Who was more beautiful in her prime: Rita Hayworth or Ava Gardner?

Both were very beautiful women. Rita's beauty was more refined. Ava's was more sensual. It's a matter of personal taste which one you prefer.

It's tough for me to choose. Ava in The Killers vs. Rita in Gilda. Rita looked more sweet and vulnerable. Ava more luscious and sexual.

Ava didn't need her hairline altered.

Hayworth was perhaps more photogenic, she photographed beautifully from every angle, while Gardner could look flat-faced and almost plain in the hands of a careless cinematographer. But she could also look THIS good, better than Hayworth ever did!

So I'd have to call it a tie.

Shit, THIS good.

Did you mean to include a link r4?

Honestly I find both much prettier than Marilyn and Audrey yet they aren't considered as iconic.

I once saw a picture of Ava when she was 15 and she was overwhelmingly beautiful.

R2,

Rita could really dance but Ava's face was like a living sculpture.

Rita seemed more glamorous

Rita was a trained dancer and was partnered with her dad at all the clubs in LA. Ava did her dancing in all the hot spots in Spain.

Naturally occurring stunning female beauty always trumps surgically altered/enhanced beauty. Natural diamond vs cubic zirconia.

Which one was surgically enhanced r13?

Rita had a lot of alterations to make her appear less "ethnic," R14, but I don't think they included surgery.

I’m not sure anyone was more beautiful than Ava at the height of her beauty.

Ava Gardner was cross-eyed.

Before she was 20, Rita had to have many painful electrolysis treatments on her hairline. She had to "de-Mexicanize" through diet and surgery to conform to Hollywood's standard of "beauty."

Ava was stunning without any make-over before she was 20.

Ever so slight edge to Ava. But both among the most beautiful women Hollywood ever had,

[quote]She had to "de-Mexicanize"

Rita's father was from Andalusia, Spain. Her mother was of Irish-English ancestry. What was there to de-Mexicanize?

She wasn't considered a person of color. Just Ramon Novarro wasn't. People back then understood Spanish/Mexican is not a race unlike today. Famous people changed their names to make them easier to pronounce and market to Middle America.

I disqualify myself because I've done them both!

I disqualify myself because I done 'em both!

Who was the warmer, nicer person? Who had the reputation for being a lovelier lady? Hayworth, probably? I'm just curious.

Ava because I never find gingers attractive.

R24, Rita was known to be a sweetheart, but she was incredibly insecure and needy, and chose suitors who were all wrong for her. Supposedly, her father and dance partner was an abusive taskmaster, who exploited her and may had his way with her. This set the stage for her bad choices in men and her five failed marriages.

Ava, was once a shy, sweet girl from North Carolina, but Hollywood turned her into a boozy broad who swore like a sailor and drank men under the table. On her worst days she could be a mean, sharp-tongued, temperamental harpy.

Wasn't Ava a farm girl, child of tobacco sharecroppers? I mean you had to be tough to survive that life. Ava also had more of a traditional upbringing which may have given her more leverage. Rita was performing since she was young with an abusive stage father.

I think Ava was more beautiful, but Rita had greater screen presence.

No one more beautiful than Gardner, before or since.

r29 Greta Garbo would like a word

No contest, Garbo had the talent. But Gardner is most beautiful, no one more so.

Its not always a competition, OP.

[quote]Ava more luscious and sexual.

I know what you mean, sigh

They were both exquisite but I give the edge to Gardner as well. Hayworth may have been "prettier" and more glamorous but Gardner had a compelling, earthy beauty. It's possible she had some African ancestry. Those cheekbones were to die for.

I thought Gardner was Spanish but she was an Irish American, stunning. Her brother in law owned a photo studio, took a photo of a teen-aged Ava, placed it in his window and that was all that was required for her to be noticed.

Hayworth needed surgical intervention to become the knockout.

Neither woman made it to 70, sadly.

