Born As: Ava Lavinia Gardner Nationality: US - United States of America Date of Birth: December 24, 1922 Place of Birth: Grabtown, North Carolina, USA Date of Death: January 25, 1990 Place of Death: Westminster, London, England
Part of On the Beach (1959) was filmed in a Berwick, a suburb of Melbourne. Ava had a street which was being developed at the time named after her. It is of course called "Gardner Street."
When married to Frank Sinatra, he was at the lowest point of his career. She often had to lend him money so he could buy presents for his children.
A statue of her from The Barefoot Contessa (1954) was given to Frank Sinatra as a gift. He kept it in his backyard garden well after their divorce. When he married Barbara Marx, she forced him to get rid of it.
When shooting _Earthquake (1974)- she surprised director Mark Robson by insisting that she do her own stuntwork, which included dodging blocks of concrete and heavy steel pipes.
Was a good friend of Lena Horne, despite the fact that they both competed for the part of 'Julie' in Show Boat (1951).