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Ava Gardner: Frank Sinatra
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Ava Gardner made several movies before 1946, but it wasn't until she starred in The Killers that she became known as a sex symbol and hot movie star. She was married to Mickey Rooney when she was only 19 years old in 1941 (they divorced in 1943), then to Artie Shaw from 1945 to 1946, and to Frank Sinatra from 1951 to 1957. She was said to be the "true love" of Sinatra. She was ... regarded as one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood. She also had affairs with the Spanish bullfighters Luis Miguel Dominguin and Mario Cabré, industrialist Howard Hughes, and actor George C. Scott, in the mid-1960s.
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Hollywood stars Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra marry. Gardner had already been married twice--to Mickey Rooney and band leader Artie Shaw--and Sinatra had been married once, to Nancy Barbato, mother of his three children. His divorce from Barbato became final just days before he married Gardner. The couple stayed together until 1957.
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Gardner made several movies before 1946, but it wasn't until she starred in The Killers opposite Burt Lancaster, that she became known as a movie star and sex symbol. She was married to Mickey Rooney at 19 years in 1941 (they divorced in 1943, mainly because Rooney wouldn't give up his partying ways), then to Artie Shaw from 1945 to 1946, and to Frank Sinatra from 1951 to 1957. She was regarded as one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood. She was romanced by billionaire Howard Hughes who bought her diamonds and had her followed by private detectives. When Gardner broke off their relationship and started dating actor Howard Duff, Hughes responded by having a car that he had purchased for her, taken apart, piece by piece and left in her driveway.
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Gardner used her considerable clout to get Sinatra cast in his Oscar-winning role in From Here to Eternity (1953). That role and the award revitalized both Sinatra's acting and singing careers. Ava said of her relationship with Sinatra, "We were great in bed. It was usually on the way to the bidet when the trouble began." (This quote inspired the song "Frank and Ava" by Suzanne Vega.) During their marriage Ava became pregnant, but she had an abortion due to the volatility of her marriage. She had always wanted children, but she said years later, "We couldn't even take care of ourselves.
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At the beginning of his relationship with Ava, Sinatra's career had dipped for a variety of reasons, but the press was still following him closely. By now Sinatra had proved conclusively that he was nothing like his public image of a shy, romantic dreamer leading a quiet family life, and the press knew that spreading gossip about him would sell newspapers and magazines. As Ava was never one to hide her light under a bushel, there was little chance their relationship would proceed discreetly. The press was not alone in taking an interest. The Catholic Church decided this was a matter for them, and denounced both parties. (Sinatra and his wife were Catholics.) Some members of the church instructed their flock to boycott Sinatra's records and Ava's movies.
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After a stroke in 1989, which left Ava Gardner partially paralyzed and bedridden, Frank Sinatra paid all her medical expenses. She died of pneumonia in London, England at the age of 67 in 1990.
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