by Lee Server
Band Wagon. 1953. MGM. Producer: Arthur Freed. Director: Vincente Minnelli. Screenplay: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Jack Buchanan, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray (cameo appearance by AG).
Ride, Vaquero 1953. MGM. Producer: Stephen Ames. Director: John Farrow. Screenplay: Frank Fenton. Cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Anthony Quinn, Kurt Kasznar, Jack Elam, Ted de Corsia, Percy Helton.
Mogambo. 1953. MGM. Producer: Sam Zimbalist. Director: John Ford. Screenplay: John Lee Mahin, based on the screenplay Red Dust by Mahin and play by Wilson Collison. Cast: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Donald Sinden, Philip Stainton, Eric Pohlmann, Laurence Naismith.
Knights of the Round Table. 1954. MGM. Producer: Pandro S. Berman. Director: Richard Thorpe. Screenplay: Talbot Jennings, Jan Lustig, Noel Langley. Cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Anne Crawford, Stanley Baker, Felix Aylmer, Maureen Swanson, Gabriel Woolf.
The Barefoot Contessa. 1954. United Artists. Producers: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Angelo Rizzoli, Robert Haggiag. Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Screenplay: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, Marius Goring, Valentina Cortese, Rossano Brazzi, Elizabeth Sellars, Warren Stevens, Mari Aldon, Franco Interlenghi, Bessie Love.
Around the World in 80 Days. 1955. United Artists. Producer: Michael Todd. Director: Michael Anderson. Cast: David Niven, Cantinflas (cameo appearance by AG).
Bhowani Junction. 1956. MGM. Producer: Pandro S. Berman. Director: George Cukor. Screenplay: Sonya Levien, Ivan Moffat, from the novel by John Masters. Cast: Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger, Bill Travers, Francis Matthews, Abraham Sofaer, Marne Maitland, Peter Illing, Edward Chapman, Freda Jackson, Lionel Jeffries.
The Little Hut. 1957. MGM. Producers: Mark Robson, F. Hugh Herbert. Director: Mark Robson, Screenplay: F. Hugh Herbert, from the play by Andre Roussin and English-language adaptation by Nancy Mitford. Cast: Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger, David Niven, Walter Chiari, Finlay Currie, Jean Cadell, Henry Oscar.
The Sun Also Rises. 1957. 20th Century-Fox. Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck. Director: Henry King. Screenplay: Peter Viertel, from the novel by Ernest Hemingway. Cast: Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Errol Flynn, Eddie Albert, Gregory Ratoff, Juliette Greco, Robert Evans.
The Naked Maja. 1959. Titanus/MGM. Producer: Goffredo Lombardo. Director: Henry Koster. Screenplay: Giorgio Prosperi, Norman Corwin, Oscar Saul, Albert Lewin. Cast: Ava Gardner, Anthony Franciosa, Amedeo Nazzari, Gino Cervi, Lea Padovani, Massimo Serato.
On the Beach. 1959. United Artists. Producer: Stanley Kramer. Director: Stanley Kramer. Screenplay: John Paxton, James Lee Barrett, from the novel by Nevil Shute. Cast: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins, Donna Anderson, John Tate, Harp McGuire, Lola Brooks, Guy Doleman.
The Angel Wore Red. 1960. MGM /Titanus. Producer: Goffredo Lombardo. Director: Nunnally Johnson. Screenplay: Nunnally Johnson, from the novel by Bruce Marshall. Cast: Ava Gardner, Dirk Bogarde, Joseph Cotten, Vittoria De Sica, Aldo Fabrizi.
55 Days at Peking. 1963. Samuel Bronston. Producer: Samuel Bronston. Director: Nicholas Ray (uncredited: Andrew Marton, Guy Green). Screenplay: Bernard Gordon, Philip Yordan. Cast: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven, Flora Robson, Paul Lucas, Leo Genn, Robert Helpmann, Elizabeth Sellars, John Ireland, Nicholas Ray.
Seven Days in May. 1964. Paramount. Producer: Edward Lewis. Director: John Frankenheimer. Screenplay: Rod Serling, from the novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W Bailey II. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, George Macready, Whit Bissell, Hugh Marlowe, Andrew Duggan.
