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Ava Gardner #1
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everett-there is no "e" on the end.
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So glad you like it!
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Variety
A va Gardner packed a lot of living - and loving - into her 67 years, and Lee Server seems hell bent on chronicling every dalliance in excruciating detail. Relying heavily on fading memories of secondary players, the scribe paints a melancholy portrait of a sensual star undone by her passions. This bloated bio begs the question: When did Gardner have time to make any movies?
Gardner's life began simply enough in North Carolina, where the modest looker dreamed of nothing more than becoming a secretary and settling down. Her older sister Bappie, however, had other notions, and helped pave the way for her discovery by MGM, which hired her as a $50-a-week contract player in 1941, when she was all of 18.
Before long, Mickey Rooney spied the still-virginal beauty on the lot and ardently wooed her until she acquiesced to a hush-hush marriage orchestrated by the studio. And that, Server informs us in graphic detail, unlocked Gardner's animal passion.
"Rooney was the happy beneficiary of his wife's recently uncaged sensuality," Server observes before moving on to share Rooney's vivid description of his wife's nether regions.
After that short-lived union, Gardner quickly moved on to Artie Shaw, husband No. 2, Howard Hughes, Robert Mitchum and assorted flings before falling hard for then-married Frank Sinatra. The tempestuous pair battled and made up countless times, unable to live together for any sustained period. From that storied liaison, the eyes glaze over at the parade of matadors, young hunks and production lackeys in and out of her boudoir.
IMAGE PHOTOGRAPH
Among the most jaw-dropping objects of her desire recounted here: Fidel Castro, who set her up with an aide instead, and a besotted George C. Scott, who reportedly got rough when under the influence.
Gardner was no slouch drinker either, able to match legendary tipplers like Richard Burton on the set of "The Night of the Iguana." Her drinking got so bad fellow carouser Mitchum avoided meeting her in Madrid, an associate recalls in one of the book's most amusing, and bittersweet, anecdotes.
"We were just chatting about Madrid and about working there," Server quotes a Gardner pal. "I saw Ava come into the hotel then, and I said to him, Oh, there's Ava. Let me go get her.' And Mitchum jumped up and said, 'Ava Gardner! No, no - don't tell her I'm here! If I get together with Ava I'm done for ...' And he sort of backed away and ducked behind a palm tree and ran off. He seemed very afraid of her bad influence."
Server clearly did a prodigious amount of research for this tale, interviewing many pals and confidants who knew Gardner at various stages in her life. Their recollections ground anecdotes, but one wishes the author had been more discriminating toward this information. He engages in the journo sin of "notebook dumping" - typing in interviews verbatim, instead of presenting only the most pertinent snippets. These overlong anecdotes slow down the narrative at best, but cast suspicion on their veracity at worst. Some stories appear to rely completely on gossip, without firsthand knowledge.
The Castro tale, for example, hinges in part on accounts by his 19year-old translator-mistress, who believed "Gardner was after him."
It's a shame Server wasn't more judicious telling Gardner's colorful tale. Her romance with Sinatra alone was one for the ages, but even that affair is obscured by extraneous details.
"She was funny and fun and exciting. But exhausting," the wife of a Gardner escort recalls. "Who had the energy?"
The same could be said about this book.
SIDEBAR
WHEN FRANK MET UP WITH AVA
In the autumn of '1949, Ava Gardner and her sister Bappie ivent to Palm Springs for a few weeks of rest and recreation in the desert. One night at Darryl F. Zanuck's home, she ran into then-married Frank Sinatra, and before the evening had ended, their legendary romance was under way.
They had both been drinking for hours and were looped and giddy when they left the party, announcing that Frank was going to drive her home. They slipped away with a fresh bottle of something from Zanuck's bar and got into Sinatra's Cadillac Brougham convertible. Frank didn't know where Ava was staying and didn't ask. They drove into the night, roaring out of town, headed into the desert flatlands. Frank pressed the accelerator to the floor, racing to nowhere with a crazed determination, Ava opening the bottle of booze and drinking it straight, passing it back and forth to Frank behind the wheel.
