There is something so mesmerizing and beautiful about Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner's passionate
– albeit tragic – love story.
Among all of the Old Hollywood romances, there is a glimmer of something special in their
romance that made it stand out from the myriad of other star-studded flings, affairs, and
marriages of the era.
Join Facts Verse as we take a closer look at Sinatra and Gardner's relationship and
what inevitably caused it to crumble.
Gardner Was Initially Put Off By Sinatra's Reputation
The two stars first got acquainted in the early 1940s on the MGM lot.
Sinatra had already established himself by that point as a star crooner, though at the
time, he seemed to merely admire the young, up-and-coming starlet with the sparkling green
eyes from a distance.
Gardner, however, immediately brushed Sinatra off as just another arrogant, cocky, and overpowering
playboy whom she wanted nothing to do with.
Her feelings on Ol' Blue Eyes would eventually soften though after they met once again in
1948 and started spending a great deal of time with each other.
Gardner was just 23 but had already been married and divorced twice.
Her first husband was Mickey Rooney, whom she had tied the knot with while she was still
in her teens.
Her second husband was a bandleader named Artie Shaw, but that marriage proved yet again
to be unfruitful.
Sinatra likewise had already had been married.
He and Nancy Barbato exchanged vows in 1939 and proceeded to have three children together.
Not able to resist the temptations that come along with being rich and famous, Sinatra
eagerly indulged in extramarital affairs with admiring women who readily threw themselves
at him.
From this point onward, it was a well-known fact that he was a bit of a philanderer.
One of his notable flings was with the actress Lana Turner, who just like Gardner, had also
been married previously to Artie Shaw.
They Bonded Over Mutual Interests
Gardner and Sinatra came to find that they had many things in common.
A few of their shared interests included things like jazz music, booze, and sex.
But not only did they share similar tastes when it came to indulgences and life's pleasures,
but they had yet another thing in common – unfortunately, this thing would also prove to be their most
problematic area of overlap.
Ava and Frank both were deeply insecure individuals who couldn't stand being alone.
They also later found that they were both prone to fits of anger.
If that's not a recipe for trouble then we don't know what is.
At first, both stars were keen on keeping their affair out of the public eye, so they
met up as discretely as possible.
Quickly, however, their circle of friends and colleagues began to notice that they could
be quite toxic in each other's company.
They earned a reputation for having the fieriest of fights over the littlest of things whenever
they were together.
Even so, it was clear that they were deeply attracted to each other.
As time went on, they seemed to lose concern over what would happen if their scandalous
affair became a matter of public knowledge.
It could have potentially been damaging to their careers, but the flames of passion superseded
all caution.
In 1950, they were finally exposed when a photograph of them canoodling together at
the London Palladium was published in various tabloids and magazines.
Sinatra's Career Took The Biggest Hit
Some of Sinatra's more conservative admirers and fans were offended by him being unfaithful
to his wife.
They also took offense to him cheating on his wife with a woman that already had a reputation
for being morally bankrupt.
The blowback of negative publicity plummeted Sinatra into a downward spiral that would
ultimately lead him to lose both his film and recording contracts.
It would be pretty safe to assume that this unfortunate turn had a nasty impact on both
Sinatra's pride and the overall well-being of he and Gardner as a couple.
The following year, heartbroken and no doubt angry, Nancy Barbato rather reluctantly granted
Frank a divorce.
As soon as the divorce proceedings wrapped up, he and Gardner got married in a private
ceremony in Pennsylvania.
Their honeymoon period, however, would quickly come to an end when Gardner received a letter
in the mail from a sex worker who claimed to have been sleeping with her new husband
for the last several months.
That piece of correspondence and the startling news that it contained would leave Gardner
with many questions about Sinatra's faithfulness towards her.
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Sinatra's Suicide Attempt Shook Ava To The Bone
In late summer 1951, Gardner and Sinatra were drinking copious quantities of champagne and
liquor at the Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe, California – a casino-hotel where the 'My
Way' crooner was a shareholder of and would often perform – when they got into a heated
argument.
About fifteen minutes after they had exchanged a few verbal blows, Sinatra washed down a
handful of powerful sleeping pills with another guzzle of champagne.
After he had come to, Ava was in his bedroom, justifiably worried as can be.
She quickly forgave him, but that suicide attempt would only be the first of many.
A few weeks later, he would try to take his life at his house and not long after that
he would try to off himself yet again during another one of their notoriously explosive
fights.
Gardner Was No Saint
Ava absolutely loathed spending time on movie sets, and she would regularly have one-night
stands with whoever she pleased.