The Night of the Iguana. 1964. MGM/Seven Arts. Producer: Ray Stark. Director: John Huston. Screenplay: John Huston, Anthony Veiller (uncredited: Tennessee Williams) from the play by Tennessee Williams. Cast: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon, Grayson Hall, Cyril Delevanti, James “Skip” Ward, Emilio Fernandez, Mary Boylan, Gladys Hill, Eloise Hardt, Thelda Victor, Bernice Starr, Dorothy Vance, Liz Rubey, Barbara Joyce, Betty Proctor, Roberto Leyva, Fidelmar Duran, C. G. Kim.
The Bible. 1966. 20th Century—Fox/De Laurentiis. Producer: Dino De Laurentiis. Director: John Huston. Screenplay: Christopher Fry, also Jonathan Griffin, Ivo Perilli, Vittorio Bonicelli. Cast: Michael Parks, Ulla Bergryd, Richard Harris, John Huston, George C. Scott, Ava Gardner, Peter O’Toole, Zoe Sallis, Franco Nero, Eleanora Rossi-Drago.
Mayerling. 1968. Associated British/Warner-Pathe. Producer: Robert Dorfmann. Director: Terence Young. Screenplay: Terence Young. Cast: Omar Sharif, Catherine Deneuve, James Mason, Ava Gardner, James Robertson Justice, Genevieve Paige, Fabienne Dali.
Tam Lin (aka The Ballad of Tam Lin, The Devil’s Widow). 1992 (produced in 1969). Commonwealth United. Producers: Alan Ladd, Jr., Stanley Mann. Director: Roddy McDowall. Screenplay: William Spier. Cast: Ava Gardner, Ian McShane, Richard Wattis, Cyril Cusack, Stephanie Beacham, David Whitman, Sinead Cusack, Joanna Lumley, Jenny Hanley, Madeleine Smith, Michael Bills, Hayward Morse, Julian Barnes, Bruce Robinson.
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. 1972. National General. Producer: John Foreman. Director: John Huston. Screenplay: John Milius. Cast: Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, Ava Gardner, John Huston, Stacy Keach, Roddy McDowall, Anthony Perkins, Tab Hunter, Victoria Principal, Ned Beatty, Anthony Zerbe, Steve Kanaly, Billy Pearson.
Earthquake. 1974. Universal. Producers: Jennings Lang, Mark Robson. Director: Mark Robson. Screenplay: George Fox and Mario Puzo. Cast: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lome Greene, Genevieve Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Victoria Principal, Lloyd Nolan, Walter Matthau, Monica Lewis, Gabe Dell.
Permission to Kill. 1975. Warner/Sascha. Producer: Paul Mills. Director: Cyril Frankel. Screenplay: Robin Estridge, from his novel. Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Ava Gardner, Timothy Dalton, Frederic Forrest, Bekim Fehmiu, Peggy Sinclair.
The Blue Bird. 1976. 20th Century-Fox/Edward Lewis/Lenfilm. Producer: Paul Maslansky. Director: George Cukor. Screenplay: Hugh Whitemore, Alfred Hayes from the story by Maurice Maeterlinck. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Ava Gardner, Cicely Tyson, Will Geer, Mona Washbourne, George Cole, Patsy Kensit.
The Cassandra Crossing. 1976. AGF/lnternational Cine/Avco Embassy. Producers: Lew Grade, Carlo Ponti. Director: George Pan Cosmatos. Screenplay: Tom Mankiewicz, Robert Katz, George Cosmatos. Cast: Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Martin Sheen, Ingrid Thulin, John Phillip Law, Lionel Stander, Ann Turkel, Alida Valli, O. J. Simpson.
The Sentinel. 1977. Universal. Producers: Michael Winner, Jeffrey Konvitz. Director: Michael Winner. Screenplay: Michael Winner, Jeffrey Konvitz, from the novel by Jeffrey Konvitz. Cast: Chris Sarandon, Cristina Raines, Martin Balsam, Ava Gardner, John Carradine, Arthur Kennedy, Sylvia Miles, Deborah Raffin, Eli Wallach, Christopher Walken, Beverly D’Angelo.
