On December 24, 1922, Ava Gardner was born into a Southern
sharecropper's family in Smithfield, North Carolina. Her incredible
beauty during her high school years attracted so much attention
that she was invited to New York City at age 18 to take a screen
test. Signed by MGM, she studied acting in the early 1940s while
appearing in a number of bit roles. By the 1950s, her sexy voice,
seductive manner, and irreverent style made her one of the
best-known actresses of her era (she was nominated for a Best
Actress award in 1953 for her performance opposite Clark Gable in
"Mogambo"). She was briefly married to Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra,
and three separate times to Mickey Rooney. She authored two of
filmdom's most famous oxymoronic observations:

"Deep down, I'm pretty superficial."