Glenn Close

Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947 is an American film, television and stage actress. She is best known for her roles as a femme fatale—the scheming Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and deranged stalker Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction (1987)—as well as Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996), and its sequel 102 Dalmatians (2000). She has been more recently known for her Emmy and Golden Globe winning role as Patty Hewes in the FX TV series Damages. She has been nominated six times for an Oscar, three times for a Grammy Award and once for a BAFTA Film Award, and has won three Tonys, an Obie, three Emmys, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Early life and family

Close was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the daughter of Bettine (née Moore) and William Taliaferro Close, a doctor who operated a clinic in the Belgian Congo and served as a personal physician to Congo/Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko. Her parents came from prominent families. Her father was a descendant of the Taliaferros of Virginia; her paternal grandfather, Edward Bennett Close, a stockbroker and director of the American Hospital Association, was first married to Post Cereals' heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. Close is also a second cousin once-removed of actress Brooke Shields (Shields's great-grandmother Mary Elsie Moore was a sister of Close's maternal grandfather, Charles Arthur Moore, Jr.).
During her childhood, Close lived with her parents in a stone cottage on her maternal grandfather's estate, in Greenwich. Close has credited her early years for her acting abilities: "I have no doubt that the days I spent running free in the evocative Connecticut countryside with an unfettered imagination, playing whatever character our games demanded, is one of the reasons that acting has always seemed so natural to me."When she was seven years old, her parents joined a "cult group", the Moral Re-Armament, in which her family remained involved for fifteen years, living in communal centers. Close has stated that the family "struggled to survive the pressures of a culture that dictated everything about how we lived our lives." Close traveled for several years in the mid-to-late 1960s with an MRA singing group called "Up With People", and attended Rosemary Hall (now Choate Rosemary Hall), graduating in 1965. When she was 22, Close broke away from MRA, attending The College of William and Mary, and majoring in theatre. It was in the College's theatre department that she began to train as a serious actor, under Howard Scammon. She was elected to membership in the honor society of Phi Beta Kappa.

Career

Film and television

Glenn Close in 2009.

Close started her professional stage career in 1974, and her film work in 1982. She has been nominated for six Academy Awards, for Best Actress in Dangerous Liaisons, Fatal Attraction, and Albert Nobbs and for Best Supporting Actress in The Natural, The Big Chill and The World According to Garp (her first film).In 1984, Close starred in the critically acclaimed drama Something about Amelia, a Golden Globe-winning television movie about a family destroyed by sexual abuse. In 1987 she played the disturbed book editor Alex in Fatal Attraction', and in 1988 she played the scheming aristocrat The Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons. She played the role of Sunny von Bülow in the 1990 film Reversal of Fortune to critical acclaim.
In the 1990s, she starred in the highly rated presentation of the 1991 Hallmark Hall of Fame drama Sarah, Plain and Tall (and its two sequels) and also in the made-for-TV movie Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995); from these roles, she was nominated for 8 Emmys (winning one) and 9 Golden Globes (winning one in 2005 and 2007). She also appeared in the newsroom comedy-drama The Paper (1994), the alien invasion satire Mars Attacks! (1996, as The First Lady), the Disney hit 101 Dalmatians (1996, as the sinister Cruella de Vil) and its sequel 102 Dalmatians (2000), and the blockbuster Air Force One (1997), as the trustworthy vice-president to Harrison Ford's president. In 2001, she starred in a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical South Pacific. In 2005, Close joined the FX crime series The Shield, in which she played a no-nonsense precinct captain. She starred in a series of her own for 2007, Damages (also on FX) instead of continuing her character on The Shield. Close won the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama series for her role in Damages. In an interview after her win, Close admitted her role of Patty Hewes in the series was the role of her life. Also in 2009, she narrated the environmental film Home. Glenn Close has hosted Saturday Night Live twice-once in 1989 and in 1992.
In December 2010, Close began filming Albert Nobbs in Dublin. She had previously won an Obie in 1982 for her role in the play on stage. She had been working on the film for 10 years, and aside from starring in it, co-wrote the screenplay and produced the film. She stated at a press conference held on December 9, 2010 in Dublin, a couple of days before shooting began, "I believe in this story and its potential to take everyone on a sensuous, funny, heart-breaking, wildly unexpected ride".
In the film, Close played the title role of Albert Nobbs, a woman living her life as a man in 1800s Ireland after being sexually assaulted as a young girl. For the film, Close sat through hours of makeup to transform herself into a man. While the film itself received mixed reviews, Close and Janet McTeer received rave reviews for their performances. Close's performance was noted for being her most subtle and introverted performance yet and a departure from her other roles. Close received Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and multiple critics nominations for her performance in Albert Nobbs. On January 24, 2012, Close received her sixth Academy Award nomination, for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, for her performance. The film also received nominations for Best Supporting Actress for McTeer and Best Makeup.
Some of 2011's stand-out film actors appeared in "a video gallery of cinematic villainy" for New York Times Magazine. Close played Theda Bara, a silent film diva mostly known as the first movie "vamp".

