She was raised in the Baptist faith of her mother. She was of English and Scots-Irish ancestry. Her parents, Mary Elizabeth "Molly" ( née Baker) and Jonas Bailey Gardner, were poor tobacco sharecroppers. She had two older brothers, Raymond and Melvin, and four older sisters, Beatrice, Elsie Mae, Inez and Myra. Īva Lavinia Gardner was born on December 24, 1922, in Grabtown, North Carolina, the youngest of seven children. 25 on their greatest female screen legends of classic American cinema list.
In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Gardner No. She continued to act regularly until 1986, four years before her death in 1990, at the age of 67. (1966), Mayerling (1968), Tam-Lin (1970), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), Earthquake (1974) and The Cassandra Crossing (1976). 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. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in John Ford's Mogambo (1953), and for best actress for both a Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award for her performance in John Huston's The Night of the Iguana (1964).ĭuring 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), The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956) and On the Beach (1959). 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.
Mogambo (1953) cast with (l.-r.) Donald Sinden, Grace Kelly, Clark Gable, Denis O'Dea, Gardner and Eric PohlmannĪva Lavinia Gardner (Decem– January 25, 1990) was an American actress and singer.