They reached the small outpost of Indio, surrounded by nothing but dirt and black sky, and Sinatra careened up over a street corner and squealed to a stop. He pulled Ava toward him, and for a while, they kissed and squirmed and groped. As Ava pulled back to take another drink, Sinatra opened his glove compartment and took out two .38 Smith & Wessons, extended one pistol in a vaguely vertical direction, and fired it three times until a sharp plink sounded and one of the streetlights went out and glass tinkled to the dusty ground below. He tried for another and got it on the first shot.
Ava said, "Let me shoot something!" And she took the other gun and fired it at random in the sky, at the ground, into a harware store window. Frank put the ear in gear, screeched around back onto the street, and roared the car forward, steering with one hand, shooting at the streetlamps with the other. Ava turned around in the front seat and as the car accelerated she fired across the back of the car and let forth an ear-splitting rebel yell.
Screen siren surrendered to passion
A va Gardner packed a lot of living - and loving - into her 67 years, and Lee Server seems hell bent on chronicling every dalliance in excruciating detail. Relying heavily on fading memories of secondary players, the scribe paints a melancholy portrait of a sensual star undone by her passions. This bloated bio begs the question: When did Gardner have time to make any movies?
Gardner's life began simply enough in North Carolina, where the modest looker dreamed of nothing more than becoming a secretary and settling down. Her older sister Bappie, however, had other notions, and helped pave the way for her discovery by MGM, which hired her as a $50-a-week contract player in 1941, when she was all of 18.
Before long, Mickey Rooney spied the still-virginal beauty on the lot and ardently wooed her until she acquiesced to a hush-hush marriage orchestrated by the studio. And that, Server informs us in graphic detail, unlocked Gardner's animal passion.
"Rooney was the happy beneficiary of his wife's recently uncaged sensuality," Server observes before moving on to share Rooney's vivid description of his wife's nether regions.
After that short-lived union, Gardner quickly moved on to Artie Shaw, husband No. 2, Howard Hughes, Robert Mitchum and assorted flings before falling hard for then-married Frank Sinatra. The tempestuous pair battled and made up countless times, unable to live together for any sustained period. From that storied liaison, the eyes glaze over at the parade of matadors, young hunks and production lackeys in and out of her boudoir.
IMAGE PHOTOGRAPH
Among the most jaw-dropping objects of her desire recounted here: Fidel Castro, who set her up with an aide instead, and a besotted George C. Scott, who reportedly got rough when under the influence.
Gardner was no slouch drinker either, able to match legendary tipplers like Richard Burton on the set of "The Night of the Iguana." Her drinking got so bad fellow carouser Mitchum avoided meeting her in Madrid, an associate recalls in one of the book's most amusing, and bittersweet, anecdotes.
"We were just chatting about Madrid and about working there," Server quotes a Gardner pal. "I saw Ava come into the hotel then, and I said to him, Oh, there's Ava. Let me go get her.' And Mitchum jumped up and said, 'Ava Gardner! No, no - don't tell her I'm here! If I get together with Ava I'm done for ...' And he sort of backed away and ducked behind a palm tree and ran off. He seemed very afraid of her bad influence."
Server clearly did a prodigious amount of research for this tale, interviewing many pals and confidants who knew Gardner at various stages in her life. Their recollections ground anecdotes, but one wishes the author had been more discriminating toward this information. He engages in the journo sin of "notebook dumping" - typing in interviews verbatim, instead of presenting only the most pertinent snippets. These overlong anecdotes slow down the narrative at best, but cast suspicion on their veracity at worst. Some stories appear to rely completely on gossip, without firsthand knowledge.
The Castro tale, for example, hinges in part on accounts by his 19year-old translator-mistress, who believed "Gardner was after him."
It's a shame Server wasn't more judicious telling Gardner's colorful tale. Her romance with Sinatra alone was one for the ages, but even that affair is obscured by extraneous details.
"She was funny and fun and exciting. But exhausting," the wife of a Gardner escort recalls. "Who had the energy?"
The same could be said about this book.
