Beginning December 1, the Ava Gardner Museum will observe winter hours as follows:
Monday-Saturday: 9am-5pm
Closed Sundays
We will return to normal business hours on March 1.
Events, stories, and the day-to-day at the Ava Gardner Museum
Winter Hours Begin December 1
Special Help from the Ava Gardner Museum’s Many Supporters is Needed to Make a Unique Costume Available for Visitors to Enjoy in Smithfield
For the next two weeks, the Board of Directors and staff at the Ava Gardner Museum will be sitting on pins and needles in anticipation of “Debbie Reynolds The Auction Part II.” The auction, scheduled for December 3 in Beverly Hills, California, offers several items of interest to the museum, most notably a dress from Show Boat. Past visitors may remember seeing the dress on display, as it was included in a Show Boat exhibit for the 2005 Ava Gardner Festival. The Board hopes to purchase the dress and bring it back to the Museum to share with future visitors.
Worn by Ava Gardner as “Julie LaVerne” when the sheriff comes to arrest her in Show Boat, this period dress was designed by Walter Plunkett. Black sequins in a diamond pattern decorate the dress, of which the original green satin has turned to golden yellow. Also present is a handwritten label, “1520 7932 Ava Gardner”.
At “Debbie Reynolds The Auction Part I,” the Museum bid on the nurse’s uniform that Ava wore in The Sun Also Rises, but was not able to secure the outfit. The Sun Also Rises uniform, expected to sell for $2,000-$3,000, was purchased for $4,305. The Museum previously contacted Ms. Reynolds about loaning these items to the museum or selling them privately, but she turned down the museum.
2005 Ava Gardner Festival Show Boat Exhibit
The Board of Directors will bid for the Show Boat costume by telephone on December 3. The Museum recently received donations of $1,000 from an Ava Advocate and $500 from a local supporter to help with the acquisition of the costume, which is expected to sell for $4,000-$6,000. The Museum Board hopes to raise $5,000 through donations.
If the Board is not able to acquire the Show Boat costume, it will turn to the tan wool safari outfit designed by Charles Le Maire, which Gregory Peck donned as “Harry Street” in Snows of Kilimanjaro. A great friend of Ava’s, Peck was also her co-star in On the Beach and Snows of Kilimanjaro. The Museum will honor Peck and his friendship with Ava at the 2012 Ava Gardner Festival, scheduled for October 5-7.
The other auction item with ties to Ava is a set of four French screen panels used in numerous MGM productions, including The Great Sinner, where the panels appeared in the private gambling room.
If you would like to support the Museum’s efforts to acquire this rare piece of Hollywood history, please contact Todd Johnson, Executive Director, at (919) 934-5830.
2011 Ava Gardner Festival Draws Hundreds
Dress designed by Howard Greer
An estimated 700-800 visitors from across the United States experienced an exciting weekend of Hollywood history and glamour in Smithfield, NC, as the Ava Gardner Museum celebrated its seventh annual Ava Gardner Festival October 7-9. The event spotlighted Frank Sinatra, whom Ava considered the great love of her life.
On Friday evening, some 200 attended a gala that began with Sinatra music by Wilmington, NC crooner Phil Bruschi in the historic Howell Theatre. The evening culminated with an exhibit opening and reception in the museum. The two key centerpieces of the evening were a “Frank and Ava” cake from Carlo’s Bakery in Sinatra’s hometown, Hoboken, NJ, and an original, never-released recording of “You’re My Thrill,” which Sinatra reportedly made in 1949 as a gift to Ava.
New exhibits unveiled during the Festival include “Frank and Ava: Their Lives, Love & Friendship;” “Brogden” (Johnston County, NC); “Rock Ridge” (Wilson County, NC); “Ava’s Fashions;” “Ava’s London Home;” and “Ava in Wartime” (World War II). Among the biggest crowd-pleasers were dresses Gardner wore in The Great Sinner (1949), East Side, West Side (1949), and Show Boat (1951), as well as a gold-plated pistol which director John Huston gave to Ava during the filming of The Night of the Iguana (1964). The story of the gun “reads like a scene from a film,” the exhibit label reads. However, to learn the rest of the story, one needs to visit the Ava Gardner Museum.
The following major sponsors made new exhibits possible: Atkinson Milling Company, the Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation, the Ella Ann L. and Frank B. Holding Foundation, Jean L. Jones/Carolina Packers, the M. W. “Mokie” Stancil Family, and the Winston-Salem Foundation.
