With Her Name in Lights and Her Feet in the Dirt

Rita Hayworth once said that the problem with her life was that the men in it fell in love with Gilda, her most glamorous role, and woke up the next morning with her.  That’s a sentiment I can fully identify with. I’ve always felt a prisoner of my image, felt that people preferred the myths...

It truly amazes me that someone who considered herself "just a lousy movie star" is still receiving accolades 24 years after her death. And not just a few. Since August 2012 Ava Gardner has been the subject of three memoirs, one a New York Times bestseller. She has been featured in Vanity Fair, Southern Living,...