Meeting Aunt Ava for the First Time
Ava Gardner in conversation with her nephew, Michael Grimes, during a visit home to North Carolina in 1949. Today, his son, John Grimes is a member of the team that manages the Ava Gardner Trust.
My father and I are both fortunate to have met our aunt, Ava Gardner, very soon after we were born. Ava dearly loved her family, and although her visits to North Carolina were not frequent, she certainly made the most of her trips home, including taking the time to welcome all the newest arrivals to the family.
I was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina on May 5, 1968, to Anne Rogers Morgan and John Michael Grimes, and I was named John Michael Grimes, Jr., after my father. My parents both grew up in Smithfield, North Carolina. My mother’s parents, the M.A. Morgans, lived on West Riverside Drive along the banks of the Neuse River, which was directly across the “circle” from my paternal grandparents, Inez (Gardner) and Johnny Grimes. Growing up, I thought it was normal for grandparents to live across the street from each other, and my brother Morgan and I had a lot of fun going back and forth from one house to the other, visiting both sets of grandparents on our frequent trips to Smithfield.
Luckily for me, one such trip in late 1968 coincided with one of Aunt Ava’s visits home to North Carolina. According to newspaper articles (which of course loved to document her every move), Ava arrived on Saturday, November 30 from London and went to a dinner party in Raleigh the very next night. She attended the UNC v. Oregon basketball game in Chapel Hill on December 3 and is pictured sitting with UNC basketball star Bob Rose in the stands enjoying the game. As a proud Duke grad, I’ll have to forgive your misplaced enthusiasm for the Tar Heels, Aunt Ava!
Ava with Bob Rose around 1940. Bob Rose was a native of Smithfield and a basketball star, team captain, and high scorer at UNC-Chapel Hill between 1940-1942. He left college in his senior year to enter World War II as a Marine and later became a pilot in the Third Marine Aircraft Wing. Ava and Bob were friends before she went to Hollywood.
According to the papers, Ava stayed with her older brother Jack Gardner in Smithfield and left North Carolina on December 5. At some point during this time, likely over the Thanksgiving weekend, I was introduced to my Great-Aunt Ava. When in Smithfield, we typically stayed with my mother’s family. The picture below shows my mother dressing me for the big event – my formal introduction to Ava Gardner. The photo caption says, “John getting ready to meet Aunt Ava.”
Anne Rogers Morgan dressing her new baby, John Michael Grimes, Jr., in November or December 1968.
Late November temperatures in North Carolina hover around 50 degrees, and in 1968 it was warm enough for Ava to go fashionably sleeveless and pose holding me outside her sister Inez’s house, across the circle from the Morgans. Clearly, I needed some tips from Aunt Ava about how to pose for the camera, since my eyes are closed in the picture!
Ava Gardner holding her new great-nephew, John Michael Grimes, Jr., during a visit home to North Carolina in November or December 1968.
Although I don’t remember our first meeting, I’m thrilled to have this keepsake!
My father met Aunt Ava even earlier in his life, when he was only a few days old. On January 10, 1942, Ava married the biggest box-office star in Hollywood at the time, Mickey Rooney. After their whirlwind romance and wedding, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer sent them on a “working honeymoon” traveling across the country to promote the war effort. During this tour of service, the young couple stopped in North Carolina for Ava to visit her family and introduce her new husband to his in-laws.
At the time, Inez and Johnny were living at 2725 Fairview Road in Raleigh, and Ava’s mother, Molly (Mama) Gardner, was living with them. My father was born on January 24, 1942, and newspaper articles indicate that Ava visited her “yet-unnamed” nephew on January 27 at Rex Hospital, alone, while Mickey was entertaining the troops at Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville.
A few days later, Ava and Mickey both went to the hospital to see my dad. Family lore relates that Mickey suggested to Inez that she name the baby Mickey after him. I doubt my grandmother thought much of that idea. Perhaps the middle name Michael (which is what my family calls my dad) could be an indirect nod to the visit from the famous new (albeit short-lived) brother-in-law, or maybe my grandmother just liked the name. Either way, it is interesting that there aren’t other Michaels in the family (my grandfather’s name being John Alvis Grimes) – so who knows!
In her autobiography, Ava tells the touching story of the Gardner family gathering on that trip, at Inez and Johnny’s house, when Mickey gave the “greatest and most heartwarming performance of his life”[1] for his new mother-in-law. Although ill with cancer, Mama Gardner hosted the evening, proudly serving her signature fried chicken.
Molly (Mama) Gardner with newlyweds Mickey Rooney and Ava Gardner in January 1942 during their honeymoon trip. The platter Mama Gardner is holding is now in the permanent collection of the Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield, NC.
Ava remembered fondly that Mickey “entertained Mama, he hugged her, her made her laugh,”[2] and she said she never loved him more than at that moment. I’m sure Inez was sorry to miss the party, as she also loved to entertain!
The next day, Ava and Mickey left Raleigh for Washington, DC on the train. As with many of Ava’s trips home to North Carolina over the years, it had been a short visit, but as she would do on her future trip in 1968, she had made time to meet her new Grimes nephew!
While these first meetings with Aunt Ava were brief, they represent the beginning of relationships that would last the rest of her life and that I am proud to continue to this day through my work with the Ava Gardner Trust. Thank you, Aunt Ava, for so warmly welcoming the newest family members!
[1] Ava Gardner, Ava, My Story, page 55.
[2] Ava Gardner, Ava, My Story, page 55.