- Paperback: 144 pages
- Publisher: Down Home Press (April 13 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1878086898
- ISBN-13: 978-1878086891
- Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 15.2 x 0.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
At age nine, Ava Gardner went to the Howell Theater in Smithfield, North Carolina, with her mother Mollie to see her mother's favorite movie star Clark Gable starring as a safari leader in Africa with Jean Harlow in Red Dust. Twenty years later Ava would find herself in Jean Harlow's role in a remake of that story Mogambo, with none other than Clark Gable.
That such a thing could happen to a country girl from North Carolina was beyond the imagination not only of Ava but of everybody who knew her. But people learned to expect the unexpected from Ava. By 13, she'd decided she wanted to be a movie star, and at 18 she joked with friends that she was going to marry the biggest star in Hollywood. She did both, and went on to become one of the most famous women of the 20th century.
How did a shy, tomboyish farm girl do that?
Doris Rollins Cannon spent years interviewing family, friends, teachers and others who knew Ava to determine the forces that drove her, the values that guided her. She found they were firmly grounded in her North Carolina roots.
"She endured in a profession in which only the strong survive," Cannon writes. "And she survived, not because she overcame her rural North Carolina background-but because she drew her strength from it."
Much has been written about Ava's legendary life, but the material in this book, never before told, adds a new and moving dimension to her story. It includes letters and photographs never before published.
About the Author
Doris Rollins Cannon, a retired newspaper journalist, is chairman emeritus of the Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield, North Carolina. She lives in Clayton.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but not too substantial,
By Quarter Irish "4irish" (Rockville MD) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Grabtown Girl: Ava Gardner's North Carolina Childhood and Her Enduring Ties to Home (Paperback)
It's difficult to juxtapose a breathtakingly beautiful legendary movie goddess with a simple country childhood, so it's therefore hard to portray Ava Gardner in both worlds.I give the author credit for being very straightforward with the simple known facts about Ava's childhood and early life in North Carolina. She didn't indulge in wild speculation, nor did she attribute thoughts or qualities to Ava that coudn't be verified. Instead, she told the simple story of Ava's simple life, documented by interviews with Ava's childhood friends, some family members, and letters written by young Ava. This book portrays a rather sweet and simple childhood for Ava, not too many traumas (other than losing her beloved father at a young age). They were not dirt-poor hillbillies, which is the image that Ava sometimes invested herself with when it suited her purposes. Piedmont-area North Carolina is not hillbilly country. I would have liked the book to have had much more substance, and I was particularly interested in knowing more about the lives of her siblings, of which only the briefest of portraits were given in this book.
5.0 out of 5 stars
New Perspective For Life Story of a Star,
By
This review is from: Grabtown Girl: Ava Gardner's North Carolina Childhood and Her Enduring Ties to Home (Paperback)
This biography is intensely researched and informative. The story is exactly what the title states, "Ava Gardner's North Carolina Childhood and Her Enduring Ties To Home". This biography puts most of its focus on Ava's childhood and how it shaped her attitudes toward her life and her fame. Although the last third of the book overviews her life as a star, if you are looking for a detailed account of Ava's Hollywood life, this is not the book for you. This is simply the story (told mainly through antecdotes and memories of family and friends) of a woman with strong roots who happened to become a movie star but who never forgot where she came from. The author introduces the reader to Ava's North Carolina family and friends and I love the fact that she tells the reader what happened to everyone mentioned in the book. I have a whole new respect and perspective for Ava Gardner. I was really struck by the fact that even though Ava became a big star, she never thought of herself as any better than anyone else and continued to be a loving and supportive friend, sister, and aunt. The book is short (about 130 pages, I read it in two nights, maybe took 3 hours total) and has some great pictures throughout. I highly recommend it!!!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book,
By Reader (Pinconning, MI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Grabtown Girl: Ava Gardner's North Carolina Childhood and Her Enduring Ties to Home (Paperback)
It's a great book. Just great! 5 stars for the Author and the Book!
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