Stage

Close has had an extensive career performing in Broadway musicals. One of her most notable roles on stage was Norma Desmond in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of Sunset Boulevard, for which Close won a Tony award, playing the role on Broadway in 1994. Close was also a guest star at the Andrew Lloyd Webber fiftieth birthday party celebration in the Royal Albert Hall in 1998. She appeared as Norma Desmond and performed songs from Sunset Boulevard. In addition to Sunset Boulevard, Close also won Tony Awards in 1984 for The Real Thing, and in 1992 for Death and the Maiden.
Close performed at Carnegie Hall, narrating the violin concerto The Runaway Bunny, a concerto for reader, violin and orchestra, composed and conducted by Glen Roven.

Personal life

Glenn Close at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

In February 2006, Close married her longtime boyfriend David E. (Evans) Shaw in Maine. Close was previously married to Cabot Wade (1969–1973) and James Marlas (1984–1987). She has a daughter, Annie Starke, from her previous relationship with John Starke that ended in 1991. She has donated money to the election campaigns of many Democratic politicians, including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Howard Dean, John Edwards and Barack Obama. Close is a dog lover and writes a blog for Fetchdog.com, where she interviews other famous people about their relationships with their dogs. Close announced to the public that she has had her DNA sequenced







Filmography and awards
Film Year Title Role Notes/Awards
1982 The World According to Garp Jenny Fields Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (2nd place)
1983 The Big Chill Sarah Cooper Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1984 The Natural Iris Gaines Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1984 The Stone Boy Ruth Hillerman
1984 Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes Jane Porter dubbed Andie MacDowell's voice
1985 Maxie Jan / Maxie Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress
1985 Jagged Edge Teddy Barnes
1987 Fatal Attraction Alexandra "Alex" Forrest People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actress
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1988 Dangerous Liaisons Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
1988 Light Years Queen Ambisextra (voice) French title: Gandahar
1989 Immediate Family Linda Spector
1990 Hamlet Queen Gertrude
1990 Reversal of Fortune Sunny von Bulow
1991 Hook Gutless Cameo
1991 Meeting Venus Karin Anderson Venice Film Festival: Golden Ciak for Best Actress
1993 The House of the Spirits Ferula Trueba
1994 The Paper Alicia Clark
1996 Mars Attacks! First Lady Marsha Dale
1996 101 Dalmatians Cruella de Vil Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor/Actress – Family
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1996 Mary Reilly Mrs. Farraday
1997 In & Out Herself cameo appearance
1997 Air Force One Vice President Kathryn Bennett Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress – Action/Adventure
1997 Paradise Road Adrienne Pargiter
1999 Cookie's Fortune Camille Dixon
1999 Tarzan Kala voice
2000 102 Dalmatians Cruella de Vil Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2000 Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her Dr. Elaine Keener
2001 South Pacific
2001 The Safety of Objects Esther Gold
2003 Le Divorce Olivia Pace
2003 Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio The Blue Fairy English voice
2004 Heights Diana
2004 The Stepford Wives Claire Wellington
2005 Tarzan II Kala voice
2005 The Chumscrubber Carrie Johnson
2005 Nine Lives Maggie Locarno International Film Festival: Bronze Leopard Award for Best Actress (Shared with the film's ensemble of actresses)
Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast
2006 Hoodwinked! Granny voice
2007 Evening Mrs. Wittenborn
2010 Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil Granny voice
2011 Albert Nobbs Albert Nobbs Also producer, screenplay and author of the lyrics of the song "Lay Your Head Down"
AARP's Movies for Grownups Awards for Best Actress
Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Female Icon Award
Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Most Egregious Love Interest Age Difference Award Shared with Mia Wasikowska
Irish Film & Television Award for Best International Actress
Satellite Award for Best Original Song
Tokyo International Film Festival for Best Actress
Women Film Critics Circle for Courage in Acting - Taking on unconventional roles that radically redefine the images of women on screen
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Irish Film & Television Award for Best Film
Nominated—Irish Film & Television Award for Best Script for Film
Nominated—AACTA International Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Actress Defying Age and Ageism
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Nominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Song
Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—Women Film Critics Circle for Women's Work: Best Ensemble
2013 Thérèse Raquin Madame Raquin Pre-production
Documentary Year Title Role Notes
1990 Divine Garbo Herself Greta Garbo documentary
1999 The Lady with the Torch Herself-host The 75th Anniversary of Columbia Pictures
2001 Welcome to Hollywood Herself
2003 What I Want My Words to Do to You: Voices from Inside a Women's Maximum Security Prison Herself
2003 A Closer Walk Narrator Robert Bilheimer film. AIDS epidemic.
2007 Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age Herself
2009 Home Narrator Yann Arthus-Bertrand film.
2011 Pax Director and executive producer
Television Year Title Role Notes/Awards
1975 The Rules of the Game Neighbor
1979 Too Far to Go Rebecca Kuehn
1979 Orphan Train Jessica
1982 The Elephant Man Princess Alexandra
1984 Something About Amelia Gail Bennett Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film
1988 Stones for Ibarra Sara Everton
1990 She'll Take Romance
1991 Sarah, Plain and Tall Sarah Wheaton Also executive producer
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film
1993 Skylark Sarah Witting Also executive producer
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
1995 Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer Also executive producer
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Female Actor - Miniseries or Television Film
1995 The Simpsons (1995–2012) Mona Simpson
1997 In the Gloaming Janet CableACE Awardfor Guest Actress in a Dramatic Special or Series
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Female Actor - Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
1999 Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End Sarah Witting Also executive producer
2000 Baby Adult Sophie (narrator)
2001 The Ballad of Lucy Whipple Arvella Whipple Also executive producer
2001 South Pacific Nellie Forbush Also executive producer
2002 Will and Grace Fanny Lieber Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series
2003 Brush with Fate Cornelia Engelbrecht
2004 The Lion in Winter Eleanor of Aquitaine Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Female Actor - Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
2004 Strip Search Karen Moore
2004 The West Wing Evelyn Baker Lang
2005 The Shield Captain Monica Rawling Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama
2007–
present Damages Patty Hewes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series (Won 2008–2009, Nominated in 2010)
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama (Won 2008, Nominated 2010)
Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Female Lead in a Drama Series
Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama (Nominated 2007–2008, Won 2009)
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012)
Nominated—Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama (2008–2009)