SIDEBAR
WHEN FRANK MET UP WITH AVA
In the autumn of '1949, Ava Gardner and her sister Bappie ivent to Palm Springs for a few weeks of rest and recreation in the desert. One night at Darryl F. Zanuck's home, she ran into then-married Frank Sinatra, and before the evening had ended, their legendary romance was under way.
They had both been drinking for hours and were looped and giddy when they left the party, announcing that Frank was going to drive her home. They slipped away with a fresh bottle of something from Zanuck's bar and got into Sinatra's Cadillac Brougham convertible. Frank didn't know where Ava was staying and didn't ask. They drove into the night, roaring out of town, headed into the desert flatlands. Frank pressed the accelerator to the floor, racing to nowhere with a crazed determination, Ava opening the bottle of booze and drinking it straight, passing it back and forth to Frank behind the wheel.
They reached the small outpost of Indio, surrounded by nothing but dirt and black sky, and Sinatra careened up over a street corner and squealed to a stop. He pulled Ava toward him, and for a while, they kissed and squirmed and groped. As Ava pulled back to take another drink, Sinatra opened his glove compartment and took out two .38 Smith & Wessons, extended one pistol in a vaguely vertical direction, and fired it three times until a sharp plink sounded and one of the streetlights went out and glass tinkled to the dusty ground below. He tried for another and got it on the first shot.
Ava said, "Let me shoot something!" And she took the other gun and fired it at random in the sky, at the ground, into a harware store window. Frank put the ear in gear, screeched around back onto the street, and roared the car forward, steering with one hand, shooting at the streetlamps with the other. Ava turned around in the front seat and as the car accelerated she fired across the back of the car and let forth an ear-splitting rebel yell.
Screen siren surrendered to passion
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Entertainment Weekly
Ava Gardner defined a new sexuality for post-WWII America: As
elegant as a martini glass, she was frank and impulsive, yet
coolly jaded as well. She also had a beauty to make famous men
swoon: Her husbands included Mickey Rooney, bandleader Artie
Shaw, and Frank Sinatra (in a way, she personifies the smoky
feminine ideal of the Chairman's great '50s albums). Underneath
the glamorous poise, though, was a talent underrated even by
herself. To Joseph Mankiewicz, who directed her as a
gypsy-turned-Hollywood star in 1954's The Barefoot Contessa, she
said, "Hell, Joe, I'm not an actress, but I think I understand
this girl. She's a lot like me." As if that isn't what acting is
all about. --TB
Ava Gardner defined a new sexuality for post-WWII America: As
elegant as a martini glass, she was frank and impulsive, yet
coolly jaded as well. She also had a beauty to make famous men
swoon: Her husbands included Mickey Rooney, bandleader Artie
Shaw, and Frank Sinatra (in a way, she personifies the smoky
feminine ideal of the Chairman's great '50s albums). Underneath
the glamorous poise, though, was a talent underrated even by
herself. To Joseph Mankiewicz, who directed her as a
gypsy-turned-Hollywood star in 1954's The Barefoot Contessa, she
said, "Hell, Joe, I'm not an actress, but I think I understand
this girl. She's a lot like me." As if that isn't what acting is
all about. --TB
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Virginian Pilot
The Virginian-Pilot
A North Carolina tenant farmer's daughter who attended high school in Newport News but left to become famous as a Hollywood beauty gets a day-long, 13-movie tribute today on Turner Classic Movies.
Films starring Ava Gardner will be aired from 6:30 this morning until 6 a.m. Friday on the marathon run. Highlights include "Bhowani Junction," "The Night of the Iguana," "East Side, West Side," "On the Beach" and "Lone Star." TCM is a digital station for Cox Communications and a premier-level Verizon Fios station.
The complete schedule:
"Three Men in White" at 6 a.m.
"Maisie Goes to Reno" at 7:30 a.m. (Gardner had bit parts in both films, before stardom.)
"The Bribe" at 9 a.m. - film noir co-starring Robert Taylor, Vincent Price and Charles Laughton.
