Broadway play and cast herself against type as Ava Gardner, re-creating that Hollywood performer’s late-in-life meetings with journalist Peter Evans.

Who knew Cora Crawley, Duchess of Grantham, had such a potty mouth? Well, kind of. Right now, starring as Hollywood icon Ava ...

Elizabeth McGovern must have felt the same way as a lovely, ambitious, aspiring newcomer eager to make her own mark on the ...

Here, McGovern shares the books and plays that helped her to tell Gardner’s story as it had never been told before. James ...

Elizabeth McGovern, known for her role in "Downton Abbey," has written a play about Ava Gardner.

The actress weighs in on playing Ava Gardner, how she became a playwright and why the cast was 'frightened' to film 'Downton ...

Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey) will reprise her role as movie star Ava Gardner in the play Ava: The Secret Conversations at New York City Center this summer. The play, written by McGovern ...

Elizabeth McGovern poses during a photo call for the off-Broadway play "Ava: The Secret Conversations" in New York on June 30, 2025. Credit: AP/Evan Agostini ...

Tags: Entertainment, Mickey Rooney, Aaron Costa Ganis, Richard Burton, Sean Penn, Ava Gardner, Milos Forman, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, U.S. news, Brad Pitt ...

McGovern says Gardner was caught in the impossibility of women's expectations at the time — be sexy but not sleep around. She had many lovers but also felt the shame society imposed.