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Show TP 5 7 Jl ' k :v. i Tribute TOiA Favorite Daughter The museum that pays homage to a legendary Hollywood star began with a kiss on the cheek. The year was 1939. and a boy named Tom Banks was busy one day teasing a gill awaiting her ride home from secretarial school in Wilson, N.C The girl finally got fed up and planted a kiss on Banks right in front his friends, to his great embarrassment. It wasn't until two years later, when Banks was flipping through a newspaper, that he saw the girl's photo and learned her identity. Her name was Ava Gardner, and she was on her way to a spectacular movie career that would make her a legend. The teenager was smitten, and he spent the rest of his life pursuing a passion: collecting Ava Gardner memorabilia from every possible source. . Today, Banks' remarkable collection is housed in the Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield, N.C, his hometown of 1 1,510. Gardner was bom just outside of Smithfield on Dec. 24, 1922, the youngest of seven children, and her large family often drew her back to the area. Ava Gardner was always a small-tow- n girl who enjoyed coming home to see family and friends," says Billie Stevens, the museums curator. "The town always let her do that without treating her as a celebrity, and she appreciated that." laaNMt at the Ava Gardner schoolMaty Helen Wyatt, a board of museum's the teacher and a member 44 Gardner with of directors, spent time yean ago, recalling when the actress even let her tty on some clothes. Tanr, Ava graciously met with my daughter, Wyatt says. What wonderful experiences for two young gills!" Gardner never forgot Smithfield, but she did leave to make movies 61 of diem including such classics as Show Boat and Tit Banfbot Cmbsjv, in a career that reached from the 1940s through the 1980s. Meanwhile, Banks collection continued to grow, and he opened a small nonprofit museum in Gardner's childhood home. When Banks, a psychologist, died in 1989, his widow donated the priceless collection to the town of Smithfield. In October 2000, after another move and several years of uncertainty, the Ava Gardner Museum found a permanent home in a converted studio in downtown Smithfield. The move marked a major change in the museum's status, Stevens says. "I became the first full-tiprofessional director, and we began to promote die museum aggressively." Today, about 1,400 visitots tour the museum each month. Inside, they see 15 large exhibit panda mostly with photos, but including some dresses from her movies that tell the life story of Smithfields most famous . with Ava, and I could tell that the exhibit brought back a flood of memories, Stevens says. One ofthe most interesting exhibits tells of her visits to Smith-fiel- d, including her return home in 1949 to be honored at a country club dance and to receive the keys to the city. "Ava never forgot ha small-tow- n The exhibit begins with Gardners childhood and her Fnqmnt contributor RMCbftsuik video introduced by actor Gregory Fedc, who appeared with Gardner in the 1949 movie Tie Gnat Shorn and remained early years as a Hollywood star- -' let, including her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra. Qj; C) roots and that's why the local community has supported the museum so scrongly," Wyatt says of the residents wbo have friends with her for 40 years. dsughirr. Byway oforientation, visitors first watch a GO Mickey Rooney still performing at age 80, recently came to the museum for a look. "He remained friends donated money, sponsored benefits, and served as volunteers at the museum. Ava Gardner died in 1990 and is buried in the Smithfield family plot. Ava wanted a simple grave, so her plot looks just like die ones for the rest of her family, Stevens says. "You would never know that she had been famous." On one of Gardners trips home, some friends invited her to see the museum, but it was locked. When someone in her party suggested that they get the key, Ava told them to forget it, stating, "I dont have to see what's in there; I lived it. . (I I'sifP' a MRsckHiIl,S.C.-bastifhJa- mt writer. r; For more Information, visit www.avagardner.org V or call f.'. (919)934-583-0 |