Rita had enormous talent. Gardner had very little. Despite becoming a better actress as the booze and cigs took their toll Ava isn't remembered much.

Rita was an Irish girl from Brooklyn.

At this moment, Burt was arguably prettier.

Burt Lancaster has too many teeth

Rita was a Hispanic girl from the BK. School of Hard Knocks.

Rita's mother was of Irish-English descent. Her father was a gitano from Seville.

This is the original Rita, before Hollywood made her over. Pretty girl, warm and lively smile, but too ethnic-looking for Hollywood.

People who saw her in person say that her hair was dyed to color that was pinkish, almost magenta. That was what read as bright auburn on technicolor film.

electrolysis put the final touches to make the face classic. Note beauty Saint Angelina Jolie received similar (not the same) "refining" touches to transform very pretty into celluloid elegance.

Ava wins by a significant margin

My mom and my favorite aunt, are deceased. They had a debate about this a few years ago.

My mom thought Ava was more beautiful. She liked Ava's toughness and how no man (especially Sinatra) could tame her. She liked her earthiness and independence.

My aunt thought Rita was more beautiful. In fact, Rita was her favorite movie star. She was touched by Rita's vulnerability, her grace, and dancing. She was awestruck by her beauty.

I so miss my mom and aunt. I wish they were still here.

Sophie's choice

Gardner was more physically beautiful, but Hayworth had a glowing personality that made her someone everyone could love.

Both radiated Star Quality, but Hayworth radiated warmth as well as charisma, something Gardner never did. That warmth did fade with age and hopes of personal happiness, but it never completely went away.

Was Ava ever as beautiful as Hayworth in Gilda?

Ava was more my type of beauty but Rita was gorgeous, too.

Both.

They’re both beautiful but Ava was more of a natural beauty. Rita was the result of hair dye, makeup and electrolysis.

Ava at eighteen.

Rita as a contract player.

Ava for me. Both were incredibly beautiful.

The first movie I saw Ava in was Mogambo and I couldn't understand why anyone would lust after Grace Kelly when this gorgeous creature stole every scene she was in.

Ava and Rita were two of the most beautiful women in their youth. The cigarettes and booze aged both rapidly, though. By the time they were only in their mid-30s they were starting to look worn.

[quote]She wasn't considered a person of color.

Spaniards are not people of color.

Rita had better breasts.

I can only imagine what electrolysis treatments were like in the 1930s. Yikes! It must've been absolute torture.

Neither were sticks.

Thanks R26, and R27.

Can’t choose. In their prime, they both possessed beauty that stops you in your tracks.

And Rita.

r61 at my university they are. They can check the "Hispanic/Latino" box.

That's interesting, r60. I assume Gloria Swanson smoked too, but she aged very well. If I remember correctly, she was a health nut.

Rita is really gorgeous, but the beauty standard that is best applied to her is not what I understand to be today's peak. Her soft features are 'feminine' when a stronger-jawed dimpled-chinned more 'masculine' look is seen as the most attractive nowadays. Elizabeth Taylor would suffer a similar downgrade in beauty, Ava gets the upgrade.

What an interesting thread and also believe its a tie. So paranoid am I just waiting for some young,cool DL posters to condemn our nostalgic favorites using terms like "those old farts or fags" or whatever the most derogatory comments work. When I was younger I had regard for older folks but thats way over.

The way Ava looked in the early scenes of showboat 1951 were amazing!-Still mesmerized!

Actresses still smoke, but there are tons of dermatology/cosmetic procedures these days that weren't available decades ago.

I'll probably get hell for this, but for me, Lauren Bacall at her best surpassed both of them. I think it was less her physical looks and more her hard-boiled insouciance. Rita seemed helpless and Ava couldn't care less. Lauren owned that look.

Ava is the more beautiful by contemporary standards. Rita's beauty is fabulous but also seems very of a time, like that of Josephine Baker.

These threads make DL, DL.

Great points, r70.