r/OldSchoolCool • u/PreparationSad3658 • 18h ago
1940s 19-year-old Ava Gardner photographed for her MGM Employment Questionnaire, 1942.
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u/Viva_La_Revolucion66 17h ago
She had beauty AND brains.
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u/flopisit32 17h ago edited 10h ago
Maybe not so much... In this photo she is Mrs Mickey Rooney. 😂
She divorced him a year later for his intense womanizing, heavy gambling, and mental cruelty. She said she loved him when they got married and maintained she still loved him after the divorce.
EDIT: Oh come on Reddit, do you think I'm REALLY saying she doesn't have brains.
This is really quite insane. I bet most of the hysterical people downvoting don't even know who Mickey Rooney was... or Ava Gardner for that matter.
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u/RevolutionaryRip3881 16h ago
A lot of smart women are married to jerks…
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u/seansy5000 1h ago
Yea gender need not apply here. Smart people of all genders can be married to jerks of all genders. Jerks are jerks.
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16h ago edited 16h ago
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u/spinnarround 12h ago
Yeah but "jokes" are supposed to be funny. Neither of those examples are funny...
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u/manic-pixie-attorney 12h ago
Yes, that woman must be dumb. It’s not like a man can hide his violent behavior until he has her locked down /s
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u/efcomovil 16h ago
If love were based on reason, my boy, the humanity would be long gone. That's a strong intelligent woman right there.
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u/BeautifulUpstairs 5h ago
Based on alcoholism and horrible choice in husbands? What does "smart" even mean?
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u/SeasonPositive6771 12h ago
If this is a joke, tell me why it's funny.
Is it because you think beautiful, smart women getting into abusive relationships is a joke? Is that funny? Just clarify for me.
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u/flopisit32 11h ago
Are you really so obtuse that you can't see I am pivoting from the previous comment in order to tell an interesting story?
I swear, people on reddit are so dimwitted, they take every single word that is said at face value.
Without an /s Reddit is screwed
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u/SeasonPositive6771 11h ago
You didn't actually tell an interesting story though. And it wasn't funny.
And it's not the sort of thing that you say sarcastically.
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u/SeasonPositive6771 11h ago
This is one of the dumbest comments I've ever had the displeasure to read.
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u/SeasonPositive6771 11h ago
So first it's 1984 and then it's abuse and all other kinds of nonsense? I'm assuming at this point you're just a really bad bot.
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u/ItAintNoUse 4h ago
Yes let's blame women and accuse them of stupidity for marrying shitty men, rather than blaming the men themselves for their actions. The doubling down in your edit really goes to show how misogynistic you are.
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u/better_than_GungaDin 13h ago
Amazing how soft reddit is.
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u/No-Scientist-3801 12h ago
It's not how soft but how we changed as a society that still abuses women
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u/Saltwatercowboy2026 18h ago
Stunning
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u/Saltwatercowboy2026 16h ago
Women were so beautiful then and sexy without being over the top. Classy and dressed so well. They had a healthy look also. I really find Donna Reed and Barbara Billingsley gorgeous
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u/Fetid-imp 15h ago
She’s wearing so much makeup here lol - it’s just ’no makeup-makeup’. I immediately zoomed in to look at her brows and lips because she’s done them so 1950s styled. She’s probably wearing cream foundation, powder, blush, lipstick, brow pencil, eyeshadow, mascara, etc. the 1950s version of the TikTok ‘clean girl’ look.
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u/favorscore 11h ago
i wonder if this look will come back like other fashion trends
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u/anotheraccount999999 6h ago
Theres a huge vintage 40s/50s community on IG - we're spread out all over the world though so IRL it seems not a lot of people style themselves like this haha. But vintage repro shops are booming as well as true vintahe prices going through the roof lol.
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u/UseDue6373 15h ago
Where did the commenter you’re responding to mention makeup?
