Ava Gardner (Bloomsbury Lives of Women)

Arrived on time and in good condition. A good read about a strange woman! Ava Gardner didn't seem to want to be an actress, but hated it when she wasn't working, then uncomfortable when she was.....she did seem to spend her life sleeping around with a lot of men!

This isn't a great piece of writing. But it is decent biography- and that's all I was expecting. The beautiful dark eyed girl from North Carolina, chased by men and adored by millions. Her life is a Hollywood story itself..small town southern girl spotted in a photo, under contract to MGM for 50 bucks a week and walk on parts in forgettable movies.. Marrying everyone's boy next door Mickey Rooney. Stalked, bugged and attacked by the strange Howard Hughes. Night moves with cold hearted band leader Artie Shaw. Some very predatory men chasing her through unenlightened times. Success with The Killers. Public disapproval with Sinatra. Mixing up the medicine in Mexico while The Sun Also Rises, with faded stars Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power. Multiple lovers. Car crashes. Naked night swimming. Restless international travel. More lovers. A horribly abusive fling with George C Scott (easy to see what the "C" might have stood for). A somewhat quiet ending in London.But for all her adventures, wildness and debauchery, she was a really good actor. The camera loved her, of course, which made her a movie star, but she really could act too. There was substance to the style. Sadly, some poor career choices followed in her later years; turning down Mrs Robinson and choosing TV. Maybe she needed a good strong manager.Like any other man, I fell in love with Ava very early on - the first grown up woman to make me feel strange about myself. I fell harder in my 20s when I saw her, older but somehow more sexy and earthy, in The Night of the Iguana. I visited Mexico because of that film.There is something of the failed screenwriter and noir novelist in the sometimes tortuous prose of Lee Server: "her eyes like Andean emeralds" ..."the existence of the mediocre nagged at him like a bleeding ulcer"..."love was a trick, a double cross"...."she lived now without plan or purpose, escaping the past"..but it's an entertaining romp through a kind of life that is no longer lived. Hollywood feels cold, calculating, sanitised and clinical now. There's little drama or artistic flourish, and none of the great characters like Ava Gardner or anyone in her orbit. Movie stars now trot out well rehearsed publicity anecdotes on chat shows. Ava comes from a lost world, and she will forever be that elusive goddess on the silver screen. She belongs to that past. She belongs to the stars.

My, what a gal she was!!. A quite superb read about the always enthralling Ava. Lee Server has done a terrific job bringing alive those times from decades long past. I have to applaud Mr.Server and emphasise that this book was as enjoyable as his biog. on Robert Mitchum. Page turners that make you sorry when the book ends. Bravo!

Great book with loads of interesting deerTails about Ava.

Lee Server has written a very intriguing biography of screen legend Ava Gardner. Set mainly during the Golden Age of Hollywood, it is full of atmosphere, anecdotes and stories involving stars such as Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra and Lana Turner's ex-husband Artie Shaw.It provides a real insight into the Hollywood studio system of the time, where stars were contracted for many years and were closely monitored and managed by the big movie studios. In many ways, this seems like a more magical time for movie-making, when movie stars were actually movie stars. The modern trend of actors being political activists appears tremendously phony and false in comparison.A chance encounter with a photographer in New York gave Gardner her first real exposure, as the resulting photographs were spotted by a movie studio talent scout. Gardner's break into the studio system occurred in bizarre fashion when MGM head Louis B. Mayer sent a telegram describing her "She can't sing, she can't act, she can't talk, She's terrific!". On the basis of this, Gardner entered the movie business.Her breakthrough performance in "The Killers" (1946) was followed with a run of popular movies, including "The Hucksters" (1947), "Show Boat" (1951), "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (1952), "Mogambo" (1953), "The Barefoot Contessa" (1954), "Bhowani Junction" (1956) and "The Night of the Iguana" (1964).To say Gardner had a colourful private life is a big understatement. Her rather bizarre relationship with wealthy businessman Howard Hughes is humorously documented. Also, she developed a surprisingly strong friendship with Ernest Hemingway whilst she was in Spain. Server manages to paint Gardner as being wild and out of control in her dealings with men - fun, energy and hedonism were her guiding lights. But at the same time, the author paints a picture of Gardner that many people will recognise - a decent vulnerable woman who just wanted to be accepted.The colourful nature of Gardner's life is matched by Server's spicy use of language. It gels with his subject, as you get the impression she would have used many of the rude words deployed by the author. And by adopting a warts-and-all approach from the start, Server avoids the classic pitfall of writing a hagiography - this book is certainly not that. You cannot help but admire the individual way Gardner led her life - she did it her own way.

A fascinating and detailed look at this sensual and beautiful woman's colorful life .

I've never been a fan of Ava Gardner and I never thought she added anything to any film, particularly 'The Bribe' and 'Mogambo'. Even her first husband, Mickey Rooney said: 'I don't even know who she is.' She's a bit of a non-entity on screen. Jean Simmons was a better actress and I would have preferred Lee Server to do a biography on her.'Charlton Heston was as animated as a block of wood.' (p.397)

Fascinating read