1,000 Mourners Pay Respects to Ava Gardner
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SMITHFIELD, N.C. — More than 1,000 friends and admirers on Sunday filed past the closed coffin of actress Ava Gardner, the daughter of a Smithfield tobacco farmer who will be remembered for her movies and romantic encounters. She died of pneumonia last week at her home in London.
Gardner, 67, a dark-haired, green-eyed beauty who had three ill-fated marriages and starred opposite some of Hollywood’s leading actors, will be buried today in graveside services at Sunset Memorial Park, where her parents, brother and two sisters are interred.
The Rev. Brad Bradshaw, pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church, will conduct the services at the cemetery outside Smithfield.
The Ava Gardner Museum near Smithfield was opened Sunday in her memory.
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