Did You Know That Hollywood Starlet Ava Gardner Was a Corgi Lover?

Ava Gardner loved animals and had several different pets over the years. The famous American film actress, who was considered one of the most beautiful women of her day, loved corgis and as she never had children she considered her Pembroke Welsh corgis her “babies.” Frank Sinatra gave Ava her first corgi, Rags, as a birthday present on Christmas Eve 1953 and after that she was never without a corgi.

When Ava was away shooting films, she would ask her corgis’ caretaker to read out letters she had written to them and would send them gifts. In the Ava Gardner Museum, there is a little dog sweater that belonged to one of Ava’s corgis on display, and the label reads Saks 5th Avenue.

Gardner established a trust in 1986, and named The Animal Health Trust in London as one of its beneficiaries. The Animal Health Trust closed during the COVID pandemic, but its trustees now support St. Jude Children's Hospital.