Female Movie Stars from the South

No one could question Ava Gardner's claim as a Southern Beauty. Born in North Carolina, her goal was to become a secretary. Instead she became a model. When she was discovered, it was declared that she couldn't speak and couldn't act but to sign her anyway!

Ava Gardner is her real name.  She came to Hollywood at eighteen.  Wooed by Mickey Rooney, she married him but the marriage soon ended in divorce.  However, it wasn't long until she was introduced to Artie Shaw, the handsome band leader who made a career of marrying beautiful girls.  When she couldn't seem to do anything to please this intellectual man, she took educational courses to try to meet his standards.  Doomed to failure, this marriage also ended and left Ava with a definite fear of relationships. 

Awkward and unpolished, Hollywood shaped her into an alluring, unattainable goddess, which may be why none of her three marriages lasted more than two years.  She became a man's gal, hard drinking and unashamed to satisfy her needs as any man might.

Ava Gardner has always been one of my favorites. I secretly desired to be just like her as a teenager. I could not see beyond her astounding beauty.  As an older woman, I would not have wanted to bear her unhappiness.

Her alluring looks come in part from the fact that she was one half Native American. Ava grew up in rural North Carolina in the tobacco belt. Her home town, Grabtown, now has a museum about her. Don't you wonder if the folks in her hometown would have changed the way they related to her when she was growing up if they had known she would be famous?

Ava was married to three show business stars, Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra. Her relationship with SInatra is by far the most well known. Ava was at the peak of her career but his affair with her shocked conservative Americans and threw Frank Sinatra's already sagging career into a tailspin.

Twice during their relationship he tried to commit suicide in friends' apartments. Many times when I listen to some of his saddest renditions of songs about hearbreak, I wonder if he is singing about Ava.

I'm just starting to read a bio of Ava, and as I find out more interesting details, I'll update this hub.

 "Maybe I just didn`t have the temperament for stardom. I`ll never forget seeing Bette Davis at the Hilton in Madrid. I went up to her and said, "Miss Davis, I`m Ava Gardner and I`m a great fan of yours." And do you know, she behaved exactly as I wanted her to behave. "Of course you are, my dear," she said. "Of course you are." And she swept on. Now that`s a star. "

I don't understand people who like to work and talk about it like it was some sort of goddamn duty. Doing nothing feels like floating on warm water to me. Delightful, perfect.

Ava Gardner