Some 150 movie-lovers had the privilege of seeing Ava and Frank films on the big screen, thanks to the generosity of Smithfield Cinemas. Shown during the festival were Show Boat, Bhowani Junction, From Here to Eternity, and Ocean’s Eleven. Gardner struck a deal with MGM to win Sinatra his role in From Here to Eternity (1953). It won him an Oscar for best supporting actor and jump-started his faltering career, although it also occurred at the time of his break-up with Gardner.
On Saturday, museum founder Doris Cannon and board members Rick Lotz and Deidre Kraft led sold-out bus tours of Gardner’s birthplace, childhood home, and final resting place.
“This was the most well attended festival we’ve had so far,” museum board member and Johnston County Visitors Bureau Director Donna Bailey-Taylor commented. “We are so grateful to all those who gave of their money, time, and energy to make it all happen and to all the Ava and Frank fans who supported the event with their presence. It was a wonderful weekend and a time we will remember for many years to come.”
The museum gratefully acknowledges its Festival Sponsors: Hinnant Family Vineyard and Winery; Johnston County Arts Council; Smithfield Cinemas; Johnston County Visitors Bureau; McDonald’s of Smithfield, Selma, and Kenly; Our State Magazine; Sleep Inn & Suites of Smithfield; Benton Card Company; Carroll Pharmacy; David and Darlene Creech; Donna Bailey-Taylor; Howell Theatre; and Insurance Unlimited.
7th Annual Ava Gardner Festival Scheduled for October 7-9, 2011
For the first time since its inception, the 2011 Ava Gardner Festival will pay tribute to Frank Sinatra, the man Ava declared as the “love of her life”. This year’s festival will open on Friday evening, October 7th with a cake and champagne reception and will continue through Sunday, October 9th. Festivities on Saturday include the new Frank & Ava exhibits, heritage tours, and screenings of classic Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner films at Smithfield Cinema 10.
“Frank Sinatra would risk everything to love Ava Gardner during a time in his life he struggled with his career”, said Donna Bailey-Taylor, museum board member, “it was not an “easy” relationship and ultimately it would crumble under the pressure from the press, the studios, and their own jealousy. But the fascination of their lives, love and their friendship continues to be written about over 50 years later, and the museum is thrilled to open this new exhibit at the 2011 festival.”
At the reception on Friday, October 7th, the museum will unveil its newest exhibit, Frank & Ava: Their Lives, Love and Friendship, as well as, a newly designed main gallery exhibit. Tickets to the Reception are $25 per person and attendees will be treated to a one-of-a-kind cake from Carlo’s Bakery, A.K.A. The Cake Boss, all the way from Hoboken, NJ, Frank’s hometown.
“A museum board member remembered seeing the cake featuring Frank Sinatra, commemorating the 100th showing of the Broadway musical “Come Fly Away”, so we contacted the bakery to have a “Frank & Ava” cake made especially for this year’s celebration,” stated Bailey-Taylor, “Involving the local bakery brings a bit of Frank’s hometown to Ava’s hometown.”
On Saturday, October 8th, heritage tours will be scheduled throughout the day at 9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Visitors will be given a guided tour of points of interest in Ava’s hometown, including Ava’s birthplace, the Teacherage where she grew up, the Howell Theater where Ava first went to the movies, and will end with a visit to her gravesite at Sunset Memorial Park. Heritage tour passes are $12 per person. All-day admission to the Museum on Saturday and Sunday will be $7.00 for everyone.
During the Festival, classic Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra films will be shown at the Smithfield Cinema 10, and titles tentatively scheduled are: “From Here to Eternity”, “Ocean’s Eleven”, and “Pal Joey”, as well as “Bhowani Junction”, “Knights of the Round Table” and “Lone Star”. Films will run Friday night through Sunday, and movie goers will receive a festival gift bag with museum admission passes valid for six months.
The Ava Gardner Museum is pleased again to partner with the Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation as they host the 5th Annual Ava Gardner Independent Film Festival. The Independent Film Festival is separate from the Museum activities, and runs concurrently with museum events in Downtown Smithfield. For more information about the 5th Annual Ava Gardner Independent Film Festival, please call Chris Johnson, Executive Director of the Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation, at 919-934-0887.
For accommodations, two local hotels are offering special Ava Gardner Festival discounts. The Best Western Smithfield Inn (919-989-4047) is offering a special rate of $67.99 + tax, and the Sleep Inn & Suites of Smithfield (919-209-2360) is offering a 15% discount on rates. Call the hotel directly and mention the Ava Gardner Festival to take advantage of these special discounts.