"East Side, West Side" at 10:45 a.m., Gardner tries to break up Barbara Stanwyck's marriage to James Mason. Co-starring Van Heflin and Cyd Charisse.
"The Hucksters" at 12:45 p.m. A comedy-drama about the advertising media, co-starring Gardner with Clark Gable and Deborah Kerr.
"Lone Star" at 2:45 p.m. - Western about the founding of the state of Texas, co-starring Gardner with Clark Gable and Broderick Crawford.
"Ride, Vaquero!" at 4:30 p.m. - Technicolor Western co-stars Gardner with Robert Taylor, Anthony Quinn and Howard Keel.
"The Angel Wore Red" at 6:15 p.m. - Set against the background of the Spanish Civil War, co-starring Joseph Cotten and Dirk Bogarde.
"Bhowani Junction" at 8 p.m. - One of Gardner's most praised performances as a half-breed Indian woman amid a rebellion, filmed in India. Directed by George Cukor, it co-stars Stewart Granger.
"On the Beach" at 10 p.m. - Nuclear holocaust leaves the world destroyed, except for a few survivors in Australia. Gardner co- stars with Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins.
"The Night of the Iguana" at 12:30 a.m. - Gardner stars as a brassy hotel owner in Tennessee Williams' drama set in Mexico, co- starring Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr and Sue Lyon.
"The Cassandra Crossing" at 2:30 a.m. - Railroad disaster involves Gardner with an all-star cast that includes Burt Lancaster, Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Martin Sheen and O.J. Simpson.
"My Forbidden Past," closing the tribute at 4:45 a.m. - Co-stars Gardner with Robert Mitchum in a romance set in New Orleans.
The Virginian-Pilot
A North Carolina tenant farmer's daughter who attended high school in Newport News but left to become famous as a Hollywood beauty gets a day-long, 13-movie tribute today on Turner Classic Movies.
Films starring Ava Gardner will be aired from 6:30 this morning until 6 a.m. Friday on the marathon run. Highlights include "Bhowani Junction," "The Night of the Iguana," "East Side, West Side," "On the Beach" and "Lone Star." TCM is a digital station for Cox Communications and a premier-level Verizon Fios station.
The complete schedule:
"Three Men in White" at 6 a.m.
"Maisie Goes to Reno" at 7:30 a.m. (Gardner had bit parts in both films, before stardom.)
"The Bribe" at 9 a.m. - film noir co-starring Robert Taylor, Vincent Price and Charles Laughton.
"East Side, West Side" at 10:45 a.m., Gardner tries to break up Barbara Stanwyck's marriage to James Mason. Co-starring Van Heflin and Cyd Charisse.
"The Hucksters" at 12:45 p.m. A comedy-drama about the advertising media, co-starring Gardner with Clark Gable and Deborah Kerr.
"Lone Star" at 2:45 p.m. - Western about the founding of the state of Texas, co-starring Gardner with Clark Gable and Broderick Crawford.
"Ride, Vaquero!" at 4:30 p.m. - Technicolor Western co-stars Gardner with Robert Taylor, Anthony Quinn and Howard Keel.
"The Angel Wore Red" at 6:15 p.m. - Set against the background of the Spanish Civil War, co-starring Joseph Cotten and Dirk Bogarde.
"Bhowani Junction" at 8 p.m. - One of Gardner's most praised performances as a half-breed Indian woman amid a rebellion, filmed in India. Directed by George Cukor, it co-stars Stewart Granger.
"On the Beach" at 10 p.m. - Nuclear holocaust leaves the world destroyed, except for a few survivors in Australia. Gardner co- stars with Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins.
"The Night of the Iguana" at 12:30 a.m. - Gardner stars as a brassy hotel owner in Tennessee Williams' drama set in Mexico, co- starring Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr and Sue Lyon.
"The Cassandra Crossing" at 2:30 a.m. - Railroad disaster involves Gardner with an all-star cast that includes Burt Lancaster, Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Martin Sheen and O.J. Simpson.
"My Forbidden Past," closing the tribute at 4:45 a.m. - Co-stars Gardner with Robert Mitchum in a romance set in New Orleans.
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