1946 "The Killers" A Desert Willow Aussie Production
Starring Chubs Sullivan & Ava Gardner
Ava & Sullivan AKC & ASCA Registered Parents PRA - Normal/Clear - CEA/ CH Normal/Clear - HSF4 Normal/Clear - HIPS Good
Police "Lt. Sam" Lubinsky Played by: Sam Levene
Black Tri Male New Master: Jerry - Belen, New Mexico Owner of 2 Desert Willow Aussie
Ole "Swede" Anderson Played by: Burt Lancaster
Blue Merle Male New Mom: Margie Dupons - Salem, Wisconsin Owner of 3 Desert Willow Aussie s
"Kitty" Collins Played by: Ava Gardner
Black Tri Female New Home: Staci, Amy, Carter & DWA Chloe - Blaine, Washington Owners of 2 Desert Willow Aussies!
"Big Jim" Colfax Played by: Albert Dekker
Blue Merle Male New Home: Alaina - Houston, Texas Extended family owner of 2 Desert Willow Aussies!
"Charleston" Played by: Vince Barnett
Black Tri Male
New Home: Michael & Madeline - Sandia Park, New Mexico
"Lilly Harmon" Lubinsky Played by: Virginia Christine
Blue Merle Female New Home: Jeff, Kate, Meredith, Cannon, Brenna & Jack - Lubbock, Texas
"Dum-Dum" Clark Played by: Jack Lambert
Black Tri Male New Home: Robert & Joanna - Los Lunas, New Mexico
"Packy" Robinson Plays: Ole's Manager New Home: Gina - Vancouver, BC Canada Owner of TWO Desert Willow Aussies!
BIOGRAPHY: Ava Lavina Gardner was born on December 24, 1922 in Grabtown, North Carolina, to Mary Elizabeth (née Baker) and Jonas Bailey Gardner. Born on a tobacco farm, where she got her lifelong love of earthy language and going barefoot, Ava grew up in the rural South. At age 18, her picture in the window of her brother-in- law's New York photo studio brought her to the attention of MGM, leading quickly to Hollywood and a film contract based strictly on her beauty. With zero acting experience, her first 17 film roles, 1942-1945, were one-line bits or little better. After her first starring role in B-grade Whistle Stop (1946), MGM loaned her to Universal for her first outstanding film The Killers (1946). Few of her best films were made at MGM which, keeping her under contract for 17 years, used her popularity to sell many mediocre films. Perhaps as a result, she never believed in her own acting ability, but her latent talent shone brightly when brought out by a superior director, as with John Ford in Mogambo (1953) and George Cukor in Bhowani Junction (1956).
After three failed marriages, dissatisfaction with Hollywood life prompted Ava to move to Spain in 1955; most of her subsequent films were made abroad. By this time, stardom had made the country girl a cosmopolitan, but she never overcame a deep insecurity about acting and life in the spotlight. Her last quality starring film role was in The Night of the Iguana (1964), her later work being (as she said) strictly "for the loot". In 1968, tax trouble in Spain prompted a move to London, where she spent her last 22 years in reasonable comfort. Her film career did not bring her great fulfillment, but her looks may have made it inevitable; many fans still consider her the most beautiful actress in Hollywood history. Ava Gardner died at age 67 of bronchial pneumonia on January 25, 1990 in Westminister, London, England.
