THE ROVING PECKER PRESENTS: "Ava Gardner, The Errant Goddess (The Concluding Chapter)" By SpiceDong!

Greetings, Manor Hors! Periodically, "The Roving Pecker" presents urgent missives from filthy esteemed guest writers. Today’s article is by SpiceDong, the concluding chapter in their epic three-part Ava Gardner series! The first part is HERE and the second part is HERE.

In October in 1957, a group of friends invited Ava Gardner to visit the Peralta Ranch, an estate dedicated to raising Lidia bulls. She had been drinking, and on a dare agreed to get on a horse. The steed got spooked by a bull, threw her off - and she fell, hitting the right side of her face. The ranch hands quickly intervened and kept the bull from goring Ava as she lay on the ground. A photographer with a high-speed camera just “happened” to be there and captured the whole scene. 

Afterwards, Ava suspected someone in her circle may have tipped the photographer as to her whereabouts, and that everything had been a set up. The photos (seen below) fetched high sums, causing a media frenzy. Paris Match was the first to publish them. Headlines claimed that she was disfigured and it was the end of her career. In reality, Ava was visibly shaken by the fall and seemed to only have minor scratches on her face. Luckily, no broken bones. Yet later on, a lump the size of a golf ball began to form on her right cheek. It was a hematoma, or a pool of clotted blood beneath her skin, and it was not going down on its own.

This traumatic accident forced her to reevaluate her life in a completely different light. Ava was pragmatic and knew that without her beauty, her professional future would be pretty bleak. After all, her looks were the main reason MGM Studios had offered her a multi-year contract when she was only 18 years-old. In 1941, one of their employees had spotted a photo of young Ava displayed on the window of Larry Tarr’s photo studio in Manhattan. Larry was married to Ava’s oldest sister, Bappie, and had taken the photo when Ava was visiting them from North Carolina.

That photo eventually led to a screen test at MGM’s New York City offices. It was filmed without sound since Ava’s Southern accent was too thick, but the director who shot it knew she had great promise. She was offered a contract with a weekly salary as soon as the studio honchos saw the test. Ava moved to Hollywood, with Bappie as chaperone, and was promptly put through accent reduction lessons as part of the grooming process for contract players. After a lot of bit parts, countless pinups, and a brief first marriage to womanizer Mickey Rooney (what was she thinking?!), her big break came in 1946 when she was loaned out to Universal for the film noir, “The Killers,” opposite Burt Lancaster. The movie, based on a Ernest Hemingway short story, was a critical and box office success and the beginning of her rise in Hollywood.

MGM had coined the slogan “The World’s Most Beautiful Animal” which follows Ava to this day. But at the peak of her career, and despite some acclaimed performances, she still didn’t consider herself an actress, and felt that losing her looks after the horse riding accident spelled disaster for her livelihood. Making movies was just a job that she did “only for the loot” as she famously said. However, looking at notations that she’d made on her copies of scripts, it was obvious she took the job seriously, making the effort to understand the characters she played and their motivations. In the hands of a director she trusted, she really shined. John Huston, seen here with Ava and a young Anjelica Huston, was the best at coaxing a great performance out of her.

After initial consultations with plastic surgeons, Ava feared going under the knife to treat the hematoma, so she sought out the opinion of Sir Archibald McIndoe, a specialist at Queen Victoria Hospital in England renowned for his pioneering techniques in the treatment of badly burned World War II pilots. After examining the hematoma, he advised her not to let anyone operate on her, and that a consistent regimen of targeted massages and warm compresses would suffice to dissolve the lump. Thanks to his expertise, Ava’s injury fully recovered. However, the psychological trauma left her very insecure and self-conscious about the right side of her face. For a time, if she had to pose for photos, she’d use a fan and other props to cover that cheek.

To help her snap out of it, Sir McIndoe planned a fundraiser event at the Queen Victoria Hospital and invited her to attend. Without her knowledge, he also invited the press and turned the cameras on Ava deliberately. He later explained, “I wanted every reporter to see for themselves and from every angle that no knife had ever touched that magnificent face.” Happily, this also ended all the press speculation about the state of her looks. After two years away from the screen, she was able to resume her career. Ava was forever very grateful to Dr. McIndoe for everything he had done to heal her physical and psychological injuries. She became a supporter of the work he did for disfigured service members, and designated Queen Victoria Hospital as one of the beneficiaries in her Will. Her trust still makes regular donations to the hospital in her name. 

