And when it comes to iconic hot mess couples, few can compare to Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra.
She was the raven-haired, ruby-lipped starlet who wowed fans with her smoldering screen presence.
Though Gardner and Sinatra were the epitome of old-school chic, appearances can be deceiving.
Together, the two were dynamite.
But of course, it doesn’t take much to set dynamite off.
Meanwhile, Sinatra was married to Nancy Barbato, with whom he had two children.
Though their attraction to one another was evident, their affair wouldn’t begin until years later.
The pair reunited at a Palm Springs party in 1949.
Sinatra was still married to Barbato, and the couple had recently welcomed their third child.
As for Gardner, she had divorced Artie Shaw, who was allegedly abusive, three years earlier.
Sparks flew as soon as the two A-listers set eyes on one another.
““This was not the young girl from Carolina at the studio.
This was a woman who was glorious.”
As expected from these fiery stars, their first date was nothing short of epic.
Though to most folks this would hardly seem like a dream first date, Gardner thought otherwise.
Tabloids were already catching wind of the extramarital dalliance because the brazen duo often attended events together.
Initially, Barbato refused to grant Sinatra a divorce.
But Sinatra didn’t seem to mind as long as he could be with Gardner.
Though the lovers were now free to marry, the drama wasn’t over.
Despite this blip, the couple wed in Philadelphia in 1951, days after Sinatra divorced Barbato.
Even their honeymoon was reportedly blighted by constant fighting.
““Of course, it was taken from a distance, and from the rear.”
By Gardner’s own admission, both were drinking heavily and living a codependent lifestyle.
I don’t know how we did it.”
The drinking was exacerbated by Sinatra’s furious outbursts.
Meanwhile, the relationship was further complicated by Sinatra’s alleged dealings with the mob.
One night, as the pair made love, Sinatra received a call from a mobster, enraging Gardner.
“The best you’ve got the option to hope for is an occasional truce.”
Meanwhile, Sinatra’s career languished, and he love-bombed Gardner when she was at work.
“He was a man who was desperate for companionship and love.”
But he was also intensely jealous of her male co-stars, exacerbating their arguments.
As Sinatra’s career declined, so did his bank balance.
In fact, he was so broke that he bought Gardner gifts using her own account.
“We were happy when Frank was on the skids,” she admitted, according to theBBC.
“When he became successful again, his old arrogant self came back.”
“A cocky god, he reeked of sex.”
But for all her risque one-liners, Gardner ultimately felt dissatisfied with the pair’s sex life.
“He’s so gentle.
It’s as if he thinks I’ll break.”
However, when he found out that his wife had terminated her pregnancy, Sinatra reacted with misogynistic rage.
At a later date, she became pregnant for a second time and once again terminated the pregnancy.
“Rather, she lamented that she didn’t have children or opt for a more conventional life.
“I won’t put up with it.”
Despite this, Gardner did cheat on Frank Sinatra.
Sinatra was so jealous of Cabre that he wanted to murder him.
Likewise, Sinatra cheated frequently.
“I knew then that we had reached a crossroads.
actor Farley Granger said, according to “Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies.”
However, they wouldn’t officially divorce for another four years.
The split coincided with Frank Sinatra’s ascension to Hollywood stardom.
“They couldn’t be together enough.”
But Sinatra took this badly and again fell into a depression.
He was obsessed with Ava Gardner and begged her to take him back.
He was also hospitalized after an apparent suicide attempt.
Eventually, Sinatra and Gardner found love again with other partners.
Rumor has it that Gardner had an affair with Fidel Castro.
Meanwhile, Sinatra married 20-year-oldMia Farrow.
And indeed, according to The Times, Sinatra himself referred to Farrow as a “child bride.”
But it was Gardner who would forever hold the key to the crooner’s heart.
But for Ol' Blue Eyes in particular, that torch burned brightly.
He often called Gardner and asked her to give him another shot.
“And I’d say, ‘OK!’
“And it would be heaven, but it wouldn’t last more than 24 hours.
We could never understand why it hadn’t and couldn’t work.”
Subsequently, he resorted to desperate measures to win her back.
“Jesus Christ, you’re not dying, are you?”
she yelled upon her arrival, according to “Frank & Ava.”
“Faking it again.
… What the hell is really wrong with you?
… What am I doing here, anyway?
Do you know what I had to go through to get here?”
The two remained close friends, and Sinatrasupported his ex-wifewhen her health began to decline.
“They helped each other,” their friend Kathryn Grayson told People.
“I think they wanted to get together again, but circumstances kept them apart.”
Gardner’s struggles with substance misuse worsened into the 1960s.
Sinatra noticed this in Gardner but loved her all the same.
She’s turned into a falling-down drunk.'”
The starlet’s alcohol issues became the stuff of legend.
But having struggled with substance misuse himself, Sinatra didn’t judge Gardner and helped her seek treatment.
“Can you imagine?”
he once mused, according to The Times.
“The way I used to chase Ava!
And now she’s my patient.”
All the while, Gardner’s star faded.
By the late ’80s, she was flat broke.
As she approached her 60th birthday, she reflected on her failed marriage to Sinatra with her quintessential wit.
“I’ll always love him,” she said, according toUPI.
“It was always great in bed.
The troubles were all out of bed.”
After years of hard drinking, she had a stroke in 1986, leaving half her body paralyzed.
It stinks, getting old.”
He also sent her $50,000 to pay for medical treatment, which Gardner found insulting.
Four years later, at age 67, she died of pneumonia.
“Ava was a great lady, and her loss is very painful,” he toldThe Associated Press.
He paid for her funeral but did not attend the ceremony out of fear of attracting paparazzi.
Instead, he showed his respect by sending her an abundant wreath.
