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Follow along this timeline of Ava's life from her humble beginnings in the rural North Carolina farming community of Grabtown, to her later life in London’s Ennismore Square.
Ava Lavinia Gardner, was born on Christmas Eve, 1922, the seventh child of Mollie and Jonas Gardner in the farming community in Johnston County, known as Grabtown. Learn more about her early childhood - READ MORE
Ava'a family moved to Newport News, VA in the mid-1930s after the Teacherage closed in Johnston County. There Mollie would run a boarding house for shipyard workers.- READ MORE
Ava was discovered and on her way to Hollywood with a MGM contract and within months would be married to the biggest star of the day, Mickey Rooney. - READ MORE
What a busy decade it was, Ava became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, she was a fashion icon, and she married Frank Sinatra, the love of her life. - READ MORE
By this time in her life, Ava would no longer be under contract with MGM and she chose to work on select projects with directors like John Huston. - READ MORE
Ava's career was slowing down and she starred in some unique dramas and disaster films popular in the decade. - READ MORE
Ava would star in several made for television mini-series and the nighttime soap opera, Knots Landing. - READ MORE
Ava Gardner died January 25, 1990, in her London apartment four years after suffering a stroke. - READ MORE