In the late 1950s, she decided not to renew her contract with MGM and became a free agent. From now on, she would work only when she wanted, setting her own fees and choosing the projects and directors that she liked. It was a visionary move; she was a product of the Golden Age of Hollywood, but was able to transition to the new Hollywood in the 1960s. Ava’s mystique had not diminished and she was still very much in demand and as desirable as ever.

It was around this time that a young Oscar de la Renta met Ava Gardner. Oscar had emigrated to Spain from the Dominican Republic and worked at Balenciaga’s atelier doing sketches. He was a fan and wanted to meet her, but he was still too junior to be allowed in the room whenever Ava came in for fittings. One night by chance he ran into her at a nightclub in Madrid. He fearlessly approached her and asked her to dance. She said yes. They became friends and eventually she would inspire some of his creations.

Throughout her life, errant Ava Gardner moved around quite a lot, always traveling and changing houses when she grew tired of living in the same space. This is why in 1960 Ava sold La Bruja and got an apartment in Madrid. Her downstairs neighbor turned out to be Argentina's deposed dictator, Juan Perón, who had been granted asylum in Spain. In those days, Perón still kept the embalmed body of his first wife Evita at home like a relic, despite the fact he now lived with his second wife Isabel. Creepy is an understatement. 

At first Ava and the Peróns tried to be cordial and polite, but that did not last long. Ava hated their politics and her parties drove them insane. Many times Perón would call the police on Ava and try to get her arrested, but Ava's friendships with U.S. diplomats and military attachés protected her. In some instances, the Spanish policemen would show up to shut down the party and Ava would invite them in for drinks. How could they say no to her? Ava and Mearene would get back at Perón by stomping on the floor with gusto, and heckling and shouting “Perón, maricón!” from the terrace above him —especially whenever he was rehearsing his pompous speeches on the balcony below.

Despite her love of nightlife and booze Ava was never into pills or hard drugs. The most she ever experimented with was trying weed once when Robert Mitchum —Hollywood’s premier pothead— offered her some, but she did not like it. Ava also terminated her relationship with Italian actor Walter Chiari after she discovered he had a coke problem.

Career-wise, Ava Gardner gave one of her most memorable performances in 1964 as Maxine Faulk in Tennessee Williams' “The Night of the Iguana” directed by her friend John Huston. The film follows a defrocked priest (Richard Burton) turned tour operator in Mexico as he struggles with his feelings for three very different women (Sue Lyon, Deborah Kerr, and  Gardner). It took John Huston and producer Ray Stark quite a few all-nighters bar-hoping with Ava in Madrid to convince her to play the hotel owner Maxine. Huston wanted Ava for the role from the start; however, Ava had misgivings about her own acting ability to pull this off. Huston was persistent as he believed Ava could make Maxine earthy, warmer and more nuanced than what Bette Davis had done on Broadway. Ava eventually agreed to do it and went to Mexico for the shoot.

The location was Mismaloya, then a remote village near Puerto Vallarta. The only way to get there was by boat, but Ava preferred to waterski to get to the set every morning. Elizabeth Taylor, a friend of Ava’s since their Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer days, came to the shoot to be with Burton, making the international press turn out in droves. Ava immersed herself in this surprisingly unglamorous part, holding her own against classically-trained actors Burton and Deborah Kerr. Ava was now in her forties, a modern, vital, powerful, and confident woman. She was Maxine! She even brought back for this role her Southern accent that MGM had erased years before. This film gave Ava Gardner some of the best reviews of her career and award nods will soon follow.

It was another Huston film that would bring a dangerous affair into Ava’s life. “The Bible,” shot in 1966, paired Gardner with George C. Scott. She was playing Sarah to his Abraham. An attraction was born as soon as they met, but George was abusive whenever he drank and became extremely violent with Ava in several occasions. Both Huston and Mearene tried to get her to leave him, but Ava inexplicably stayed with him at first. Soon a pattern emerged wherein George would get drunk, start a jealous quarrel, hit Ava, then be remorseful the next morning with declarations of love. There were times where Ava would stay down and pretend she was unconscious to stop the beatings and diffuse his rage. The ordeal went unreported and the police were never called. 

