'statuesque'

one could do worse than name their daughter ava. aside from it being a lovely name, it was made famous by one of most beautiful actresses in hollywood. ava gardner hailed from the south and brought her accent along with a love of cigarettes, men, and liquor. unabashedly honest about herself, she must have made some interesting friends. her and writer hemingway were close and she appeared in three filmns based on his books. she adored director john huston. marriages, lovers, a reputation for being lovely to go to bed with but awful to wake up to never seemed to make her bitter. she had a smashing career and seemed to take it all in stride.
she was nominated for an academy award for the 1953 film 'mogambo.' she is so ridiculously gorgeous in this movie that i actually shake my head while watching some scenes.

here is a darling quote:

Ava Gardner: Maybe I just didn't have the temperament for stardom. I'll never forget seeing Bette Davis at the Hilton in Madrid. I went up to her and said, "Miss Davis, I'm Ava Gardner and I'm a great fan of yours." And do you know, she behaved exactly as I wanted her to behave. "Of course you are, my dear," she said. "Of course you are."

photo: ava with burt lancaster in 'the killers.'