Send In the Clowns - Glenn Close

Glenn Close sings a touching version of Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" from his 1973 musical "A Little Night Music."

Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra

The sexual volcano: Ava Gardner was the one lover Sinatra couldn't tame...and when she spurned him, he slit his wrist in despair

As his singing and cinema career ­flourished, the delectable bodies of the swooning young women all around him proved increasingly irresistible to the 32-year-old Frank Sinatra, ­especially when he looked at his wife Nancy, growing great with child for the third time.
He had never been faithful but now he came and went as he pleased and did exactly what he wanted, with ­whomever he wanted. He dallied with actress Lana Turner and told her he would leave his wife.
But he didn’t. Not for her.

Insatiable: Ava Gardner was regularly unfaithful

One night in 1948 he stood on the terrace of his ­Hollywood bachelor penthouse with his best friend, the songwriter Sammy Cahn, looking down over Sunset Strip.
‘Do you know that Ava Gardner lives down there?’ said Cahn, pointing to a little house nestled into the trees.
The name of the hot young film star stirred Sinatra. He had long lusted after her. With the kind of beauty that comes along once in a hundred years, she transfixed men and women alike. She took her pleasures as she found them — and she found them everywhere.
Cupping his hands to his mouth, he yelled ‘Ava … Ava Gardner!’ his big voice carrying far into the quiet evening. ‘We know you’re down there. Hello, Ava.’
The two men roared with laughter. And then a miracle. Down below, a curtain was drawn, a window opened and Ava stuck her head out. She knew exactly who it was. Sinatra’s voice was unmistakable. She grinned and waved.
Was it an accident that they ran into each other a few days later, in front of her place? And then again in the street? Frank wasn’t usually keen on walking but suddenly he was getting out a lot. The third time, they both began laughing as he said hello.

