Twentieth Anniversary of Ava Gardner's Death January 25th

Online, January 18, 2010 (Newswire.com) - (Smithfield, NC) - Although it may seem not that long ago, Monday, January 25th marks 20 years since the passing of Ava Gardner.

Ava Lavinia Gardner died at age 67 in London, England on January 25, 1990. Ava spent the last 35 years of her life abroad, moving to London in 1968. During all her years abroad, Ava continued her film career, making twenty-one motion pictures, two made for television movies (A.D. and The Long Hot Summer), and multiple appearances in Knot's Landing, a CBS prime-time drama. Ava retained her American citizenship and visited her family in North Carolina as often as possible, until suffering from a stroke in 1987. Ava died in her sleep from bronchial pneumonia, an illness she had been battling for several years; her last words to her housekeeper Carmen Vargas were, "I'm tired."

A graveside service was held on Monday, January 29, 1990 at Sunset Memorial Park in Smithfield, NC, and was attended by over 300 mourners. At her request, she was buried with a simple footstone and was laid to rest alongside her parents and all but one sibling.

Those visiting the Museum on Monday, January 25th, 2010 will receive a reproduction of the program given to mourners at Ava's graveside service.

The Ava Gardner Museum is located in downtown Smithfield, at 325 E. Market Street and more information may be found on the museum website, www.avagardner.org or by calling 919-934-5830. The museum is open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm with admission of $6.00 adults, $5.00 seniors and groups and $4.00 children.