City on Fire. 1979. Astral-Bellevue-Pathe/Sandy Howard. Producers: Sandy Howard, Claude Hewroux. Director: Alvin Rakoff. Screenplay: Jack Hill, David P. Lewis, Celine La Freniere. Cast: Barry Newman, Susan Clark, Shelley Winters, Henry Fonda, Leslie Nielsen, James Franciscus, Ava Gardner.
The Kidnapping of the President. 1980. Safel. Producers: George Mendeluk, John Ryan. Director: George Mendeluk. Screenplay: Richard Murphy, from the novel by Charles Templeton. Cast: Hal Holbrook, William Shatner, Van Johnson, Ava Gardner, Miguel Fernandez.
Priest of Love. 1981. Filmways/Enterprise. Producers: Christopher Miles, Andrew Donally. Director: Christopher Miles. Screenplay: Alan Plater. Cast: Ian McKellen, Janet Suzman, Ava Gardner, Penelope Keith, Jorge Rivera, John Gielgud, James Faulkner.
Regina. 1982. Bognor/Spiritus/Galla Int’l. Producers: David Amiri, Serge Roux. Director: Jean-Yves Prate. Screenplay: Pierre Rey. Cast: Ava Gardner, Anthony Quinn, Ray Sharkey, Anna Karina.
A.D. 1985. International/Procter & Gamble. Producers: John A. Martinelli, George Jensen, Jack Wishard. Director: Stuart Cooper. Screenplay: Anthony Burgess, Vincenzo Labella. Cast: Anthony Edwards, Ava G
ardner, John Houseman, Colleen Dewhurst, Ian McShane, James Mason, Jennifer O’Neill, Richard Roundtree, Richard Kiley, David Hedison. (Multipart for television.)
The Long Hot Summer. 1985. Leonard Hill. Producers: Leonard Hill, John Thomas Lenox, Dori Weiss. Director: Stuart Cooper. Screenplay: Rita Mae Brown, from the story by William Faulkner and screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr. Cast: Don Johnson, Jason Robards, Jr., Judith Ivey, Cybill Shepherd, Ava Gardner, Wings Hauser, William Forsythe. (For television.)
Knot’s Landing. 1985. Lorimar. Producer: Lawrence Kasha. Cast: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Don Murray, Michele Lee, Donna Mills. (AG, five appearances in long-running television series.)
Harem. 1986. Highgate/New World. Producer: Martin Manulis. Director: Billy Hale. Screenplay: Karol Hoeffner. Cast: Nancy Travis, Art Malik, Omar Sharif, Ava Gardner, Sarah Miles, Cherie Lungie, Yaphet Kotto. (For television.)
Maggie. 1986. Warner Bros./Karoger. Producer: William Hill. Director: Waris Hussein. Screenplay: Katherine Craddock, Rod Browning. Cast: Stephanie Powers, Ava Gardner, Herb Edelman, Jeremy Lloyd, Ian Ogilvy. (Episode for television.)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am very much indebted to the many people, in a dozen countries, who have generously contributed knowledge, memories, energy, and friendship to the creation of this book.
