PastPosts * Ava Gardner Museum

Some photos from a trip to the Ava Gardner museum in Smithfield, NC in November 2006.







She is buried a few miles away from the museum. This is the family headstone with Ava's marker in front (AVA LAVINIA GARDNER / DEC. 24, 1922 / JAN. 25, 1990)

PastPosts * Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing by Lee Server

This was originally posted elsewhere on 06/11/2006. Though I cleaned up some parts, it still reads a bit racy. So sensitive eyes, beware.

"It is said men literally had to support themselves against buildings when [Ava Gardner] walked by," writes Lee Server in Love is Nothing. After reading this compelling biography, it’s clear that the men in Ava Gardner’s life were obsessed with her, and it’s easy to understand why. Her talent, charm and feminine beauty combined with her 'I don't give a damn' attitude captivated them.

Ava’s brief marriage to Frank Sinatra and their subsequent relationship is a highlight of the book. Ol’ Blue Eyes was so taken with her he was brought to the edge of insanity. When he was told of her death, he went to his room and sat there alone, all night and well into the next day. He could barely raise his voice above a whisper when he spoke of her. Ava haunted him to the end of his life.

Examples of Ava's sex appeal and her affect on men spice up the book. Server describes how she’d wander around the house she shared with first husband, Mickey Rooney, wearing only her panties and declare, "Let's f---." In filming a love scene with Ava, Burt Lancaster developed a "pitched tent" and had to take a breather much to the amusement of the crew and Ava herself. Server also relates how some men went to great lengths to have a piece of her, like Ernest Hemingway who saved one of Ava’s kidney stones as a memento.

The actress’s real-life adventures rivaled anything in her films. She knew with age she’d lose the appeal that drove men wild, so she lived it up taking no prisoners while she was able. Ava could drink most men under the table and curse with the best of them. Bhawani Junction costar Francis Matthews claimed, "She could go all night, y'know. She was a wild country girl and liked to let her hair down and fling off her shoes and have a good time." There was no reaching this woman or holding her down. By the age of 35, she had already collected three ex-husbands.

Lee Server knows his subject and obviously admires her. In the book's intro, he refers to her as "a carnal, dangerous angel in the chiaroscuro dreamscape of film noir." Server fondly brings Gardner to life as a warm, refreshingly unpretentious star whose appetites eventually did her in—though, she seemed to have had one helluva time getting there.

Click here for more of Friday’s Forgotten Books courtesy of Patti Abbott.

PastPosts #1: Please Don't FWD Me

I began blogging elewhere in the cyber heavens and thought it might be fun to post some of these earlier ramblings. I sound upset here but I'm really not. I was going to end every post with "is it just me?"

And to my friends and fam that still send this type of e-mail--why keep 'em coming.

Posted sometime in 2006...

Please Don't FWD Me

I despise forwards sent to my hotmail. There are two kinds that I normally receive. The first is a new form of the old chain letter. You know the kind where someone sends you a sad story, or perhaps even inspirational, about somebody's cat or child. The letter instructs you that you have 24 hours to send it on to 20 other people or else you will meet with a sudden demise, or at best a horrible disfiguring accident. Sometimes the consequences are more vague while you are informed you'll encounter several years of misfortune. Why would a friend send me such a grim fate? Do I need this type of friend who is automatically guaranteeing my immediate demise if I don't comply, especially knowing I don't have enough friends to comply. The second forward I loathe is the "funny" forward, which are never as funny as the sender imagines. Typically it's either some stale joke or a cartoon of dancing hamsters.

People who send forwards don't send just one. They send more than ten at a time, enough to fill a FedEx delivery van if all of them were printed on paper. On top of that, they do it every single day. Even a speed reader would need a month to read through all the chain letters and jokes crammed in my inbox. No one would waste the money to send this junk if it cost them the price of a stamp.

So please think twice before you send me a forward. If it is funny, make sure it rivals the Marx brothers in their finest hour. And please don't forward something that will shorten my life expectancy or impair my sterility.

Is it just me?