Uploaded May 2012 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
This is going back to the past a bit, but Ava Gardner was another of those very beautiful women who captivated movie-going crowds. Born in North Carolina to a dirt-poor family in 1922, when Garner was 18 she went to New York to visit her sister. Her new brother-in-law photographer offered to take her portrait. The photo was spotted in his studio window and a talent scout from MGM soon showed up to interview her. She was given a screen test (with no words -- her North Carolina accent made her speech almost indecipherable), but the scout thought it was a failure. Until he saw the result. The camera loved her. He sent the test to Hollywood. Louis B. Meyer, head of the studio, wired back, ,"She can't sing, she can't act, she can't talk. She's terrific!" The first thing they did was get her a speech coach. She went on to star in a number of classic films, including an Academy-Award performance in "Mogambo." She's still listed among the American Film Institute's 25 Greatest female stars. Her marriages included Mickey Rooney, bandleader Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra. She died of pneumonia in 1990. Music is from Mozart's "Horn Concerto #1 in D."
This is going back to the past a bit, but Ava Gardner was another of those very beautiful women who captivated movie-going crowds. Born in North Carolina to a dirt-poor family in 1922, when Garner was 18 she went to New York to visit her sister. Her new brother-in-law photographer offered to take her portrait. The photo was spotted in his studio window and a talent scout from MGM soon showed up to interview her. She was given a screen test (with no words -- her North Carolina accent made her speech almost indecipherable), but the scout thought it was a failure. Until he saw the result. The camera loved her. He sent the test to Hollywood. Louis B. Meyer, head of the studio, wired back, ,"She can't sing, she can't act, she can't talk. She's terrific!" The first thing they did was get her a speech coach. She went on to star in a number of classic films, including an Academy-Award performance in "Mogambo." She's still listed among the American Film Institute's 25 Greatest female stars. Her marriages included Mickey Rooney, bandleader Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra. She died of pneumonia in 1990. Music is from Mozart's "Horn Concerto #1 in D."
