Lana Turner
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Lana Turner |
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| Personal | |
| Also known as | Julia Jean Turner, Lanita |
| Born | February 8, 1921[1] Wallace, Idaho |
| Died | June 29, 1995 (aged 74)[2] Century City, Los Angeles, California |
| Years active | 1937-1994 |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Nationality | American |
| Body | |
| Measurements | 37-25-36[3][4] |
| Bra/cup size | 34C (75C) |
| Boobs | Natural[5][6] |
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) |
| Weight | 128 lb (58 kg) |
| Body type | Slim |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Hair | Blonde, Brown Short |
| Databases | |
| IMDb | |
Lana Turner was an American actress popular during the 1940s and 1950s. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. In the mid-1940s, she was one of the highest-paid actresses in the United States, and one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's (MGM) biggest stars, with her films earning the studio more than $50 million during her 18-year contract with them. Turner is frequently cited as a popular culture icon of Hollywood glamour and a screen legend of classical Hollywood cinema.
Early Life
Turner was born Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner into a working class family in northern Idaho. The family struggled financially and they ended up relocating to San Francisco, California when Turner was 6 years old, after which her parents separated. Turner's father was found murdered after gambling in 1930, a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. Turner and her mother moved around frequently, and Turner regularly was sent to family or friends' homes to live so her mother could save. Shortly after her father's murder, Turner went to live with a family in Modesto who physically abused her. In 1936, Turner's mother's health deteriorated and her doctors told them to move to a drier climate, which caused them to move to Los Angeles. Turner was famously discovered as a junior in high school purchasing a Coke at the Top Hat Malt Shop on the southeast corner of Sunset Boulevard by William R. Wilkerson, the publisher of The Hollywood Reporter. With her mother's permission, Turner was referred by Wilkerson to the actor/comedian/talent agent Zeppo Marx. n December 1936, Marx introduced Turner to film director Mervyn LeRoy, who signed her to a $50 weekly contract with Warner Bros. on February 22, 1937. LeRoy would suggest Turner to use the stage name "Lana Turner," a moniker she would later adopt legally.
Film Career
Turner made her feature film debut in LeRoy's They Won't Forget in 1937. The film earned her the nickname of the "Sweater Girl" for her form-fitting attire, which accentuated her bust. She followed her debut up with an appearance in the historical comedy The Great Garrick later that year.
When LeRoy signed on with MGM in late 1937, Turner was permitted to go with him to continue to make films. Turner left Warner Bros. and signed a contract with MGM for $100 a week. Turner earned her first starring role was opposite teen idol Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in the Andy Hardy film Love Finds Andy Hardy in 1938. The film was a box-office success, and her appearance as a flirtatious high school student convinced studio head Louis B. Mayer that Turner could be the next Jean Harlow, a sex symbol who had died six months before Turner's arrival at MGM. Mayer helped further Turner's career by giving her roles in several youth-oriented films in the late 1930s, such as the comedy Rich Man, Poor Girl (1938) and Dramatic School (1938). Turner auditioned for the part of Scarlett O'Hara for the famous film Gone With the Wind but was turned down. Her next headlining role didn't come until 1939's Dancing Co-Ed. The film was a commercial success, and led to Turner appearing on the cover of Look magazine. She also met her first husband on the set of the film, bandleader Artie Shaw, with whom she eloped with in December 1940. Their marriage only lasted four months, but was highly publicized, and led MGM executives to grow concerned over Turner's off-screen behavior.
In 1940, Turner appeared in her first musical film, Two Girls on Broadway, in which she received top billing over established co-stars Joan Blondell and George Murphy. The following year, she had a lead role in her second musical, Ziegfeld Girl, opposite James Stewart, Judy Garland and Hedy Lamarr. The film's high box-office returns elevated Turner's profitability, and MGM gave her a weekly salary raise to $1,500 as well as a personal makeup artist and trailer. After completing the film, Turner and co-star Garland remained lifelong friends. Following the success of Ziegfeld Girl, Turner took a supporting role in 1941's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde opposite Spencer Tracy and Ingrid Bergman, which was critically panned. Turner was then cast in the Western Honky Tonk (1941), the first of four films in which she would star opposite Clark Gable. Due to the films' successes, it was often rumored in Hollywood that they were romantically involved.
At the advent of World War II, Turner's increasing prominence in Hollywood led to her becoming a popular pin-up girl, and her image appeared painted on the noses of U.S. fighter planes. In June 1942, she embarked on a 10-week war-bond tour throughout the western United States with Gable. At the conclusion of the tour, Turner helped to sell $5.25 million in bonds by promising kisses to the highest war bond buyers. Throughout the war, Turner continued to make regular appearances at U.S. troop events and area bases, though she confided to friends that she found visiting the hospital wards of injured soldiers emotionally difficult.