When she finally left him, he went insane tracking her through several cities. First Rome, then London, where he found her at the Savoy Hotel. Ava and Mearene had to escape through a bathroom window. George then went as far as New York and Beverly Hills, where he caught up with her and beat her up again. He was completely deranged and obsessed. Finally, Mearene had had  enough and called up Sinatra for help. He said he would take care of it. After that, George never got near Ava again. Mearene suspected whatever Frank and his goons did may have put the fear of death into George.

Frank Sinatra had not stopped pining for Ava and was still hoping she would take him back. They were friends with benefits for a while in the sixties and had secret trysts whenever their schedules allowed, but she always refused to remarry despite admitting he was the love of her life. He remained in love with her until the end, even through his marriages with Mia Farrow and Barbara Marx. Frank even kept a statue of Ava in his garden until Barbara demanded he get rid of it.

In 1968, the wild Spanish nights era came to a close. Ava grew bored and once again craved a new change of scenery. She decided to move to London where she led a far more quiet life with her corgis —first Cara and then Morgan (Rags had already died). Mearene had already returned to the States to care for family. Ava continued working through the mid 1980s until a stroke that affected one her arms forced her to retire from public life. Reports about her being lonely and unhappy in her last few years are simply not true. Ava kept close friendships in London and strong ties to her family in North Carolina. Sometimes she would visit Grace Kelly in Monaco. They had stayed friends since filming “Mogambo” together. Unlike some of her fellow Old Hollywood goddesses who hid terrible suffering behind their carefully-constructed facades, Ava truly enjoyed her life and was always herself. As she got older, Ava embraced the wrinkles and opted for never having any work done. She described her face as “lived-in” and boy, did she live!

Ava’s Hollywood contemporaries were in awe of her beauty, but also marveled at the way she moved. She sauntered like a green-eyed panther when entering a room, not faltering even when all eyes were on her. Joan Collins once said that Ava Gardner inspired how she played Alexis Carrington on Dynasty, recalling a scene she witnessed between Ava and one of her lovers: “She was like a jungle cat defending her territory.” All those close to Ava also remarked that she was a loyal friend, humble, generous and down to Earth. Never vain or conceited. A straight shooter, feisty, independent, and a great cook —mostly Southern dishes. In many aspects she was ahead of her time being a lifetime supporter of civil rights, a believer in a woman’s right to choose and she adored her gay friends —Dirk Bogarde and Roddy McDowall among them.

On January 25, 1990, on a stormy London night, Ava Gardner left this realm peacefully in her sleep. Her chain smoking habit had given her emphysema and she was also battling pneumonia. According to her housekeeper, Ava’s last words before laying in bed were “I am tired.” The errant goddess could finally rest. Her last Corgi, Morgan was adopted by her friend and costar Gregory Peck.

After Ava passed away, the myth of Frank Sinatra paying for her medical and funeral expenses was somehow created and spread by the press. However, her surviving relatives have denied these falsehoods. Ava was always self-sufficient and didn’t even accept alimony from any of her three husbands. She had made arrangements for her funeral when her health began to fail. Her wishes were carried out by her family. Her body was flown from London and laid to rest in the Gardner Family plot in Johnston County, North Carolina. Frank didn’t attend Ava’s funeral choosing instead to send yellow roses —her favorite— with a card that simply read “With love, Francis.” By all accounts, he mourned Ava until his death. 

Spain remembers Ava fondly as a bright star that came to them in the dark days of Franco. There are still people in Madrid who will regale you with stories and tall tales of the years she spent there, and the businesses she frequented still proudly show off her favorite tables or the items that she liked on the menu. Ava’s mark in pop culture through the decades continues too, still ever present in magazines, books, documentaries, series and movies. She has inspired countless fashion shoots and haute couture collections like Peter Copping’s work for Oscar De La Renta, and most recently, French fragrance house Le Galion launched “L’Astre” (The Star) in 2023, a perfume created as an homage to Ava, who was ambassador for the brand in the 1950s. The Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield, North Carolina and The Ava Gardner Trust protect and keep her legacy alive.

Photo Credits: Various/Getty Images; Cristóbal/Balenciaga Museum; Larry Tarr/Universal Studios; The Ava Gardner Trust; Seven Arts/MGM; Dino de Laurentiis/20th Century Fox