Recently, Bob Ruurk. a columnist
from North Carolina, made some very
sassy remarks about a fellow Tar Heel
— Ava Gardner. Parade Magazine sent
Karl Kohrs to Smithlield to get that
town's opinion of the movie star. His
story and pictures are reproduced by
permission of Parade.
Smithfield Views Ava
"Ava? Why, I've known Ava Gard¬
ner since she was knee-high to a duck,”
said genial N. L. Perkins, veteran
Smithfield tobacco auctioneer
"Remember going out to her Dad’s
farm one day and there was Ava, bare¬
foot, sweepin' up acorns. She was
about seven or so.
“I said to her Daddy: ’Brother Jonas,
is this your baby?’ ‘Yes, she is,’ he
says. ‘Well,’ says I. ‘if she was my
child. I’d get right on a train and take
her out to Hollywood.' ”
Folks like Mr. Perkins here in Smith¬
lield (Pop. 6.500) like to talk about
Ava Gardner. She’s one of their favorite
citizens.
They remember her as that cute
little daughter of J. B. Gardner, who
had a tobacco farm at nearby Brogden.
Brogden is — literally — a wide place
in the road. It has a consolidated school
(where Ava was a pupil), a "tcach-
cragc" (where the teachers board, and
where Ava’s mother once was matron)
and a general store, run by Mrs. D. L.
Creech, Ava’s oldest sister.
Ava is the youngest of the six
Gardner children — five girls and one
boy. Her brother. Jack, and another
sister, Mrs. John A. Grimes, live in
Smithfield.
"Ava was a Christmas baby," said
Mrs. Grimes. "She was born December
24. We were all grown up when Ava
came along.
"She was a lively kid. real cute. She
was a healthy child, but something was
always happening to her. When she
was about a year old, she got hold
of a can of lye. Mother caught up with
Ava just as she was putting some of
the Ive into her mouth."
Acting quickly, Mrs. Gardner
swabbed Ava’s mouth with vinegar,
then made her swallow the white of an
egg. That saved her life. As the doctor
said, five minutes more and Ava might
have died.
When Ava was about six, one of
her sisters accidently struck her under
the right eye with a hoe. A tiny scar
still shows.
At school, Ava took her lessons
seriously — and that involved her in
another mishap. Halfway home from
school one day, she realized she had
forgotten her books, and ran back
to get them. The doors were locked.
But one side door, Ava found, had a
broken pane. She squeezed through the
small open square. A splinter of glass
in the frame cut a deep gash in Ava’s
leg — but she got her books and limped
home.
Mishaps or not, Ava liked adventure.
She was acrobatic and had a great
Hair for hanging by her heels.
Ava was a great favorite with the
boys, but had few "steadies." Said
her sister: "Sometimes when boy V
friends came to call, Ava would beg
us to go to the door and tell them to
go home."
About her first "big" high school
date — a football star — Ava once said:
"I couldn’t think of a thing to say —
so we just sat."
At school, Ava was the "lone wolf"
type — didn’t belong to school clubs. ‘
wasn’t interested in sports. Once she
( Continued on page 12)
Left: Hugh C. Talton, store manager, dated Ava in high school. "She was a good sport,” he says. "Once we got caught
in the rain in my convertible. The top stuck. Ava got soakcJ. She just laughed.” Next, N. L. Perkins, who has been in
the tobacco business in Smithfield for 40 years, is an old friend of the Gardner family. “Ava’s a real home-lovin’ human
being," says Perkins. Teenagers Sarah Hill and Mac Dixon never miss Ava’s pictures. Sarah’s mother taught Ava in the
fifth grade, remembers her as average — "but acrobatic." Sarah would like to sec Ava play more "sympathetic” parts. Mae
likes Ava in her present roles. Both think Ava and Frankie "won’t patch it up." Next: “I knew Ava’s family before she
was born,"’ says Dr. W. J. Massey, Jr., "and took care of her teeth when she was a kid. She’s still a kid to me. Ava was
like any average patient — scared to death." Next: Smilhfield’s mayor Rayford Oliver says he’s proud of Ava as one of
the town’s leading citizens. "I’ve known Ava and her family for a long time,” he say s, “and I think she’s a fine person.”
THE STATE. January 23. 1954