In July 1942, Turner met her second husband actor-turned-restaurateur Joseph Stephen "Steve" Crane, at a dinner party in Los Angeles. Turner once again eloped in Las Vegas with Crane a week after beginning to date. Their marriage was annulled by Turner four months later upon discovering that Crane's previous divorce had not yet been finalized. After discovering she was pregnant in November 1942, she and Crane remarried. Due to having Rh-negative blood, Turner's ability to carry children to term was difficult. However, she gave birth to a daughter, Cheryl, on July 25, 1943 who almost died. The publicity machine at MGM decided to capitalize on Turner's remarriage to Crane to to play up her image as a sex symbol in 1943's Slightly Dangerous. Released in the midst of Turner's pregnancy, the film was financially successful but received mixed reviews. In August 1944, Turner divorced Crane, citing his gambling and unemployment.
After the war, Turner was cast in a lead role opposite John Garfield in the 1946 film noir classic The Postman Always Rings Twice. The film marked a turning point for Turner's acting career, as it was her first femme fatale role. In August 1946, it was announced she would replace Katharine Hepburn in the big-budget historical drama Green Dolphin Street (1947), a role for which she darkened her hair and lost 15 pounds. Turner's back to back successes led her to have high profile, public affairs with Tyrone Power, Frank Sinatra, and Howard Hughes. By this period, Turner was at the zenith of her film career, and was not only MGM's most popular star, but also one of the ten highest-paid women in the United States, with annual earnings of $226,000.
By the end of the 1940s, Turner's film star began to dim. Turner had again gotten married, which interferred with her filming of 1947's The Three Musketeers. She arrived to set 3 days late, and studio head Louis B. Mayer threatened to suspend her contract, but Turner managed to leverage her box-office draw with MGM to negotiate an expansion of her role in the film, as well as a salary increase amounting to $5,000 per week. The film went on to become a box-office success, earning $4.5 million, but Mayer suspended Turner's contract at the end of filming. In 1950, the George Cuckor film A Life of Her Own flopped after production and script problems. MGM then attempted to rebrand Turner with musical roles with Mr. Imperium and The Merry Widow (1951).
During this period, Turner's personal finances were in disarray, and she was facing bankruptcy. Suffering from chronic depression over her career and financial problems, she attempted suicide in September 1951 by slitting her wrists in a locked bathroom. She was saved by her business manager, Benton Cole, who broke down the bathroom door and called an ambulance.
Turner's next successful project was opposite Kirk Douglas in Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), in which she again received box office and critical success. The rest of the mid-50s were filled with commercial successes for Turner but no break out roles. After more volatile personal life incidents and failed marriages were in the tabloids, Turner next captured mass attention with her turn as Constance MacKenzie in the December 1957 blockbuster Peyton Place. It would be the first and only time Turner would be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
In 1959 and into 1960, Turner's involvement in a relationship with Johnny Stompanato and their violent relationship (ultimately ending when Turner justifiably killed him in a domestic assault) cast a pall over her career. Fewer roles began arriving for her in the 1960s. She still managed to turn in memorable performances in such films as Portrait in Black (1960) and Bachelor in Paradise (1961). In 1966, Turner had her last major starring role in the courtroom drama film Madame X, based on the 1904 play by Alexandre Bisson. The role earned Turner a David di Donatello Golden Plaque Award for Best Foreign Actress that year.
Later Life & Career
With fewer film roles coming in by the late 1960s, Turner branched out to television and signed on for Harold Robbins' The Survivors. Premiering in September 1969, the series was given a major national marketing campaign, with billboards featuring life-sized images of Turner. Despite ABC's extensive publicity campaign and the presence of other big-name stars, the program fared badly, and it was canceled halfway into the season after a 15-week run in 1970.
In the early 1970s, Turner transitioned to theater, beginning with a production of Forty Carats, which toured various East Coast cities in 1971. She would continue to perform in successful theater productions throughout the rest of the decade. In 1980, Turner made her final feature-film appearance alongside Teri Garr in the comedy horror film Witches' Brew, an adaptation of Fritz Leiber's 1943 book Conjure Wife. In 1981, Turner returned to television for a 5-episode run on the hit series Falcon Crest. Turner's final on-screen appearance came as a guest star in 1985 on an episode of The Love Boat.
In the spring of 1992, Turner, a regular smoker, discovered she had lung cancer. Initial treatments put Turner in short-term remission. Despite treatment, the cancer returned in July 1994. In September 1994, Turner made her final public appearance at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award, and was confined to a wheelchair for most of the event. She died nine months later at the age of 74 on June 29, 1995, of complications from the cancer, at her home in Century City, Los Angeles, with her daughter by her side.
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