The repressed, insecure child of North Carolina tenant farmers, Ava Gardner was de-twanged and groomed into an actress at M-G-M. Following a brief, unhappy marriage to Mickey Rooney -- the studio's diminutive biggest star -- the Southern belle projected the ""deeply perverse, self-destructive"" traits often associated with a glamorous movie queen's lifestyle. Turned on by night-owling, partying, and flamenco dancing, she made sex goddess headlines via her tempestuous pairings with Howard Hughes, Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra, Walter Chiari and assorted Spanish bullfighters. A self-confessed ""average"" actress suffering from a Monroe-like lack of confidence, Ava was ""a beauty who exposed her soul in her playing"" with her performances in Mojambo, The Barefoot Contessa, The Sun Also Rises and On the Beach. Publicized, criticized, legendized throughout her career, Miss Gardner is presently ""living her life of calm withdrawal"" in London. Anecdotal, full of intimate detail -- this should be a walk-on-by but can one?