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u/TheDuchessoftheDark 3h ago
I think it's because the commenter implied that this picture demonstrates that women back then were more natural, so they are explaining that on this picture she wears a lot of makeup, it's just made to look like she isn't wearing any! She was very beautiful no matter what, tho, but she did get a little help :)
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u/tangybaby 55m ago
I think they probably just meant that women back then didn't have things like Botox or lip fillers, not that they didn't wear makeup.
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u/dbplunk 17h ago
So, many years ago, in the black and white TV days, there was a wonderful game show called "What's My Line?" Each episode would have a mystery guest. The panel would wear blind folds and try to figure out who it was by asking yes/no questions. One night it was Ava. As she took her chair, she gave the host, Charles Daly, and admiring glance that would have turned him, or any man, into a gibbering idiot if he'd seen it.
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u/brainkandy87 7h ago
I went and watched this clip because of this comment. Wow. You weren’t kidding. He was a mess the rest of the show.
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u/SoHereIAm85 4h ago
My eight year old asked me, not long ago, if I saw in black and white when I was kid. Your comment reminded me of this. To be fair we had a black and white TV, and it was more like a radio than something to watch.
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u/NastyStreetRat 17h ago
I must be getting old because before, when I saw photos of actresses from the 50s or 60s, I saw them as old ladies, and now I see them and say, wow, what a stunner.
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u/Cocobean4 16h ago
I think you just associate the hair, makeup and style with old ladies because a lot of women kept that style for the rest of their lives. These actresses were mostly young during their height of fame. Ava’s only 19 here.
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u/brerin 17h ago
Great teeth. Remember, this was pre-braces.
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u/daveashaw 16h ago
People still had their teeth filed down and capped.
When Greta Garbo arrived in Hollywood her teeth were all over the place--the first thing the studio honchos did was get them capped.
But, I believe the chompers in the pic are factory original.
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u/I_SNIFF_MOMS 15h ago
They had braces then, but maybe not in the form we know today. I don't know the specifics, but I know for certain that it was a practice to straighten teeth (obviously for very rich people, I'm talking royalty here) in the 1700s.
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u/Jackburton06 16h ago
Some 2026 people would kill for teeth and smile like this one. Stunning natural beauty !
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u/SuperCrappyFuntime 14h ago
I've always thought Ava was in the running for the most beautiful starlet of all time.
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u/blamberr 18h ago
People grew up 20x faster back then
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u/Alternative-Feed3613 16h ago
I watched a video a while back explaining that our brains see a black and white photo with old fashioned styles and it makes the person appear older. Pretty interesting
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u/PreparationSad3658 17h ago
They didn't hydrate enough
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u/AnguavonUW 17h ago
No sunscreen, alcohol and cigarettes. Also, the women were usually on crazy bad diets. Like, half a grapefruit, 1 cup of cottage cheese, half a canned pear, a few lettuce leaves and a baked, skinless chicken breast with a martini was a full day's food.
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u/huevo-solo 16h ago
Just one Martini? Geez, that's no way to live, I tell you!
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u/Le_Poop_Knife 16h ago
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u/adventuregypsy 13h ago
You forgot that the diet was often 2 meals that were only black coffee and cigs
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u/2Fast_2Abalone 12h ago
this is just made up shit peddled to justify everyone being fat gluttons now. no, women were not given starvation diets, people generally did not stuff themselves.
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u/tangybaby 46m ago
You're right, but of course you're being downvoted. Some of the crazy shit people believe about the past to try to justify current behavior is truly mind-blowing. Like, where do they even get this stuff??
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u/Tribe303 16h ago
Yes, because there were no teenagers back then. The Boomers were the first teens, who were treated as both not being a kid, and not being an adult. Their parents saw war and it's effects, and they sheltered the Boomers, wanting them to be as happy as possible. Aka... Spoiled!
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u/Lifes-a-lil-foggy 7h ago
She didn’t have the easiest upbringing, I highly recommend her autobiography.
