ORBITRA
Ava Gardner

Acting

Ava Gardner

Dec 24, 1922 – Jan 25, 1990101 titles 93 movies · 8 TV
Explore orbit
IMDb

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.

Also known as

Ava Lavinia Gardner · A. Gardner · Ава Гарднер · 에바 가드너 · エヴァ・ガードナー

Born

Dec 24, 1922 – Jan 25, 1990

Grabtown, North Carolina, USA

Open in OpenStreetMap

Photos

Profile images from TMDB · click to enlarge

12 images

Roles across career

Titles counted once; a person can act and direct on the same film (roles merged).

101

Acting credits

0

Directing

0

Writing

0

Other crew

Most critically rated

Highest TMDB score (min 100 votes)

Most commercially successful

Highest TMDB vote count (attention / reach proxy; not box office)

Career timeline

By release / first air year · movie & TV merged

Orbit ↑

1941 4 title(s)

1942 8 title(s)

1943 6 title(s)

1944 5 title(s)

1945 2 title(s)

1946 2 title(s)

1947 2 title(s)

1948 1 title(s)

1949 3 title(s)

1950 3 title(s)

1951 3 title(s)

1952 2 title(s)

1953 4 title(s)

1954 1 title(s)

1956 1 title(s)

1957 2 title(s)

1958 1 title(s)

1959 1 title(s)

1960 1 title(s)

1963 2 title(s)

1964 3 title(s)

1966 1 title(s)

1968 1 title(s)

1970 1 title(s)

1972 1 title(s)

1974 2 title(s)

1975 1 title(s)

1976 2 title(s)

1977 2 title(s)

1979 2 title(s)

1980 1 title(s)

1981 1 title(s)

1982 2 title(s)

1985 2 title(s)

1986 3 title(s)

1988 1 title(s)

1992 1 title(s)

1993 1 title(s)

1994 1 title(s)

1998 1 title(s)

2000 1 title(s)

2003 2 title(s)

2006 1 title(s)

2009 1 title(s)

2010 2 title(s)

2013 1 title(s)

2015 1 title(s)

2017 2 title(s)

2018 2 title(s)

2020 1 title(s)

2022 1 title(s)

2023 2 title(s)