Icon: in his 1950s heyday, Frank Sinatra could have any woman he wanted

Ava’s eyes searched his. Was he following her? He met her gaze boldly. She put a hand on her shapely hip, ­provocatively. He spoke. ‘Ava, let’s be friends. Why don’t we have dinner tonight?’
He had met her, he remembered, when she was an 18-year-old starlet newly arrived in Hollywood and Mickey Rooney, no less, was madly in love with her. Though she was smokingly sexy, she was just a kid, Sinatra thought at the time, too young for him.
So he was content just to stare at those dazzlingly high cheekbones and haughty green eyes.
He met her again and danced with her in a nightclub when he was with Lana, and she — at 23, divorced from both Rooney and her second husband, the band leader Artie Shaw — was with the ­billionaire tycoon Howard Hughes.
Then ­Sinatra’s friend Peter Lawford brought her to one of his parties. Dark haired with a white fur stole on her wide ­shoulders, he noticed how she prowled with the easy grace of a tigress.
And now, here they were, just the two of them, faced with a decision. ‘I damn well knew he was married,’ Ava recalled, ‘and married men were definitely not high on my hit parade.
‘But he was handsome, with his thin, boyish face, bright blue eyes and ­incredible grin. And he was so ­enthusiastic and invigorated, clearly pleased with life, in general, himself, in particular, and, at that moment, me.’
So began one of Hollywood’s ­legendary pairings of alpha male and female.
That night they went out drinking. Despite her stupendous looks, she had no confidence and alcohol, consumed in quantity, made her forget her deep self-doubt and feel glamorous, ­intelligent, desirable — a person worthy of the ­attentions of Frank Sinatra.
She had always had a thing for ­musicians but he was in a different league. His voice had a quality, she said, ‘I’d only heard in two other people — Judy Garland and Maria Callas. It made me want to cry for happiness, like a beautiful sunset or a boys’ choir singing Christmas carols’.
Now here she was, sitting with him, staring at him. Could she be in love?
Frank took in her stare and told ­himself that here, for the first time in his life, was someone who instinctively knew him and all his secrets.
He took her hand (she kept stealing glances at his hands; they were ­beautiful) and led her to his car. She swore her deepest oath to herself that she would not sleep with him.
And, indeed she didn’t. Not that night. They went to his apartment, kissed and he reached to unzip her dress. And though in most cases she was out of her clothes in a second, with him she hesitated.

The happiest girl in the world: But Ava's 1951 marriage to Frank was doomed from the start

She touched his arm and called him ‘Francis’. No one had ever done that before. Then he took her home.
It was months before they saw each other again, but when they did Frank fell as fast as she did. In a flash, all his discontent alchemised into the most powerful emotion he had ever known.
This time they did make love, and, said Ava: ‘It was magic. We became ­lovers for ever, eternally. Big words, I know, but I truly felt that no matter what happened we would always be in love.’ Frank told Ava: ‘All my life, being a singer was the most important thing in the world. Now you’re all I want.’
He had, at last, found a true partner in the opera that was his life. All his other women had been supporting players, but Ava was a diva with a soul whose turbulence equalled his own. Both ­harboured profound feelings of ­worthlessness, which expressed ­themselves in volcanic furies.
‘We were high-strung people,’ she said. ‘Possessive, jealous and liable to explode fast. When I lose my temper, you can’t find it any place. He’s the same.’
Both had titanic appetites, for food, drink, cigarettes, diversion, companionship and sex. Both loved jazz. Both were politically ­liberal. Both were fascinated with prostitution and perversity. Both ­distrusted sleep, fearing it as death’s mirror. Both hated being alone.
Like him, she was infinitely restless and easily bored. In both, this tendency could lead to casual cruelty to others —and to each other. They quarrelled ­constantly. Friends whose house the lovers met in recalled how Ava would scream at Frank and he would slam the door and storm downstairs.
‘Minutes later we’d smell sweet ­fragrance in the air. Ava had decided she wasn’t mad any more and so she sprayed the stairs with her perfume. Frank would smell it and race back up to the bedroom.’
There was lots of making-up sex, after which they nestled sweetly in each ­other’s arms and swore never to fight again. But the fact was that Frank and Ava were a permanently unstable ­compound and no amount of sex — no matter how spectacular — was ­sufficient to keep them bonded.
Or as Ava later confided: ‘The ­problems were never in bed. The ­problems would start on the way to the bidet.’

 

