Ava Gardner image

Ava Gardner, queen of the silver screen, couldn’t have predicted she’d be sporting sweats in the last portrait ever taken of her—though even if she’d been wearing designer selections, the Scotch she sipped between takes may have made it difficult for her to shoot a glamorous photo. It had been 15 years since she’d last allowed any photographer to shoot her, but meeting production photographer Tom Zimberoff on the Tunisia set of Anno Domini (A.D.) in 1983 changed that course. Within a week of Gardner meeting Zimberoff, she’d be inviting him to bring his camera to her London flat, where—unbeknownst to both of them—he would capture her final sitting.—Ingrid Faustino Vega for @vanityfair v