Ava Gardner

A Life Well-Lived

“If I had my life to live over again, I'd live it the same way. Maybe a few changes here or there, but nothing special. The truth is, honey, I've enjoyed my life. I've had a hell of a good time.”

– Ava Gardner

Timeless Ava

Though she was born on December 24, 1922, Ava is more relevant today than when she was a box office draw. Because of the choices she made and the way she lived her life, Ava is a touchstone for the modern, thinking woman and an icon of enduring compassion, boldness, and glamour for people the world over. No doubt, what keeps us coming back is not only her beauty, but her open-minded life and a down-to-earth honesty and authenticity which in an affected world renders Ava’s appeal practically imperishable. Certainly the gateway to her international celebrity was her beauty and stage presence, but it is who she was as person which makes her enduring. She was as complex as she was simple.

Ava Was and Is

  • Unlike most stories that come out of classic Hollywood, Ava took control of her life and lived where and how she wanted. First in Spain where she moved in 1955, then in London, where, beginning in 1968, she spent the last two decades of her life until her death in January of 1990. She not only chose her films, but courageously curated her life.

  • Despite her stardom, nothing could stop Ava’s appreciation for genuine people. Dewey Sheffield, who knew Ava his entire life, noted that Ava lived up to her home state’s motto, Esse Quam Videri or To Be Rather Than to Seem which appears on the North Carolina seal. She was equally comfortable with the farmers of eastern North Carolina as she was with celebrities or royals at high-brow parties and events.

  • The men in Ava’s life did not define her. When she moved to Spain and then England, she did so alone, leaving the paparazzi and attention-seeking life of Hollywood behind and entirely re-defined the life of an American film star by living life on her own terms.

  • Ava was self-effacing and known for her outward focus. A lifetime friend noted, “Ava was concerned about other people and that is what life is about.” Often, the one thing people remember most about Ava, whether they met her as a child or an adult, was not only her striking natural beauty, but her warmth and kindness.

  • Even as a young child, Ava was led by her personal boldness, whether it was climbing the town water tower when she was six years old or unabashedly sitting with her best friend in the African American section of the theater during the height of segregation. No one told Ava what to do, especially when she knew what was right.

  • Even when faced with personal injury, she focused outwards and often helped others in a similar predicament, leaving her with a life-time commitment to charities such as the Queen Victoria Hospital in England where she recuperated from a potentially career-damaging facial injury and danced with soldiers who had suffered the same from the war.

  • There are likely countless unknown stories of Ava’s generosity but many live on in the people she knew and in her enduring legacy, The Ava Gardner Trust, which still contributes to the Queen Victoria Hospital and St Jude’s Children’s Hospital; the latter replacing her original beneficiary, The Animal Health Trust in London which permanently closed its doors in 2020. The Ava Gardner Museum was named a Trust beneficiary by Myra Gardner Pearce, Ava’s older sister.

  • Ava was honest not only with herself, but with others. Despite all that Howard Hughes offered her in terms of wealth, jewels and success, she refused to marry him and famously said, “fame and fortune does not mean anything if you don’t have a happy home.”

  • Though she was uncomfortable with the moniker, “The World’s Most Beautiful Animal,” few can deny its truth, especially directors such as Albert Lewin, director of Ava’s film Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, who chose Ava for his renowned close-ups during his first foray into three-strip technicolor film.

  • Though Ava is often known to doubt her gift as an actress, fellow actor Gregory Peck said of Ava, “She was much better than she thought she was. She had no vanity about her talent…she did nothing that lowered her standards as an actress or a lady.” Ava’s films are still loved the world over to which the recent high-profile restorations of both her classic films, “The Killers” and “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman”, can quickly attest.

  • For nearly 80 years there has been a deep cultural connection between the name Ava Gardner and enduring glamour. Just this year in February 2023, world-renowned perfume house, Le Galion in Paris, released a fragrance, L’Astre (Incendiary star), in honor of Ava. Her breathtaking appearance and innate confidence made her the perfect model and muse for Hollywood costumers such as Irene Lentz, Walter Plunkett, and Edith Head as well as haute couture houses like the Fontana Sisters, Christian Dior and Balenciaga. Today’s red carpet still attests to her glamour and long-lasting influence on the world of fashion.

  • Ava not only flouted segregation as a child, but often stared down and put bouncers in their place when she attended nightclubs with her African American assistant, Mearene “Rene” Jordan. She became a lifetime member of the NAACP and lived by her open-minded views. Ava’s dear friend Gregory Peck said, “Ava was outspoken, and there was something refreshing about that because sometimes she’d be outspoken when other people would be afraid to.”

  • Ava deeply valued and remained ardently devoted to her closest friends and family. She once said simply, “I’m a damned good friend.” And playwright Tennessee Williams felt that “[Ava’s] ego was centered, it seemed to me, around friendships.” Roddy McDowall contributed a chapter to Ava Gardner’s posthumously released autobiography Ava: My Story in which he wrote fondly of his friend: “Ava was like the most fantastic relative, because she didn't make you pay a price for knowing her. She was the great older sister who just adores you. And spoils you. Her loyalty was devastating.“

  • When one long-time friend asked her what it was like to be so rich and famous she simply replied, “I’m just an old broad who gets her picture taken a lot.” By no means an off-hand remark, this defined Ava and she often returned home to North Carolina to visit family and friends and insisted that she be buried with her family, using the same humble marker as her parents and siblings.

The Ava Gardner Trust

Throughout her life, Ava Gardner was recognized for her generosity and compassion for others. Ava Thompson and Ava Silver, members of the Gardner family and co-trustees of The Ava Gardner Trust, continue Ava’s legacy of giving through their tireless volunteer work. The Trust, which Ava Gardner established in 1986 to care for and support her two surviving sisters and two charities, The Queen Victoria Hospital and the Animal Health Trust, has evolved over time. Today, through licensing agreements, the Trust provides income for three designated beneficiaries – the Queen Victoria Hospital, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the Ava Gardner Museum. Every time you buy an official Ava Gardner branded product, you are supporting these three charities, and no other entity or individual benefits from Trust funds.