For interviews, conversation, and correspondence I want to thank the following: Berdie Abrams, Angela Allen, Diana Altman, James Bacon, Nelly Barquette, Kathleen Beckett, Turhan Bey, Nan Birmingham, Johnny Blowers, Peter Blythe, Keith Botsford, Phil Brown, Joe Bushkin, Jack Cardiff, Marge Champion, Esme Chandlee, Betty Comden, Alistair Cooke, Alberta Cooney, Luther Daughtry Jr., Steve Dunleavy, Milton Ebbins, J.M. Fordham, Leatrice Gilbert Fountain, Raul Garcia, Murray Garrett, Richard Goldstone, Bernard Gordon, Johnny Grant, Lucia Graves, Virginia Grey, Eloise Hardt, Pete Hamill, Alan Harkness, John Hawkesworth, Skitch Henderson, A. E. Hotchner, Cici Huston, Tony Huston, Christopher Isherwood, Herb Jeffries, Neil Jillett, Howard Keel, Evelyn Keyes, Mickey Knox, Frank Laico, Marc Lawrence, Margaret Lee, David Leeming, Janet Leigh, Monica Lewis, Michael Logothetis, Ross Lowell, Sid Luft, Joanna Lumley, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Francis Matthews, Virginia Mayo, Ann Miller, Mitch Miller, Spoli Mills, Eva Monley, Terry Morse, Nan McGlohon, Bill Newman, Mike Oliver, Roy Parkinson, Kathleen Parrish, Bob Rains, Jess Rand, Gene Reynolds, Betty Rose, Ann Rutherford, Zoe Sallis, Budd Schulberg, Artie Shaw, Tom Shaw, Vincent Sherman, Betty Sicre, George Sidney, Arthur Silber, Jr., Sheila Sim, Jeanie Sims, Donald Sinden, William Smith, Robert Stack, Mokie Standi, David Stenn, Austin Stevens, Tempest Storm, Ben Tatar, Claude Terrail, Roma Tomaity, Mel Torme, Candy Toxton, Tony Tra- bert, William Tuttle, Carmen Vargas, Bayard Veiller, Imogen Wheeler, Sandy Whitelaw, Ann Williams, Billy Williams, Michael Winner, Clarence Woodall, Jimmy Wyble, Philip Yordan, Genevieve Young. Although not everyone here has been quoted directly, all have contributed insights and recollections of Ava and her world. I must give an extra line of appreciation to Betty Sicre, who shared with me so many memories of her great friend; and to Angela Allen, a uniquely close witness to so much of the history of the movies, who not only gave freely of her memories of filmmaking but also helped me with access to a number of people who were important to Ava Gardner’s life and career.
Some quotes and information from firsthand sources predate my official research, and these prior interviews, associations, and random encounters are an unintended benefit. An interview with Christopher Isherwood in California shortly before his death; a conversation with Mel Tormé, including the tale of Ava in the MGM commissary, at a bizarre birthday party for Mel in the basement of Sam Goody’s record store in Manhattan; during a week in the company of the wonderful George Sidney, in Las Vegas, while plotting out a collaborative project (alas canceled by his death), we often spoke of Ava G., one of George’s favorite “success stories.” Time spent with the late Joseph Mankiewicz, in New York City and at his home in Bedford, New York, touched on many items in his long career including The Barefoot Contessa; if only I had anticipated this project then, we would have spent far more time talking about Ava Gardner and less about the writing of the movie Sooky or the comedic skills of Wheeler and Woolsey. Many of the tales in the preceding pages I first heard from David Hanna, a friend and employer of mine for several years, and Ava’s publicist and manager in the 1950s. David did not name-drop readily but when the conversation warranted it he could lean back in his office chair and tell a story: “One time with Ava, we were flying in to Rio ...” Some of the things he recalled were startling, revelations he had not put in his own writings about her, but he never spoke with scorn or derision, only amusement and amazement.
For access to archival collections and library materials, I thank the British Film Institute, London; the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; the Heritage Center in Smithfield (much gratitude to the wonderful Ms. Margaret Lee); the Houston Library Research Center, Houston, Texas (Joel Draut); the State Library in Raleigh, North Carolina (especially Steve Massingill and Alan Westmoreland); Denise Jones and Paul Magann at the Raleigh News & Observer, Los Angeles Public Library, Main Branch; the New York Public Library, Lincoln Center Branch; the Cinemateque Française, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills; the Cinema Library at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles; the Daily Times, Lahore, Pakistan. I wish to thank two individual archivists for their great skill, helpfulness, and charm: the all-knowing Barbara Hall at the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills, and the remarkable Ned Comstock at USC, the best in the business.
Much thanks and gratitude to Susan Huxley, a researcher both skilled and inspired, who blazed a trail across Britain in pursuit of Ava associates. To Ariene Hellerman, writer, researcher, incisive interviewer, an invaluable support in any endeavor. To Joan Cohen, another highly skilled researcher.
