Ava Gardner Quotes: Discover the Wisdom of a Hollywood Icon

If there is one Hollywood icon who continues to inspire people with her timeless beauty, style, and wit, it’s Ava Gardner. Born in 1922 in Grabtown, North Carolina, Gardner rose to fame in the 1940s and 1950s as one of the most stunning actresses of her time. But her beauty was not just skin deep. Gardner was also known for her sharp wit, fierce independence, and no-nonsense attitude. In this article, we will explore some of the most inspiring Ava Gardner quotes that can still teach us valuable lessons today.

 

 

Early Life and Career

Ava Gardner was born into a poor family in rural North Carolina. Her father was a sharecropper, and her mother died when she was 15 years old. Despite these challenges, Gardner always had a strong sense of ambition and a desire to make something of herself. She moved to New York City in the early 1940s to pursue a career in acting and modeling.

 

 

Beauty and Talent

It didn’t take long for Gardner’s stunning beauty and raw talent to capture the attention of Hollywood. She was offered a contract with MGM and quickly became one of the most sought-after actresses in the industry. Her breakout role came in the 1946 film “The Killers,” in which she played a femme fatale opposite Burt Lancaster.

 

Independence and Feminism

Despite her success, Gardner was never content to simply be a pretty face on the screen. She was fiercely independent and had a strong sense of feminism that was ahead of its time. In a 1953 interview, she famously said, “I’m tired of playing the stooge. I want to be the boss.”

 

Love and Heartbreak

Gardner’s personal life was just as fascinating as her career. She was married three times, to actor Mickey Rooney, bandleader Artie Shaw, and singer Frank Sinatra. Her relationship with Sinatra, in particular, was one of the most talked-about and tumultuous in Hollywood history. Despite the heartbreak and turmoil, Gardner never lost her sense of humor. In one interview, she quipped, “I wish to live until 150 years old, but the day I die, I wish it to be with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.”

 

Legacy and Inspiration

Although Gardner passed away in 1990, her legacy continues to inspire people around the world. Her beauty, talent, independence, and wit are qualities that many still aspire to today. Perhaps one of her most famous quotes sums it up best: “I’m a nice girl, but I’m also a little bit of a tough broad.”

 

Conclusion

Ava Gardner was a Hollywood icon who embodied grace, beauty, talent, and independence. Her inspiring quotes continue to teach us valuable lessons today about ambition, feminism, love, and resilience. Whether you’re a fan of classic Hollywood films or simply looking for some inspiration, there’s no denying the enduring appeal of Ava Gardner.

 

Phrases

-When I’m old and gray, I want to have a house by the sea. And paint. With a lot of wonderful chums, good music, and booze around. And a damn good kitchen to cook in.

-I wish to live to 150 years old, but the day I die, I wish it to be with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.

-Women’s liberation as a movement makes some valid points. But in the final analysis, it doesn’t matter who wears the pants – as long as there’s money in the pockets.

-It’s a pity nobody believes in simple lust anymore.

-I do everything for a reason. Most of the time the reason is money.

-Elizabeth Taylor is not beautiful, she is pretty—I was beautiful.

-Don’t think for a minute that bad publicity and endless criticism don’t leave their claw marks on everyone concerned. Your friends try to cheer you up by saying lightly, “I suppose you get used to it, and ignore it.” You try. You try damned hard. But you never get used to it. It always wounds and hurts.

-If I had my life to live over again, I’d live it the same way. Maybe a few changes here or there, but nothing special. The truth is, honey, I’ve enjoyed my life. I’ve had a hell of a good time.

-Love is nothing but a pain in the ass

-I’ve certainly never taken the care of myself that I should have. On the contrary. I’ve done a lot of late nights without enough sleep and all that. But I’ve had fun. Whatever wrinkles are there, I’ve enjoyed getting them.

-Fame gives you everything you never wanted.

-Deep down, I’m pretty superficial.

-When I lose my temper, honey, you can’t find it any place.

-Doing nothing feels like floating on warm water to me. Delightful, perfect.

-All I have going is my looks. When my beauty goes, I’m through.

-Although no one believes me, I have always been a country girl and still have a country girl’s values

-What I’d really like to say about stardom is that it gave me everything I never wanted.

-After my screen test, the director clapped his hands gleefully and yelled: “She can’t talk! She can’t act! She’s sensational!”

-I don’t mind growing old. If I have to go before my time, this is how I’ll go– cigarette in one hand, glass of scotch in the other.

-I want to remember it all, the good times and the bad times, the late nights, the boozing, the dancing into dawns, and all the great and not-so-great people I met and loved in those years.

-Petting is the study of the anatomy in braille.

-Sex isn’t all that important, but it is when you love someone very much.

-Because I was promoted as a sort of a siren and played all those sexy broads, people made the mistake of thinking I was like that off the screen. They couldn’t have been more wrong

-Hollywood – that’s a place where love is viewed both pragmatically and philosophically in the saying, ‘Tis better to have loved and divorced than never to have had any publicity at all.

-For the loot, honey, for the loot.

-Maybe, in the final analysis, they saw me as something I wasn’t and I tried to turn them into something they could never be. I loved them all but maybe I never understood any of them. I don’t think they understood me.

-Fame and fortune does not mean anything if you don’t have a happy home.

-I am deeply superficial.

-Sing me not a song; let me hear your recital of veneration and respect; this I will listen to over and over when I share your need of pleasing.

-I either write the book or sell the jewels. And I’m kinda sentimental about the jewels.

-Oh, what the hell did I know? I went to the set the first day in full makeup and the director told me to take it off. So I did the film without makeup. I had nothing to do with anything I did. I never understood why I was so famous.

-I think the main reason my marriages failed is that I always loved too well but never wisely.

-I hate cheating. I won’t put up with it. I don’t do it myself.

-I have only one rule in acting – trust the director and give him heart and soul.

-I must have seen more sunrises than any other actress in the history of Hollywood.

-I haven’t taken an overdose of sleeping pills and called my agent. I haven’t been in jail, and I don’t go running to the psychiatrist every two minutes. That’s something of an accomplishment these days.

-So this was where lust was satisfied. If I’d been an old-time miner I’d have asked for my gold nugget back.

-I thought I was making fifty dollars a week [at MGM], but it turned out to be $35 because twelve weeks of the year you were on layoff. It was white slavery, and it lasted for seventeen years.

-He will always be my Sir Galahad.

-I was lazy. I would have been a hell of a lot better actress had I taken it more seriously. I never had the proper respect for acting. Quite often, I learned my lines on the way to the studio.

-I was never an actress — none of us kids at Metro were. We were just good to look at.

-God knows I’ve got so many frailties myself, I ought to be able to understand and forgive them in others. But I don’t.

-I suffered, I really suffered, with all three of my husbands. And I tried damn hard with all three, starting each marriage certain that it was going to last until the end of my life. Yet none of them lasted more than a year or two.

-And the news got worse. It appeared that there was this whole other person Jesus Christ whose birthday a lot of people tended to confuse with mine. I was personally outraged. It was a long time before I forgave the Lord for that.

-I couldn’t imagine a better place [Australia] for making a film on the end of the world.