Ava Gardner

A Life in Movies

By: Kendra Bean, Anthony Uzarowski

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

Renowned for her screen performances, down-to-earth personality, and love affair with Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner left an indelible mark on Hollywood history. Her adventurous life story is told through authoritative text and hundreds of photos in Ava: A Life in Movies.

Ava is an illustrated tribute to a legendary life. Authors Kendra Bean and Anthony Uzarowski take a closer look at the Academy Award-nominated actress's life and famous screen roles. They also shed new light on the creation and maintenance of her glamorous image, her marriages, and friendships with famous figures such as Ernest Hemingway, John Huston, and Tennessee Williams.

From the backwoods of Grabtown, North Carolina to the bullfighting rings of Spain, from the MGM backlot to the Rome of La Dolce Vita, this lavishly illustrated biography takes readers on the exciting journey of a life lived to the fullest and through four decades of film history with an iconic star.

Critic reviews

"From the striking cover image to photographers' contact sheets, and even a late '40s selfie, many are rare and/or candid, going beyond stills and publicity photos, although those are well-represented too, and all are beautifully printed. Sinatra family scrapbooks and local NC newspaper files are just two of the sources tapped. I can't imagine how many hours research and permissions must have taken, and the results are spectacular...Whatever your current level of Ava awareness, there is an abundance of fascinating material in Ava: A Life in Movies to guarantee any reader's enjoyment and edification."—Paula's Cinema Club

Great narrative

It felt more like a brief overview of her life. I don't feel like they really went into to the detail of her marriages and relationships. It wasn't bad overall just not as in depth as I would like. The woman who read it though did a great job.

Ava

Just loved hearing everything about the magnificent Ava, all the little/big details about her.

She lead a magical life at times, not so much at other times.

This book was perfect, loved it from beginning to end. Ava was a free spirit and lived her life as her own terms

An enjoyable shorter book about Ava

I was looking for a book on Ava Gardner that was shorter to listen to on Audible and found this one and enjoyed it a lot. I did miss hearing about her relationships with Glenn Ford Orson Wells. All in all, it was a good book.

Concise and interesting

No aggrandizing, very direct and yet empathetic to this intriguing lady who became a star in a serendipitous way.