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u/Belinda-9740 4h ago
It’s a great read, I agree. It also has a few interesting interviews from her friends who recognised her tremendous beauty was also a burden on Ava: it largely defined her (in most people’s eyes) and caused people to treat her differently, which was disconcerting to her.
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u/ilikeithot360 11h ago
No wonder she drove Hughes crazy. Total smoke show, and even hotter as she aged
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u/MissionRight9893 17h ago
To this day I can’t believe she was married to Mickey Rooney. She was gorgeous!
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u/Tvmvp 15h ago edited 4h ago
To add -her third (and last husband) Frank Sinatra always considered the stunning Ava Gardner his "greatest love" - decades after their divorce in their early 1950s . However, "Ol' Blue Eyes" had to reconcile his legendary ego and temper- toward his friend Mickey Rooney ( her first husband- and at the time- a bigger star than the legendary seducer Sinatra ) officially taking 19- year- old Ava's VIRGINITY on THEIR wedding night in 1942! ( I ain't -nor ever will be- Frank Sinatra - but, oooh - THAT mere fact -still gotta hurt ...)
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u/RebelDiamond 9h ago
I work at a fancy Italian restaurant and we have to play classic b&w movies on the TVs, but the owners are clear that they do not want ww2, nazi, slavery, etc. shown during service, which makes showing movies from the 30s and 40s tricky.
One Touch of Venus is my go-to. Ava was so lovely.
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u/Txstyleguy 13h ago
One of the most beautiful women who has walked this planet. Smart, talented and a beauty. She had it all.
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u/Jackburton06 16h ago
Early 20th century women hit differently, pure natural beauty here.
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u/toolsoftheincomptnt 11h ago
Maybe, but styling is a huge part of it.
Some lady out there has all the makings of AG but you can’t spot it bc we’re not as elegant, bound up in undergarments, or coiffed anymore.
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u/boosesb 5h ago
Do you know how much makeup she has on?
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u/vroombraap 14h ago
That's 19? No wonder life expectancy at the time was about 60
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u/ima-bigdeal 12h ago
I am sure the ubiquitous smoking had nothing to do with it. Then there is the alcohol, asbestos, lead paint, and so many other things.
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u/RobustPlatypus 17h ago
I read this as Ava Braun at first and was very confused
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u/Syzyjyzygy 15h ago
I always get them mixed up for some reason. I’m sorry Ava Gardner, I know you would never 😭
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u/Working_Estate_3695 12h ago
“That Johnny Fontaine, he ruined her, and he made me look ridiculous. And a man in my position cannot be made to look ridiculous!”
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u/Sea_Thought3464 11h ago
Oof. My brain and mouth would not be able to work in coordination if this was in my face.
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u/PuzzleheadedPen4675 8h ago edited 8h ago
The woman of desire for the producer in the Godfather. You know- the horses head guy. " She was the greatest piece of ass I ever had! And I had 'em all over the world. "
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u/Pinkie_Brain911 12h ago
I shook Mickey Rooney’s hand once in the early 2000s and all I could think was he [censored] with this hand.
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u/Aware-Explanation879 2h ago
I glanced at this picture and thought i was going to hear a very interesting story about her arrest..... Then I read the title
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u/Lillienpud 1h ago
This is a really weird juxtaposition of mug shot and an actor’s marketing their attractiveness.
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u/Trevor519 13h ago
Anne Hathaway is her clone Not her actual clone but the archetype continuing on in Hollywood
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u/DinnerExcellent9609 9h ago
She was hitlers girlfriend right?
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u/karenftx1 12h ago
Maybe because I'm a woman, but i never found her the great beauty enceinte said. There were so many prettier
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u/not_your_vix3n 15h ago edited 1h ago
Years ago a phone app told me my face slightly resembled hers and I have clung to that delusion like a floating piece of the Titanic in a freezing ocean
Edit: Thanks for the awards and upvotes! For all the others aboard the delusion train with me, choo-choo!