Ava Gardner

Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her performance in Robert Siodmak's film noir ''The Killers''.

During the 1950s, Gardner established herself as a leading lady and one of the era's top stars with films like ''Show Boat'', ''Pandora and the Flying Dutchman'' (both 1951), ''The Snows of Kilimanjaro'' (1952), ''Mogambo'' (1953), ''The Barefoot Contessa'' (1954), ''Bhowani Junction'' (1956) and ''On the Beach'' (1959). She continued her film career for three more decades, appearing in the films ''55 Days at Peking'' (1963), ''Seven Days in May'' (1964), ''The Bible: In the Beginning...'' (1966), and ''Mayerling'' (1968). She continued to act regularly until 1986, four years before her death in 1990, at the age of 67.

She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in ''Mogambo'', and for both a Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award, in the category of Best Actress, for her performance in The ''Night of the Iguana''. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Gardner No.25 on its greatest female screen legends list. Provided by Wikipedia