Sinatra, if it hasn't already been well-established, was also no stranger to infidelity.
On one notable occasion, he intentionally re-ignited his old fling with Laura Turner
to spite Ava.
In '53, Sinatra went out to Africa to visit Gardner on the set of the film Mogambo.
That's when she revealed to him that she had become pregnant with his child.
Frank was overjoyed by this news but Gardner clandestinely booked a flight back to London
to have an abortion without his knowledge.
When filming of Mogambo had wrapped up, Ava traveled to Madrid, where she pursued a steamy
affair with a Spanish bullfighter named Luis Miguel Dominguin.
The following year, she filed for divorce from Sinatra.
Sinatra Didn't Take The News Very Well
Brokenhearted and despondent upon learning that his wife wanted out of their marriage,
Frank cut his wrists, presumably hoping that he would wake up to find Ava sitting by his
side at the hospital.
This time, however, Gardner would never show up.
Even though he had to go against everything inside of him telling him not to, Frank granted
Ava the divorce she wanted in 1957.
Up until that point, Sinatra had tried everything he could think of to win her back, but it
had become crystal clear that she had made up her mind.
That year, he put out an album titled Where Are You?, a collection of sad ballads in which
he expressed his grief and heartache.
Always eager to capitalize on a star's suffering, the media shamelessly covered every last bit
of Sinatra and Gardner's breakup.
While Frank no doubt resented this, the press coverage did manage to humanize and soften
his arrogant image in the public eye.
With an unexpected revival in popularity, Frank went on to land the role as Maggio in
1953s From Here To Eternity.
This billing led to him receiving critical acclaim, earning himself an Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actor, while finally being praised as a serious actor.
Years later, while Frank was filming 1965's Von Ryan's Express in Rome, Sinatra invited
Ava to pay him a visit at the villa he was staying in.
Those that joined the two stars for dinner that evening reported that it was quite obvious
that Frank was trying to rekindle their romance.
One actor in attendance, Brad Dexter, was later quoted as saying that it was excruciating
to watch Sinatra witness the woman he considered to be the 'love of his life' drowning herself
in the bottle.
Gardner's Star Faded – As Did Her Health
In the years since their divorce, Gardner had fallen deep into alcoholism.
Even though she was the one that initiated the divorce, sources closest to her claimed
that she took the most significant emotional blow from the breakup.
As the sands of time continued to fall, Ava's looks and fame had faded.
In the end, she would recluse herself and lived the remainder of her days out of the
spotlight.
After having a stroke, she even stopped taking phone calls from most people.
She would, however, pick up the receiver for her old flame, Frank, who had to do all the
talking since she had lost most of her ability to communicate.
The nurses would have to hold the phone up for her.
Frank would simply tell her repeatedly how awful aging was and how much he loved her.
Gardner died on the 25th of January, 1990, at the age of 67.
Frank died eight years later at the age of 82.
It's said that Ava Gardner kept a framed photo of her and Frank from back in their heyday
on her bedside table right up until her death.
Love is a funny and fickle thing.
Sometimes, people that seem to be each other's perfect matches aren't actually compatible
when it comes to living with each other.
Do you think that Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra would have had a healthier relationship if
they hadn't had to contend with the pressures and pitfalls of fame?
And do you think they really were each other's soulmates?
Let us know in the comments.
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Video Description
Do you believe in soulmates?
And do you think that it's possible that Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner were in fact each
other's 'twin flames'?
Let us know in the comments.
There is something so mesmerizing and beautiful about Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner's passionate
– albeit tragic – love story.
Among all of the Old Hollywood romances, there is a glimmer of something special in their
romance that made it stand out from the myriad of other star-studded flings, affairs, and
marriages of the era.
Sinatra and Gardner were married in 1951 and stayed together for six years before divorcing
in 1957.
Ava was the one that initiated the divorce, but those that were closest to her said that
she took the breakup the hardest.
That's not to say that Sinatra took the news well when he found out that his green-eyed
wife wanted out of their marriage.
He was devastated and even attempted to take his own life over it.
He hoped that Ava would be by his side after he came to at the hospital following his suicide
attempt, but she never showed up.
Ultimately, Sinatra received a great deal of press coverage throughout the divorce which
led him to experience a resurgence in popularity.
He would go on to enjoy a rich and rewarding film career and would release several more
chart-topping albums.
Even so, he never stopped loving Gardner, and in her own way, she never stopped loving
him.
So, why on earth did the two love birds ever break up in the first place?
Join Facts Verse as we attempt to figure out this somewhat hard-to-answer question.