Old Radio

December 24: Happy Birthday Ava Gardner ! Ava Gardner was a famous American actress born on December 24th, 1922. She went to Hollywood in 1941 on a contract with MGM, but she was originally unable to separate herself from the crowd of pretty girls working for the company. Gardner was called for some movies, but mostly as just a pretty face in the background. The Killers was Gardner’s first real cinema hit. She played opposite Burt Lancaster, and her sexy role helped her to quickly establish herself as a femme fatale . As a way to support her movie career, Gardner made many appearances on radio. Appearing on Suspense helped to solidify her new role as a sex icon, while her performance on Lux Radio Theater in the show Showboat brought many people into the theater. Ava also did some work supporting the troops, hosting a post-war broadcast of Command Performance as well as a pair of shows with Bob Hope on base visits. Ava Gardner 's marriage life was certainly tumultuo