankenheimer starring Burt Lancaster Kirk Douglas

The Night of the Iguana 1964 dir. John Huston Starring Richard Burton Gardner Earthquake 1974 dir. Mark Robson Starring Charlton Heston Gardner

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