The Ava Gardner Museum is located in downtown Smithfield, at 325 E. Market Street. More information may be found on the museum website, www.avagardner.org or please call directly to purchase advanced tickets, 919-934-5830. The museum is open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm and Sunday 2pm-5pm with admission of $7.00 adults, $6.00 seniors, military, teens and groups, and $5.00 children 6 to 12.
Museum Admission Increased $1.00 Across the Board
The Ava Gardner Museum Board of Directors on Monday, July 11th, voted to increase the museum’s admission by $1.00 across the board. For a couple of years, research of other celebrity museums’ admission across the country indicated the Ava Gardner Museum admission was low. Due to the economy, the Board held off on raising the admission, however, with reduced funding from the Town of Smithfield for a second year in a row, the board did make the move with the increase.
New admission prices are $7.00 Adults, $6.00 for Seniors (65+), Military, Teens, Groups of 15 or more and $5.00 for children 6-12.
Support from our Ava Advocates friends of the museum program, local corporations and foundations continues to be strong and is greatly appreciated. However, the majority of financial support for operation of the museum comes from visitor’s admission and gift shop purchases.
The board is currently planning the Ava Gardner Festival, and we are very excited to be featuring an exhibit on Frank & Ava: Their Lives, Love and Friendship. Many new festival activities are being planned including a documentary on Frank Sinatra at the Howell Theatre and a weekend of movies at the Smithfield Cinema. Save the dates of October 7-9 and plan to visit Smithfield to enjoy the festival.
Museum Acquires Ava’s Pistol from The Night of the Iguana and Several New Items from Collectors
One just doesn’t know where the next rare Ava Gardner artifact may come from: a long forgotten box in a closet, from under someone’s bed or from a lifetime collector who has cared for and preserved the items.
Joan Kane and Patricia Muck (right)
The Ava Gardner Museum has been the recipient of several donations from long time collectors this month, including a museum member, Juan Vega from Los Angeles, CA. Upon his recent passing, his sisters contacted the museum to donate more than 200 photos from his collection. They believed his life’s work collecting Ava memorabilia should be in the permanent archives in Smithfield, Ava’s hometown.
Just this past weekend, Patricia Muck drove to the museum from Fayetteville, Pennsylvania to donate her collection, which she started at a very young age. Her mother worked at the local movie theater, and 11-year-old Patty would write to the studio and ask for autographed publicity photos. Her favorite is a 4 x 6 black and white photo of a young Ava, wearing a sweater, signed “Best Wishes, Love Ava”. Her donation included several lobby cards in excellent condition, some the museum had not previously seen, and personal items of Ava’s purchased from antique stores, complete with letters of authenticity. Ms. Muck is entrusting the museum to care for and showcase the artifacts in future exhibits.
Sometimes, family members that received gifts from Ava will contact the museum and return or sell them to the museum. “It is not usual to get phone calls or emails weekly from collectors or individuals that have items of Ava’s”, said Donna Bailey-Taylor, board member, “this is quite the incredible find, one the museum board is excited to display.”
Ava’s niece, Jean Crossingham, and her husband, an avid gun collector, traveled to London to visit Ava. Upon hearing about his passion, Ava gave him the gold plated pistol from the movie, The Night of the Iguana. A family member who had possession of the gun contacted the museum, and the board acted quickly to acquire the artifact. The museum hopes to have the piece on display at the Ava Gardner Festival, scheduled for October 7-8, in the new exhibits currently under development.
The story of the gun reads like a film scene all in itself. John Huston, worried about the film’s stars filming in Mexico, gave each cast member a gun. Each boxed set came with engraved bullets…just in case. He even had one made for Elizabeth Taylor, who was there to watch over Richard Burton and the young, blond starlet, Sue Lyon. His gesture made Taylor an honorary member of the cast and eased tensions from the very beginning of the production.
Debbie Reynolds’ Hollywood Collection Being Auctioned
The Ava Gardner Museum would love to house the items in Debbie Reynolds’ collection that relate to Ava, such as costumes from Mogambo and Show Boat, however, our efforts to secure these items was not to be.
Last month, we contacted Debbie Reynolds asking her to loan these items to the museum or sell them to us privately, as not to lose them to collectors with much deeper pockets. Alas, Ms. Reynolds turned the museum down with a “no”, so at the Profiles in History auction this Saturday, June 18th, one item of interest to the museum will be auctioned.
The nurse’s uniform that Ava wore in The Sun Also Rises will be auctioned off among hundreds of Hollywood’s most iconic treasures. The museum Board of Directors have placed an absentee bid with the help of a museum member, in hopes of winning this costume for the museum’s exhibits. With any luck, this costume will be available for visitors to enjoy in Smithfield in the future.
