I'm really not interested in the Hollywood scene as it is today - celebrities being 'celebrated' for their bad behaviour doesn't sit well with me. However, there are some legendary Hollywood 'stars' who were amazing in their day. In the tiny community of Grabtown, North Carolina, a star was born and her name was Ava Gardner. This past weekend on our trip through the town of Smithfield, we visited the museum dedicated to her - home to an incredible collection of original scripts, photos, movie posters, costumes and personal effects - Ava's story was a true Hollywood 'Cinderella Story".
We viewed an extremely well made film showing Ava with most of Hollywood's top male stars, including those whom she married (Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra). Here are some photos depicting her rise from little country girl to famous movie star.
Below - a watch given Ava by Frank Sinatra.
The museum has done a great display of costumes from several of Ava's films - behind glass so a little blurry here.
Note the teeny tiny waistline of this exquisite black velvet gown - Ava was definitely petite!
Below is Ava's beautiful china from her London home, along with some decorative items. She spent her last years living in London, becoming a close friend of the famous British poet, Robert Graves who actually wrote poems dedicated to her.
Sadly the days of the true Hollywood *star* seemed to have passed - they certainly were legends, both female and male, and I still think their movies were the best!
-crop.JPG)
