Ava Gardner: The Movie Star's Life In Pictures

Ava Gardner (1922-1990) is a true icon of Hollywood's golden age. The legendary actress was at the height of her fame in the 1940s and '50s as a film noir and drama star. But the femme fatale continued acting until just a few years before she sadly died at age 67.

Off-screen, Gardner was also known for headline-making relationships with stars including Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra. In this gallery, we're looking back at the life and career of Ava Gardner, from her early movie days through stardom and her personal life.

Ava Lavinia Gardner was born on Dec. 24, 1922, in Grabtown, North Carolina. Her acting career began in 1941 with an MGM Studios contract, which was secured after a chance discovery of a portrait she'd posed for in a photography studio.

She's seen here in a 1942 MGM publicity shot. Around this time, Gardner appeared in many films in small, uncredited parts before breaking through in the mid-1940s.

Before she was acting in well-known films, Ava Gardner was already married (and divorced, shortly after) to Andy Hardy film star Mickey Rooney. They tied the knot in 1942, but broke it off the next year, with Gardner accusing Rooney of infidelity and cruelty. Gardner was the first of eight marriages for Rooney.

Gardner rose to her first credited parts after 1942. Three Men in White, from 1944, was one of her first starring roles. She was 21 when she played "Jean Brown" in the comedy-drama, seen here with co-star Van Johnson.

Still prior to her career breakthrough, Gardner was married for a second time, to musician Artie Shaw, who was 12 years her senior. Like her first marriage, Gardner was with Shaw for only one year. They're pictured here on their 1945 wedding day.

Ava Gardner had already appeared in few dozen films by the mid-1940s, but her breakthrough came in 1946's The Killers. She played the femme fatale "Kitty Collins" in the classic film noir, which remains her best-known work today.

Burt Lancaster co-starred in the film, based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway.

Though Gardner is a legendary actress, her work was met with surprisingly little attention during awards season. In the years after The Killers, Gardner would land her first and only Oscar nomination for 1953's Mogambo (pictured here).

However, she was a three-time BAFTA nominee and also received a Golden Globe nomination for her work in 1964's The Night of the Iguana. 

In the 1950s, Gardner entered her third and most famous marriage: to Frank Sinatra. They wedded in 1951. But the union came with some public outcry, because Sinatra had left his first wife, Nancy Barbato, to get with Gardner.

Looking back, Gardner and Sinatra stand out as a uniquely-talented power couple of Hollywood's golden age. They were married for six years before Gardner divorced the singer-actor in 1957. It was her final marriage.

Throughout the 1950s and '60s, Gardner solidified her status as one of Hollywood's top talents. In these decades, she gave some of her best-known performances in On the Beach, The Barefoot Contessa, The Night of the Iguana, and Seven Days in May (pictured here).