To support the museum’s mission to preserve Ava Gardner’s collection and to showcase the Golden Age of Hollywood through exhibits of Ava’s work and her co-stars, gifts to the museum are accepted via the museum’s website, www.avagardner.org
Without the support of Ava’s family, the Town of Smithfield, Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation, the Johnston County Visitors Bureau, and hundreds of individuals, local corporations and friends of the museum, we would not be where we are today.
A special thanks from the board to all friends of the museum that make the Ava Gardner Museum the premiere attraction in Downtown Smithfield.
– The Board of the Ava Gardner Museum
New Orleans Exhibition Showcases Drawing of Ava and Richard Burton in The Night of the Iguana
It doesn’t exactly look like the goddess that we love, but Al Hirschfeld’s depiction of Ava and Richard Burton in The Night of the Iguana is now on display in New Orleans.
The exhibition, Drawn to Life: Al Hirschfeld and the Theater of Tennessee Williams, commemorates the centennial of Tennesee Williams’ birth. A collaboration between the Historic New Orleans Collection and the Al Hirschfeld Foundation, the display features dozens of drawings by the legendary artist, the foremost chronicler of Williams’ productions for sixty years.
A self-described “characterist,” Hirschfeld’s drawings compose a fascinating archive of the playwrights’ career while capturing the personalities of the actors who portrayed his characters on stage and screen. The exhibition also includes correspondence, programs, and family photographs documenting Williams’s talent for drawing from his life to create some of the most compelling characters in American theater history.
The exhibition marks the first time Hirschfeld’s drawings have been pulled from collections around the country to give an account of the work of Tennessee Williams. The companion catalogue includes a foreword by film critic Rex Reed and essays by co-curators Mark Cave of The Collection and David Leopold of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation.
Drawn to Life: Al Hirschfeld and the Theater of Tennessee Williams will be on view in the Williams Research Center, located at 410 Chartres Street in New Orleans, Lousiana until April 3, 2011. Gallery hours are 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday and will be extended to Sunday, April 3; no admission is charged.
Ava Gardner Museum Honors Mokie Stancil
The Ava Gardner Museum Board of Directors has honored M.W. “Mokie” Stancil of Smithfield by naming him the Museum’s “Director Emeritus.” A plaque was presented on February 1 by board members Donna Bailey-Taylor, Executive Director of the Johnston County Visitors Bureau, and Mary Edna Grantham, Gardner’s niece.
In 1936, Stancil was 16-years-old and brought his steady girlfriend to dances at the popular Pavilion at Holt Lake near Smithfield. There, Gardner, a shy 14-year-old beauty with a strict Baptist upbringing, was besieged with requests for dates, and she turned to Stancil for advice about which boys would not “get fresh” if she went out with them. She also requested that Stancil and his girlfriend double-date with her and her chosen young gentlemen. She would feel much more comfortable that way.
In a few years, Gardner went on to international film stardom, but she never forgot her special friendship with Mokie Stancil, who became one of the most outstanding citizens in Johnston County and beyond. He was a generous contributor to the establishment of a permanent Ava Gardner Museum on Smithfield’s Market Street in 2000, and has been a beloved and devoted member of the board of directors for the past 10 years.
Ava Gardner Museum Makes “Top 10 Fun and Unusual” List from Livability.com
Visitors of the Ava Gardner Museum have long known that the Museum is one of North Carolina’s most remarkable attractions and the one-of-kind venue is an outstanding tribute to one of Hollywood’s most glamorous leading ladies. This claim was validated recently when the Ava Gardner Museum made the “Top 10 Fun and Unusual Museums” list from Livability.com.
Appearing alongside other unique Museums, the Ava Gardner Museum was #2 in front of the likes of the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, TX, the Great American Dollhouse Museum in Danville, KY, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum in Stillwater, OK, and the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in Louisville, KY. Another North Carolina Museum also made the list: The Museum of Mountain Bike Art and Technology in Statesville.
The purpose of this list is to draw attention to smaller niche museums. Livability.com states, “These fun museums pay homage to a single subject, honor a special interest and celebrate the strange. They may draw smaller crowds, but their founders and visitors definitely don’t lack for enthusiasm.”
A moving and relocation website, Livability.com showcases the best places to live, work, play, explore, and belong. Livability.com has identified the top 200 most livable cities in North America and shares their stories with engaging, informative articles from some of the most talented writers and editors in the country. Included on this list is Smithfield, NC.