Ava Gardner's Dating History: A Look Back at the Hollywood Icon's Marriages and Romances

Ava Gardner was married to two Hollywood legends — and dated a few more

Ava Gardner was known for being glamorous and beautiful, and for also having a dating life that was complicated at best.

She was twice married and divorced before the age of 25, first to film star Mickey Rooney and then to actor Artie Shaw. She was also married to Frank Sinatra and was later linked to Ernest Hemingway.

Though most of her relationships were tumultuous, she bared it all in her autobiography, Ava: My Story, which was published after her death in 1990. In it, she alleged abuse from past partners and other bold secrets.

From her first marriage to Mickey Rooney to her romance with Frank Sinatra, here's a look back at Ava Gardner's past husbands, boyfriends and romances.

Mickey Rooney

Gardner and Rooney met in 1941, when he was one of the most popular actors in Hollywood, and she was just starting out.

Despite the objections of their shared studio, MGM, the two got married in 1942 when Gardner was only 19 years old.

The pair got divorced pretty quickly — their separation was finalized 9 months after they got married.

Artie Shaw

Gardner married her second husband in 1945. Ultimately, Shaw left Gardner after the two had been married for roughly a year.

She and ghostwriter Peter Evans discussed the relationship at length while putting her autobiography together, according to Vanity Fair.

Garder told Evans, "We married in '45, October 17. He dumped me one week after our first anniversary. The bastard broke my heart."

Frank Sinatra

Sinatra and Gardner began their love affair in 1951 under a storm of controversy.

Sinatra was still married to his wife Nancy Sinatra when he first spotted Gardner on a set at MGM in the late 1940s. They then began spending time together in 1948, despite the warning that studio head Louis B. Mayer issued Gardner against dating the married man.

Sinatra took his time divorcing his wife, and he and Gardner continued a tumultuous relationship. They eventually married 72 hours after Sinatra's divorce was finalized in 1951, but their marriage ended in 1953.

Gardner later revealed that she had two abortions while married to Sinatra. She became pregnant for the first time while they were in Nigeria for her film Mogambo.

Despite divorcing in 1957, the two remained friends until her death in 1990.

Fred MacMurray

Gardner began a brief affair with costar MacMurray while still married to Sinatra, but things ended quickly between the two after she found out that her boyfriend had a sick wife.

Her assistant and housekeeper Mearene Jordan said in Gardner's autobiography, "She didn't object to secret adultery, but when a guy was two-timing a sick wife, she objected to that — strongly."

Luis Miguel Dominguín

Gardner and Dominguín met while the actress was still technically married to Sinatra, but before that split was finalized.

The Spanish bullfighter had been previously engaged to the Duke of Pinohermoso's 18-year-old daughter, but by 1954, he was in a relationship with Gardner, whom he described as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Their relationship was short-lived, however, and he went on to marry Italian actress Lucia Bose in 1955.

George C. Scott

Gardner and Scott met in 1964 on a film set.

In her autobiography, Gardner alleged that the relationship was abusive, though a spokesperson for Scott later commented, "Mr. Scott has not had an opportunity to read the book and thereby has no comment on its contents."

Ernest Hemingway

The relationship between Gardner and Hemingway has never been clearly defined. The two met in 1954, while Gardner was still in a relationship with Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín.

Gardner, who was still married to Sinatra at the time, faced a lot of public scrutiny, and Hemingway reportedly offered a home for her to hide in.

Gardner and Hemingway spent a lot of time together in his home in Havana, Cuba.

Gardner's assistant, Mearene Jordan, later described the home in her autobiography, Living With Miss G, writing, "There were fifteen acres of wilderness. … Still, there was room for a swimming pool, vegetable garden, vines, and more species of mango than anywhere else in Cuba. There were about five million cats, as far as I could see, along with dogs and chickens and cows that gave the place a friendly atmosphere."

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