For their generous support and encouragement I cannot begin to thank the following, colleagues and friends, wonderful writers, and historians all: Pat McGilligan, Scott Eyman, David Stenn, Peter Levinson, Tony Crawley, Tom Weaver, Diana Altman, and Ted Schwarz. Buy their books. For his generous help through the creation of this work I also thank Nigel Algar, great documentary maker now at the BFI; ditto to my friend Down Under, the film producer Richard Brennan, who went above and beyond to unlock doors for me in Melbourne and Sydney. A merci to Bertrand Tavernier in Paris for sharing with me his Burt Lancaster story. For help all along the way, thanks to friend Patrick Shields in California; and to my composer buddy in Australia, Norma Martin. Great thanks to journalist Paul Cullum and actress Susan Tyreli for giving me access to their memorable conversation. To Gary Goldstein for his help in tracking the story of Ava’s autobiography. For assorted translations, thanks to writer and linguist Sara J. Welch. For their assistance in preparing research, transcribing interviews, and other work I am very grateful to: Carol Hardin, Jeannie Gosline, Colomba Johnson, Joanna Sondheim, Cat Tyc, Cynthia Sullivan, and Sean Bronzell. In London again, thanks to Allen Eyles and BAFTA for putting me in touch with some of Ava Gardner’s performer friends. And in Connecticut to A. E. Hotchner for conversation and for permission to use his photo of Ava, Dominguin, and Hemingway. In New York City, the same to Diana Altman, who shared with me some of her father’s work.
For providing a mighty long trail of Ava lore I owe a debt of gratitude to the hundreds of authors and journalists who have written about the actress over the past sixty-some years. Of obvious particular interest were Ava’s autobiography, and the previous biographies of Ava Gardner by Charles Higham, Roland Flamini, and Doris Rollins Cannon; also the comprehensive works on the life of Frank Sinatra written by Earl Wilson, Kitty Kelley, and J. Randy Taraborrelli.
Another big thank-you to all of the following for various contributions and forms of assistance during the research and writing of this biography: In Smithfield, North Carolina: Miss Lee and staff at the Heritage Center; the Ava Gardner Museum; the Super 8 Motel; the Howell Theater; Café Monet and Smithfield Barbecue;
all the friendly people of Smithfield and Brogden, including Mokie, Luther, Clarence. In Madrid: the Wellington Hotel and staff; the Ritz Hotel; Juan Tejero and Co. at T&B Editores; Chicote’s Bar (and Museo de la Cocktail). In Palm Springs, California: Mark Graves at Palm Springs Desert Resorts; Stephen Zapantis of Time and Place Homes for the tour of the Sinatra home, “Twin Palms”; the Spa Casino Resort. In Puerto Vallarta, Mexico: Los Tules; the Rio Hotel; Nelly Barquette; Maurizio at Casa Kimberley; La Jolla Mismaloya; John Huston’s Sunset Bar; The Sets of the Night of the Iguana Restaurant; the Four Seasons Punta Mita; the Oceano Bar; Ramon the Tailor. In Acapulco: Mike Oliver; Adolfo Santiago; Los Flamingos Hotel; Raul Garcia and family. Also: the Viceroy Hotel, Santa Monica; the Tour d’Argent; the Sofitel Bercy; St. Mark’s Poetry Project, New York City; Sorelle Fontana, Rome; Walter and Nicolas Bussenius at Hotel Mt. Joli, Cap Haiden; the Michigan Hemingway Society; Oficina de Turismo de Tossa de Mar; Sahara Hotel, Las Vegas; the Dorchester and the Sofitel St. James, London; Lily Devlin at the Portaferry Library in Northern Ireland; the Hotel de Paris and the Hermitage, Monte-Carlo; the J W Marriott Starr Pass Resort, Tucson, Arizona.
And my gratitude to the following: Robert Server; Helen Smith; Walter Donohue; Corinne Sidney; Tisha Sterling; Scott Gould; Alan Rode; Sal Ceravolo; Stuart Wolff; Patricia Alisau; Gordon van Gelder, Heather Florence, Jorg Jaramillo at AP; Sandy Silverman; Bruce Serien; Marcy at the New York Post; Vincent Alonzo; Carol Martinez at LA Inc.; Don Salkaln; Maggie Hurt at the British Film Institute; and Dixie Evans (curator: Striptease Hall of Fame, Helendale, California).
Many thanks to Elizabeth Beier, my editor at St. Martin’s, who has blessed this project with her talent, enthusiasm, insight, and patience. And to Michael Connor at St. Martin’s Press, Mary Morris at Bloomsbury, and to copy editor Sue Llewellyn for all of their help and great editorial contributions.