Ava Gardner Had a Tumultuous Relationship With Husband Frank Sinatra — and a NSFW Reason She Stayed With Him

Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra had a passionate and volatile relationship. While they loved each other deeply, they fought viciously and often. While they divorced in 1957, Gardner knew for a time that the relationship was too explosive to last. Still, she remained in the romance for years. She shared the NSFW reason why.

Ava Gardner shared why she stayed in her relationship with Frank Sinatra

Gardner and Sinatra met while he was still married to his first wife, Nancy Barbato. News of their affair went public in 1950, landing a punishing blow to Sinatra’s marriage and public image. He struggled to find acting roles, and his music career stalled. Still, Gardner stayed with him and, ultimately, helped resuscitate his career. 

While she loved him enough to support him through this struggle, they fought often. They frequently had public screaming matches or broke things during fights. During one argument, Sinatra threw a water-filled douche at Gardner and her friend, Lana Turner (via Vanity Fair). One day before their wedding, Gardner received a letter warning her that Sinatra was frequently unfaithful to her. 

She once shared why she stayed with him in spite of the volatility of the relationship. Someone asked her why she stayed with the 119-pound Sinatra. She replied, “Well, I’ll tell you — nineteen pounds is c***.”

He called her on the day of his wedding with Mia Farrow

After they finalized their divorce in 1957, Sinatra and Gardner remained fixtures in each other’s lives. Sinatra brought his third wife, Mia Farrow, to meet with Gardner and even called Gardner on his wedding day. Gardner revealed this to Farrow when they met.

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“Remember, you said, ‘Tomorrow, when you read about this wedding in the papers, know that no matter how I feel about this girl, I will always have a place in my heart for you,’” Gardner said to a stressed-out Sinatra, per the book Frank Sinatra: Behind the Legend by J. Randy Taraborrelli (via The New York Post). “That was so sweet of him, wasn’t it, dear?”

Farrow agreed that this was interesting, particularly because Sinatra hadn’t wanted her making personal calls on their wedding day.

“Well, it is interesting, I’ll say that much about it,” she replied. “I think what’s even more interesting, though, is that he wouldn’t let me call my own mother, yet he called you, his ex-wife.”

Frank Sinatra remained in Ava Gardner’s life for years

While their marriage ended acrimoniously, Sinatra and Gardner remained fixtures in each other’s lives until her death in 1990. They spoke over the phone, and after Gardner had a stroke in 1986, Sinatra insisted on paying for a specialist. 

Gardner reportedly saw Sinatra as the love of her life and he always held onto tenderness toward her. After her death in 1990, he reportedly wept, feeling that he should have been there for his ex-wife in her final days.