Ava had trouble with intimacy. When a man fell in love with her, she ­reciprocated for a little while, then she began to torment him.
‘With her acid tongue, she was ­ruthless with him,’ said one friend. ‘I was scared to death of her. I did what I could to stay out of her way.’
For Frank, the similarities with his bullying mother — who used to beat him but whose approval he constantly craved — were scary and exciting.
In their constant battles, jealousy was their emotional ammunition. Frank could trigger it in her with the blink of an eye, so conditioned was he to ­scanning any crowded party for ­gorgeous girls. She was convinced he was ­cheating on her, even when he wasn’t.
Meanwhile, he couldn’t get out of his mind the many other men there had been in her life. Out relaxing on a boat on a lake one day, Frank suddenly said to her: ‘I bet Howard Hughes has got a bigger boat than this. I suppose you wish you were out here with him.’
Ava retorted: ‘I don’t care if he owns the Queen Mary. I’m not sorry I’m not with him. So shut up.’ ‘Don’t tell me to shut up,’ Frank snarled. They were off again.
Despite the difficulties between them, after his divorce from Nancy the couple married. ‘We’re going to redecorate Frank’s home,’ Ava gushed. ‘I’m going to learn to make all his favourite dishes. Mama Sinatra has promised to send the recipes. Oh, it’s all so thrilling and wonderful! Mrs Frank Sinatra is the happiest girl in the world!’
And she was, sometimes. But at other times, as Sammy Cahn’s wife Gloria recalled, being with them ‘was like ­sitting on cracked eggs. You never knew if there were going to be verbal daggers. And Frank was so subservient to her. He was insane about that woman’.
But if it was hard work being married to Ava Gardner, it was just as tough being married to Frank Sinatra.
‘Neither gave an inch,’ a friend of Ava’s said, ‘though Frank worked harder on the marriage than she did. She’s a very ­selfish girl.’
It didn’t help that Frank’s career was on a downward spiral at the time — records not selling, films flopping — while hers was very much on the up. As a foul-mouthed facsimile of his mother, she was the dominant one in the ­relationship. As a sexual volcano, she ruled him in bed. And to top it all off, she was paying the bills while he struggled. The combination was corrosive.

She was not faithful, especially when she was away working. On location for a Western in the foothills of the Rockies, there was nothing to do but drink and have sex. Ava did a lot of the former and some of the latter with the stuntmen, and a little of both with the director.
‘Ava couldn’t be alone,’ said a ­production man on another of her film sets, ‘which is why she had so many affairs. She’d say: “Hey, come on, have a drink with me, I’m bored all by myself.” Then she’d bring back a prop man or whoever to her tent.’
She and Frank celebrated their first anniversary on their way to Africa where she was once again filming.
‘It was quite an occasion for me,’ she recalled. ‘I had been married twice before but never for a whole year.’ But it was increasingly obvious that this one wasn’t going to go the distance either.
They were forever breaking up, then getting back together. They would throw each other’s clothes, books and records out of the windows. The police had to be called more than once. The gossip columns had a field day, ­following their every move, tracking the time they spent together and apart.
Of course, it couldn’t last. Cupid didn’t have enough arrows in his quiver for this pair. And when Ava ­eventually confided to friends that Frank could no longer ­satisfy her sexually, it was clear the glue that held them together was loosening.
Increasingly she signed up for work that took her away from him. In Europe — while Frank was back in the U.S. ­making From Here To Eternity, the film that would put his career back on track — she was pursuing Spain’s best-known bullfighter, Luis Miguel Dominguín, four years her junior.
‘I’ll never figure you broads out,’ her co-star Humphrey Bogart said. ‘Half the world’s female ­population would throw themselves at Frank’s feet and you are flouncing around with guys who wear capes and ­ballerina slippers.’
Frank began to panic as it dawned on him that they might be over. He couldn’t sleep. At five in the morning, he’d pour another whisky and rack his brains for a way to keep her.
He went berserk when he found out from a gossip column that she’d had a drink with his friend Peter ­Lawford. It was innocent,­ but he told Lawford he was sending somebody to break his legs. A friend who had to put up with his ranting said: ‘He’s driving me crazy! Ava, Ava, Ava! A ­billion broads in the world and he picks the one that can take or leave him!’
And leave him is what Ava did, blaming his ­infidelities. Later, she would say: ‘I was ­happier married to Frank than ever before. If I’d been ­willing to share him with other women we could have been happy.’
But, in reality, the break-up was her ­decision. In a desperate bid to keep her, he slit a wrist and was rushed ­semi-conscious to hospital. He imagined her at his ­bedside, her green eyes looking down on him.
But she didn’t come. Against medical advice, he ­discharged ­himself and flew to see her. Realising that playing the ­vulnerable boy wouldn’t work, he shrugged off the bandaged wrist as the result of an accident.
She smiled with relief — not that he was unharmed but because she’d been worried that, seeing him, she might be drawn back into a relationship.
He saw it. He was ­intuitive and especially attuned to the love of his life. As a boy, he had learned to watch his mother closely to figure out whether she was going to hug him or hit him. Later, he’d learned to watch Ava to see whether she was going to love him or leave him.
Now it was clear. She was leaving. The torrid Sinatra-Gardner romance was over. It was like the lyrics of a song he recorded soon after: ‘I could have told you she’d hurt you/She’d love you a while, then desert you.’
He sang it with all the pain and ­sadness of one who knew.

