Golden Age of Hollywood: Films, Books and Stars of Classic Hollywood

Ava Gardner in Bhowani Junction (1956)

Scandals and rivalries / Ava Gardner

“You’re a symbol!”: Why Ava Gardner married Mickey Rooney when MGM wanted them apart

Ava Gardner married Mickey Rooney in 1942 because he kept asking, not because she loved him. MGM, protecting Andy Hardy, held the wedding in a remote town.

3 min read

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Scandals and rivalries / Frank Sinatra
Why did Frank Sinatra divorce Mia Farrow?
The sources give no stated cause for the split. They do hold Sinatra’s own prediction of a short marriage, as his daughter recalled it in 2015, and Farrow’s 2013 claim that the two never really parted.
4 min read · 26 Oct 2026
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Star profile / Ava Gardner
How Ava Gardner’s character dies in The Barefoot Contessa, and how Gardner herself died in 1990
Maria Vargas, the Madrid dancer turned film star Gardner played in 1954, is murdered by her jealous husband. Gardner died of pneumonia in London in January 1990, and the rain at her funeral put some mourners in mind of the film.
6 min read · 25 Oct 2026
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Scandals and rivalries / Ava Gardner
Why Ava Gardner left Frank Sinatra in 1953, just as his comeback began
Gardner carried Sinatra through his worst years with her money and her influence, then walked out within three months of his return. She gave two reasons: success had made him arrogant again, and one phone call.
8 min read · 24 Oct 2026
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Scandals and rivalries / Ava Gardner
How Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra met: a nightclub in 1943, then MGM in 1949
Gardner and Sinatra first met in 1943, when she was out at a club with Mickey Rooney. Their affair only started six years later, after a second meeting at MGM, and it ended Sinatra’s first marriage.
6 min read · 23 Oct 2026
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Star profile / Frank Sinatra
How Frank Sinatra died in 1998
CNN reported in May 1998 that Frank Sinatra died of a heart attack at 82, and his family said his last words were “I’m losing.” This is the dated record of the vigil, the funeral Mass and the private burial.
5 min read · 23 Oct 2026
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