chameleon at heart: Ava Gardner

Today's post is inspired by one of the most beautiful women of all time, actress Ava Gardner. Ava is definitely my favorite screen siren from the Golden Age of Hollywood, not because of her beauty but incadescent charisma and wild lifestyle. The green-eyed femme fatale was raised on a tobacco farm in a small American town. One trip to New York changed her life. There she was spotted by MGM studio agents and offered a contract. After a series of small roles Ava finally got her first major role as Kitty in the movie The Killers with Burt Lancaster . The role of a dark haired temptress suited Ava perfectly and soon she was offered bigger and more serious parts. In 1953. she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the movie Mogambo but Ava's signature movie is The Barefoot Contessa which perfectly mirrors her sensuality and magnetic appeal . She appeared in three films based on Ernest Hemingway stories and while living in Spain, became good friends with the writer. She called him Papa and they were both aficionados of bullfighting and alcohol. She married three times and her last mariagge, to Frank Sinatra, was full of scandals and savaged by the goosip columns. The marriage went on for six years and despite everything Ava described Sinatra as the love of her life. Gardner used her considerable influence to get Sinatra cast in his Oscar-winning role in From Here to Eternity . That role and the award revitalized both Sinatra's acting and singing careers. He, in return, wrote and dedicated many love songs to her. Ava Lavinia Gardner died on January 25th 1990 in her London home after a long and severe lung disease.

Ava, as a true Hollywood diva, is known for her glamorous and luxurious style full of gorgeous dresses, expensive furs and diamonds, of course. The original femme fatale emphasized her feminine figure and curves in perfectly tailored tight black dresses often combined with long elegant gloves. Her raven hair and make up were always immaculate and just like her character, the barefoot contessa, she did not like to wear shoes, and often walked barefoot.

Did you know:

Ava briefly sought the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate but was never considered for the part. The director preferred to cast a younger woman (Anne Bancroft was 36 while Gardner was 45).

Apparently the famous beauty had some not so lady-like habits. They say that she drank and swore like a sailor!

I dedicate this post to my dear grandma who gave me the nickname barefoot contessa . Like Ava Gardner I have the same habit of walking barefoot.

Današnji post je inspiriran sa jednom od najljepših žena svih vremena glumicom Avom Gardner. Ava je definitivno moj favorit među glumicama iz pin up ere a razlog tome nije samo njena ljepota već odvažna narav i neobuzdivi temperament. Zelenooka femme fatale je odrasla na farmi u malom američkom gradiću a jedan izlet u New York joj zauvijek promijenio život gdje su je zamijetili čelnici MGM studija i ponudili ugovor. Nakon niza manjih uloga Ava napokon dobiva prvu veliku ulogu i to kao Kitty u filmu The Killers sa Burtom Lancasterom 1946 godine. Ta joj je uloga osigurala status seks simbola a Ava se se profilirala kao tamnokosa zavodnica u moru plavuša koje je u to vrijeme preplavilo Hollywood. Uloga Eloise u filmu Mogambo joj je donijela nominaciju za Oscara no Avu ćemo ipak pamtiti po nastupu u filmu Bosonoga Kontesa gdje njena senzualnost i magnetična privlačnost dolaze do punog izražaja. Glumila je čak u 3 adaptacije nastale prema djelima Ernesta Hemingwaya a samog je pisca upoznala u Španjolskoj gdje su dijelili zajedničku strast prema borbama sa bikovima i alkoholu. Ženila se tri puta a zadnji brak sa Frankom Sinatrom, prepun svađa i skandala, redovito je punio novinske stupce i tračerske rubrike. Brak je trajao 6 godina a unatoč silnim svađama Ava je Sinatru opisala kao ljubav svog života i pomogla mu da oživi svoju propalu karijeru i osvoji Oscara. On je njoj zauzvrat napisao brojne ljubavne pjesme. Ava Lavinia Gardner je umrla 25. siječnja 1990. u Londonu nakon duge i teške bolesti pluća.

Ava , kao prava holivudska diva, je njegovala glamurozni i luksuzni stil kojem nije nedostajalo raskošnih haljina, skupocjenog krzna i naravno dijamanata. Kao prava femme fatale isticala je svoju ženstvenu figuru i obline u savršeno krojenim uskim haljinama često crne boje u kombinaciji sa dugim elegantnim rukavicama. Frizura i make up su uvijek bili besprijekorni a baš kao njeni lik ,bosonoga kontesa, također nije voljela nositi obuću te često šetala bosa.

Jeste li znali :

Ava su odbili za ulogu famozne Mrs. Robinson u filmu Diplomac iz 1966. jer su smatrali da je sa svojih 45 godina prestara. Uloga je pripala 9 godina mlađoj Anne Bancroft.

Navodno je slavna ljepotica imala neke baš i ne damske navike. Kažu da je pila i psovala poput mornara!

Ovaj post posvećujem svojoj dragoj baki koja me prozvala svojom bosonogom kontesom jer kao i Ava Gardner imam istu netrepeljivost prema obući.