Ava Gardner Museum

Museum Collection

The Ava Gardner Museum is home to an extensive collection of Ava Gardner memorabilia.  Each object in the museum was either owned by Ava Gardner or her family, used in her films or had a special meaning or relationship to Ava.

 On exhibit are costumes, movie posters and awards that represent Ava’s 50-year career as a leading Hollywood actress.  The Museum also houses a collection of personal items of china, jewelry, clothing and fine art, including 40 portraits by Bert Pfeiffer, an artist whose collection was donated to the museum in 2001.

Bert Pfeiffer collection

Any movie buff can easily appreciate the enchanting beauty of Ava Gardner, but artist Bert Pfeiffer made Ava his lifelong passion.
After first seeing Ava in the 1948 film One Touch of Venus, Pfeiffer was hooked. In the film, Ava first appears as a statue of Venus, the Goddess of Love, and is brought to life with a kiss from a window dresser. The movie left quite an impression on the young Dutchman, who was enrolled in art school at the time.

Soon Pfeiffer began painting portraits of Ava, using photographs to memorize her facial features. The artist would spend the rest of his life creating his own interpretations of Ava's likeness. He also collected a wealth of memorabilia featuring the late actress. Pfeiffer's work is now a part of the Ava Gardner Museum collection. Following his death in 2001, Pfeiffer's family and friends followed his wishes of donating his collection to the Ava Gardner Museum.

Visit this lovely website: http://www.avagardner.org/

RuPaul

RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960), best known as simply RuPaul, is an American actor, drag queen, model, author, and singer-songwriter, who first became widely known in the 1990s when he appeared in a wide variety of television programs, films, and musical albums. Previously, he was a fixture on the Atlanta and New York City club scenes during the 1980s and early 90s. RuPaul has on occasion performed as a man in a number of roles, usually billed as RuPaul Charles. RuPaul is noted among famous drag queens for his indifference towards the gender-specific pronouns used to address him—both "he" and "she" have been deemed acceptable. "You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don't care! Just as long as you call me." He hosted a short-running talk show on VH1, and currently hosts reality television shows called RuPaul's Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag U.

Biography

RuPaul was born in San Diego, California. His name was given to him by his mother, a Louisiana native. The Ru came from roux, an ingredient used in gumbo. RuPaul struggled as a musician and filmmaker in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1980s. He participated in underground cinema, helping create the low-budget film Star Booty, and an album by the same name. In Atlanta, RuPaul often performed at the Celebrity Club (managed by Larry Tee) as a bar dancer or with his band, Wee Wee Pole, which included the late Todd Butler. RuPaul's first prominent national exposure came with a featured role dancing in the video for "Love Shack" by the B-52s.
In the early 1990s, RuPaul worked the Georgia club scene and was known by his full birth name. Initially participating in genderfuck-style performances, RuPaul performed solo and in collaboration with other bands at several New York nightclubs, most notably the Pyramid Club. He appeared for many years at the annual Wigstock drag festival and appeared in the documentary Wigstock: The Movie. In the '90s, RuPaul was known in the UK for his appearances on the Channel 4 series Manhattan Cable, a weekly series produced by World of Wonder and presented by American Laurie Pike about New york`s wild and wacky public-access television system.

Career

In 1993, RuPaul recorded dance/house albums which included Supermodel of the World. They were released through the rap label Tommy Boy, spawning the dance track hit "Supermodel (You Better Work)". The music video was an unexpected success on MTV channels, as grunge-rock (Nirvana) and gangsta rap were popular at the time. The song peaked at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100. It further charted on the UK Singles Chart, peaking on the top 40 at #39. The song found the most success peaking at number 2 on the US dance music charts (known as the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart). Airplay, heavy rotation of the music video on the MTV network and television appearances on popular programs like The Arsenio Hall Show popularized the song.

“	What other people think of me is not my business. What I do is what I do. How people see me doesn't change what I decide to do. I don't choose projects so people don't see me as one thing or another. I choose projects that excite me. I think the problem is that people refuse to understand what drag is outside of their own belief system.	”
—RuPaul,

His next two songs/videos, "Back to My Roots" and "A Shade Shady (Now Prance)" both went #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and furthered his campy persona. Between them, "House of Love" was released without a video. It failed to place on any US charts, despite rising to #68 on the UK Singles Chart.
RuPaul caused a controversy at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards when he presented an award with actor Milton Berle, who performed an altogether different type of drag early in his career. The two had conflicts back-stage, and when Berle touched RuPaul's false breasts, RuPaul ad-libbed the line "So you used to wear gowns, but now you're wearing diapers." A surprised Berle replied, "Oh, we're going to ad lib? I'll check my brain and we'll start even." The press portrayed the exchange as a crack in the "love everyone" message RuPaul presented, and as a young newcomer treating a legend poorly. RuPaul would later describe the situation in his autobiography, describing Berle's behavior backstage as sexually inappropriate and rude. He did regret the situation, saying: "Of course, what I should have done backstage is told him 'Get your dirty hands off of me, you motherfucker!', and then gone out there and been Miss Black America." That same year would also mark his biggest hit on the UK Singles Chart, a remake of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Elton John, which went to number seven. It was around this time that RuPaul co-hosted the BRIT Awards in London, also with Elton John.

