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Ava Gardner as Goddess: One Touch of Venus’s Effect on Ava’s Image

By Beth Nevarez on Jul. 29, 2024

“I've always felt a prisoner of my image, felt that people preferred the myths and didn't want to hear about the real me at all. Because I was promoted as a sort of a siren and played all those sexy…

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Made for Television: Ava Gardner on the Small Screen

By Beth Nevarez on May. 18, 2023

Ava Gardner made fewer films in the 1970s and 1980s, preferring her quiet life in London to any film set. In the 1980s, she briefly worked on the small screen, predominantly in television movies and…

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Adventure & Acclaim: Ava Gardner in Mogambo

By Beth Nevarez on Mar. 07, 2023

“As far as my career as an actress went, Mogambo was probably as close to a pinnacle as anything I’ve done.” - Ava Gardner, Ava: My Story Ava Gardner received her first and only Academy Award…

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Ava Gardner's Birth Certificate Restored

By Beth Nevarez on Jan. 31, 2023

On December 22, 2022 the Johnston County Register of Deeds, Craig Olive, presented a copy of Ava Gardner’s restored birth certificate to the Ava Gardner Museum. The Register of Deeds maintains the…

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‘Absolutely Splendid:’ Ava Gardner in The Night of the Iguana

By Beth Nevarez on Aug. 04, 2022

One of Ava Gardner’s most acclaimed performances was as Maxine Faulk, the widowed proprietor of a small coastal hotel in The Night of the Iguana . Adapted from the play by Tennessee Williams and…

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A ‘More Serious Film:’ Ava Gardner’s Role in Bhowani Junction

By Beth Nevarez on Apr. 28, 2022

Set amidst India’s fight for independence from the British, Bhowani Junction (1956) stars Ava Gardner as Victoria Jones, an Anglo-Indian woman whose questions of identity and choice in romantic…

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Based on a True Story: Ava Gardner’s Performances in Biopic Films

By Beth Nevarez on Sep. 30, 2021

During the course of her five-decade career, Ava Gardner starred in a variety of genres, working in projects as diverse as historical epics, supernatural films, political thrillers, disaster movies…

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Playing Ava: Actors Who’ve Portrayed Ava On Screen

By Beth Nevarez on Sep. 30, 2021

While no major biopic film about Ava Gardner’s life has been made yet, Ava Gardner has been depicted in films and television series by several different actresses over the years. Each portrayal has…

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The Author and the Actress: Ava Gardner’s Friendship with Ernest “Papa” Hemingway

By Beth Nevarez on Apr. 01, 2021

“The great thing is to last and get your work done and see and hear and learn and understand.” – Ernest Hemingway – Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was one of the most well-known and celebrated authors…

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The Barefoot Contessa: The Price of Stardom

By Beth Nevarez on Sep. 29, 2020

“Of all the pictures I’ve made, and honey, you better believe I have no idea exactly how much territory that covers, there’s no doubt that The Barefoot Contessa is the one that most people identify…

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