U.S. 70 alert: Smithfield is ‘Ava Gardner country’

Zipping along U.S. Route 70 east of Raleigh, motorists have an opportunity to dial down their speed on “U.S. 70 Business” through Johnston County. 

Glide into Smithfield, the county seat and home of the Ava Gardner Museum.

 

Folks here have a long-standing love affair with their “native daughter” and favorite movie star. Ava Gardner appeared in 62 motion pictures between 1941-82. 

She was nominated for an Academy Award in 1954 as “Best Actress” for her role in “Mogambo.” Her co-star was Clark Gable. (Hollywood “newcomer Audrey Hepburn” won for her performance in “Roman Holiday.”)

In “Ava’s words,” her Johnston County story begins: “I as born Ava Lavinia Gardner on Christmas Eve 1922 in Grabtown, N.C. Poor old Grabtown. God knows why it got that name: there was no place to grab, and hardly any town at all.” 

Smithfield is about eight miles “up the road” from Grabtown. Ava’s parents were Jonas and Mary “Mollie” Gardner, sharecroppers. 

In 1925, the Gardners moved about a mile to Brogden to operate the Teacherage, a boarding house for young female teachers at Brogden’s elementary school. 

In 1935, during the Great Depression, funds to operate the Teacherage dried up, so the family moved to Newport News, Va., to run a boarding house for Navy shipyard workers. 

After Jonas Gardner died in 1938, Mollie Gardner and children returned to North Carolina to operate yet another boarding house – for teachers at Rock Ridge School near Wilson. 

Ava Gardner graduated from Rock Ridge High School in 1939 with plans to enroll in the fall at Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in Wilson. 

She decided to spend “summer break” in New York City with an older sister, Beatrice “Bappie” Gardner. Bappie’s husband was Larry Tarr, a professional photographer.

 

He produced a series of stunning photographs of Ava and submitted his images to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). She was selected for a screen test. 

Gardner’s biographer said: “The camera loved Ava from the minute she first stepped in front of it, and her natural beauty lit up the screen. She had the face of an angel.” 

MGM offered Ava a contract. At age 18, she was headed on the train to Hollywood in 1941, with Bappie as her chaperone. 

The first movie star who Ava met was Mickey Rooney, one of the young rising stars of the day. He was “struck by Ava’s remarkable beauty.” They were married in 1942…and divorced a year later. 

After more than 20 films, Ava’s career finally started to soar in 1946 with “The Killers.” Her performance vaulted her onto the “Hollywood A-list,” as the film earned status as a “quintessential film noir” (murder-mystery).

Ava Gardner and Burt Lancaster in the 1946 film noir classic, ‘The Killers’. Gardner played femme fatale Kitty Collins in her break-out Hollywood performance.

 

She earned acclaim, acting with Clark Gable in “The Hucksters” (1946) and with Gregory Peck in “The Great Sinner” (1949). 

“As Ava was achieving her greatest successes on screen, she was also living out her greatest personal romance – a love story with Frank Sinatra.” They were married in 1951…and divorced in 1957. 

To get away from “Hollywood life,” Ava Gardner moved to Spain in 1958. She was a close friend of author Ernest Hemingway, a big fan of bullfighting. The Spanish matador Luis Miguel Dominguín became Ava’s love interest during this period. 

In 1968, Ava Gardner moved to England and lived the remainder of her life quietly in London. 

Her last movie was “Regina Roma” in 1982. She went on to appear in five television productions (1985-86). Ava Gardner died in 1990, at age 67.