RuPaul (left) seen out of drag in March 2009.

RuPaul was signed to a modeling contract for MAC Cosmetics, making him the first drag queen supermodel. Various billboards featured him in full drag, often with the text "I am the MAC girl." He also released his autobiography, Lettin' It All Hang Out. He promoted that book in part with a 1995 guest appearance on ABC's All My Children, in a storyline that put him on the set of Erica Kane's talk show "The Cutting Edge".
The next year he landed a talk show of his own on VH1, called The RuPaul Show, interviewing celebrity guests and musical acts. Diana Ross, Nirvana (even though Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994), Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Mary J. Blige, Bea Arthur, Dionne Warwick, Cyndi Lauper, Olivia Newton-John, Beenie Man, Pete Burns, Bow Wow Wow, and the Backstreet Boys were notable guests. His co-host was Michelle Visage, with whom he also co-hosted on WKTU radio. On one episode, RuPaul featured guests Chi Chi LaRue and Tom Chase speaking about the gay porn industry.
Later in the year he released his second album, Foxy Lady, this time on the L.A.-based Rhino Records label. Despite his growing celebrity, it failed to chart within the Billboard 200. However, the first single "Snapshot" found success in the dance market and went to number four on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. It also enjoyed limited mainstream success, charting at number ninety-five on the Billboard Hot 100 (which was his second and only other Hot 100 entry). The second single "Little Bit of Love" only charted at number 28 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The album featured covers of a 1981 Diana Ross song "Work That Body", co-written by Paul Jabara and "If You Were a Woman and I Was a Man", originally recorded by Bonnie Tyler. Because of his strong fan base within the gay community, RuPaul has performed at gay pride events and numerous gay clubs. During this time RuPaul helped launch the return of WKTU radio in New York City and would serve as host (with Michelle Visage) of the morning show until 1998.
In 1997, he released his third album, a Christmas album entitled Ho, Ho, Ho. He has had guest appearances in many films, including both Brady Bunch movies, in which he played Jan's female guidance counselor. In 1997, RuPaul teamed with Martha Wash to remake the classic disco anthem, "It's Raining Men". The song was included on the 1998 compilation CD RuPaul's Go Go Box Classics, which was a collection of some of his favorite dance songs by other artists; this would be his third and final release through Rhino Records and a major record label. It was during this time that he appeared in Webex TV commercials and magazine ads. In 2001 he recorded with Brigitte Nielsen, credited as Gitta, the Eurodance track "You're No Lady".
In 2004, RuPaul released his fourth album, Red Hot on his own RuCo Inc. label. It received some dance radio and club play, but very little press coverage. On his blog, RuPaul discussed how he felt betrayed by the entertainment industry, particularly the gay press. In one incident, it was noted that the magazine Entertainment Weekly refused to review the album, instead asking him to make a comedic contribution to a fashion article. He likened the experience to "a black person being invited to a party, but only if they'll serve." Despite his apparent dissatisfaction with the release, Red Hot showed RuPaul returning to the top of the dance charts in the US with the lead off single "Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous" hitting number two on the dance chart. The second, "WorkOut", peaked at number five. The third and final single from the album "People Are People" a duet with Tom Trujillo peaked at number 10. The album itself only charted on the Top Electronic Albums chart, where it hit number nine. When asked about this in an interview, RuPaul said, "Well, betrayed might be the wrong word. 'Betrayed' alludes to an idea that there was some kind of a promise made to me, and there never was. More so, I was disappointed. I don't feel like it was a betrayal. Nobody promises anything in show business and you understand that from day one. But, I don't know what happened. It seemed I couldn't get press on my album unless I was willing to play into the role that the mainstream press has assigned to gay people, which is as servants of straight ideals."
On June 13, 2006, RuPaul released ReWorked, his first remix album and fifth album overall. It features reworked versions of songs from his back catalog, as well as new recordings. The only single released from the album is a re-recording of "Supermodel (You Better Work)", reaching number twenty-one on the U.S. dance chart. June 20, 2007 saw the release of Starrbooty (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on iTunes in the US. The single "Call Me Starrbooty" was digitally released in 2007. The album contains new tracks from the singer as well as interludes with dialogue from the movie. The film was released on DVD in October 2007.
In mid 2008, RuPaul began producing RuPaul's Drag Race, a reality television game show which aired on Logo in February 2009. The premise of the program has several drag queens compete to be selected by RuPaul and a panel of judges as "America's next drag superstar". The first season's winner was BeBe Zahara Benet, and first runner-up Nina Flowers was chosen by fans as "Miss Congeniality" through voting via the show's official website. In publicity preparation for the new show, RuPaul made appearances as a guest on several other shows in 2008 including as a guest judge on episode 6 of season 5 of Project Runway and as a guest "chef" on Paula's Party.
In March 2009, RuPaul released the album Champion to iTunes and Amazon. The album topped the iTunes dance album chart at #1 and features the dance singles "Cover Girl" and "Jealous of My Boogie", both anthems from the reality show RuPaul's Drag Race. Logo's second annual NewNowNext Awards in 2009 were hosted by RuPaul. There he performed "Jealous of My Boogie (Gomi & RasJek Edit)". In March 2010, RuPaul released his second remix album, Drag Race to iTunes. The album features remixes of songs from the 2009 album Champion and the brand new song "Hit the Floor".
In April 2011, coinciding with the finale of season 3 of RuPaul's Drag Race, RuPaul released his fifth studio album Glamazon, produced by Revolucian, who previously worked with RuPaul on his album Champion. The album charted on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart and the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart at #11 and #8 respectively. In July 2011, RuPaul released another remix EP on iTunes entitled SuperGlam DQ, which features remixes of tracks from Glamazon, remixes of the "Drag U Theme Song", and a new song, "Sexy Drag Queen". Starting in June 2011, the second season of RuPaul's Drag U aired. Late 2011, promotions for RuPaul's Drag Race (season 4) began. RuPaul made appearances on The Rosie Show and The Chew, and also attended a Drag Race NY Premiere party at Patricia Fields store in New York. Season 4 of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on Logo (TV Channel) on January 30, 2012, with RuPaul returning as the main host and judge.








RuPaul discography

Supermodel of the World (1993)
Foxy Lady (1996)
Red Hot (2004)
Champion (2009)
Glamazon (2011)

Filmography
Television series
Year Title Role
1994 Sister, Sister Marje
1995 In the House Kevin
1998 Hercules Rock Guardian "Hercules and the Girdle of Hyppolyte"
1998 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Member of the Witches Council/A hair dresser
1998 Walker, Texas Ranger Bob
2001 Popular Sweet Honey Child
2002 Son of the Beach Heinous Anus (credited as RuPaul Charles)
2009 Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World Tyler
2009 – present RuPaul's Drag Race Himself - Host/Judge (also producer)
2010 Ugly Betty Rudolph, emcee of the cabaret
2010 – present RuPaul's Drag U Himself - Host (also producer)
Movies
Year Title Role Notes
1987 RuPaul Is: Starbooty!
1994 Crooklyn Connie, the Bodega Woman
1995 The Brady Bunch Movie Mrs Cummings
1995 Wigstock: The Movie Himself
1995 Blue in the Face Dancer
1995 To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar Rachel Tensions
1995 Red Ribbon Blues Duke
1995 A Mother's Prayer Deacon "Dede"
1996 Fled Himself
1996 A Very Brady Sequel Mrs Cummings
1998 An Unexpected Life Charles
1999 EDtv RuPaul
1999 But I'm a Cheerleader Mike
2000 The Eyes of Tammy Faye Narrator
2000 The Truth About Jane Jimmy
2000 For the Love of May Jimbo
2001 Who is Cletis Tout? Ginger Markum
2005 Michael Lucas' Dangerous Liaisons Cameo
2006 Work it Girl: The Music videos
2006 Zombie Prom: The Movie Delilah Strict
2007 Starrbooty Starrbooty/Cupcake
2008 Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild Tyrell Tyrelle
Short films
Year Title Role
1983 The Blue Boy Terror
1983 Wild Thing
1983 Terror II
1984 Terror 3D
1986 Mahogany II
1986 Psycho Bitch
1986 American Porn Star
1987 Voyeur
1987 Police Lady
1989 Cupcake
1989 Vampire Hustlers
1989 Beauty
1999 Rick and Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World Daryl.com
2004 Skin Walker
2006 Zombie Prom Mrs. Strict
2008 How We Got Over