Lana Turner

Lana Turner

in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Born Julia Jean Turner
February 8, 1921(1921-02-08)
Wallace, Idaho, U.S.
Died June 29, 1995(1995-06-29) (aged 74)
Century City, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1937–1991
Spouse Artie Shaw (1940–1940)
Joseph Stephen Crane (1942–1943, 1943–1944)
Henry J. Topping (1948–1952)
Lex Barker (1953–1957)
Fred May (1960–1962)
Robert Eaton (1965–1969)
Ronald Dante (1969–1972)

Lana Turner (February 8, 1921 – June 29, 1995) was an American actress.

Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget (1937). She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). During the early 1940s she established herself as a leading actress in such films as Johnny Eager (1941), Ziegfeld Girl (1941) and Somewhere I'll Find You (1942), and her reputation as a glamorous femme fatale was enhanced by her performance in the film noir The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Her popularity continued through the 1950s, in such films as The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Peyton Place (1957), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

In 1958, her daughter, Cheryl Crane, stabbed Turner's lover Johnny Stompanato to death. A coroner's inquest brought considerable media attention to Turner and concluded that Crane had acted in self defense. Turner's next film, Imitation of Life (1959), proved to be one of the greatest successes of her career, but from the early 1960s, her roles were fewer. She gained recognition near the end of her career with a recurring guest role in the television series Falcon Crest during 1982 and 1983.

Turner made her final television appearance in 1991, and died from throat cancer in 1995.

Contents

Early life

Born Julia Jean Turner in Wallace, Idaho, she was the daughter of John Virgil Madison Turner, a miner from Hohenwald, Tennessee, and Mildred Frances Cowan, a sixteen-year-old Arkansas native. A common and often repeated error is to add the given names of her mother Mildred Frances to her birth name. These names she used when she converted to Catholicism.[1]

Until her film career took off, she was known to family and friends as "Judy". Hard times eventually forced the family to re-locate to San Francisco, where her parents soon separated.

On December 14, 1930, her father won some money at a traveling craps game, stuffed his winnings in his left sock, and headed for home. He was later found dead on the corner of Minnesota and Mariposa Streets, on the edge of Potrero Hill and the Dogpatch District in San Francisco, his left shoe and sock missing.[2][3] The robbery and murder were never solved. Soon after, her mother developed health problems and was advised by her doctor to move to a drier climate. With her ten-year-old daughter, she moved to Los Angeles in 1931.[3]

Mildred and Lana were very poor, and Turner was sometimes separated from her mother, living with friends or acquaintances so that the family could save money. Her mother worked as a beautician to support them. After Turner was discovered, her mother became the overseer of Turner's career.[4]

Film career

in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)

Turner's discovery at a Hollywood drug store is a show-business legend. As a sixteen-year-old student at Hollywood High School Turner skipped a typing class and bought a Coke at the Top Hat Cafe located on the southeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and McCadden Place (not Schwab's Pharmacy), where she was spotted by William R. Wilkerson, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter. Wilkerson was attracted by her beauty and physique, and referred her to the actor/comedian/talent agent Zeppo Marx. Marx's agency immediately signed her on and introduced her to film director Mervyn LeRoy, who cast her in her first film, They Won't Forget (1937).

Turner earned the nickname "The Sweater Girl" from her form-fitting attire in a scene in They Won't Forget. According to her daughter, this was a nickname Turner detested throughout her entire career.[5] In late 1937, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $100 a week[5], and graduated from high school in between takes. Her first starring role for MGM was scheduled to be an adaption of The Sea-Wolf, co-starring Clark Gable, but the project was eventually canned.[6] Instead, she was assigned opposite teen idol Mickey Rooney in the Andy Hardy film Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). It was this appearance that made Louis B. Mayer convinced that Turner could be the next Jean Harlow, a sex symbol who died six months before Turner's arrival at MGM.[5]

Mayer turned her into a glamorous star, mostly popular among college boys, and gave her the leads in several teen-oriented films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, such as Dramatic School (1938), These Glamour Girls (1939) and Dancing Co-Ed (1939). In early 1940, she was also set to star in a remake of Our Dancing Daughters, but the film was never made.[7] From the beginning of her career, Turner stood her ground on her beliefs and was one of the few actresses at MGM to go against Mayer's wishes.[5]

Turner reached the height of her fame in the 1940s and 1950s. During World War II, Turner became a popular pin-up girl due to her popularity in such films such as Ziegfeld Girl (1941), Johnny Eager (1942), and four films with Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer's "king of the lot," Clark Gable. The Turner-Gable films' successes were only heightened by gossip-column rumors about a relationship between the two. Turner even had a B-17 Flying Fortress—the Tempest Turner—named after her.[8] Following the canned The Sea Wolf project, Turner and Gable were set to star in The Uniform in December 1940.[9] Turner was eventually replaced by Rosalind Russell and the film was released as They Met in Bombay (1941).

Meanwhile, Turner was receiving much publicity for her personal life, and her career was one of the very few to be furthened by this.[5] MGM boosted this by changing the title of her latest film to Slightly Dangerous (1943).[5]

After the war, Turner's career continued successfully with the release, in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), which co-starred John Garfield.[10]. As claimed in a documentary, Turner did not get along with him and when she found he was her male lead, she responded: "Couldn't they at least hire someone attractive?"[5] The now-classic film noir marked a turning point in her career, and it marked Turner's first femme fatale role.[5] Reviews of the film, and in particular, Turner's performance, were glowing, with a critic of The New York Times writing it was "the role of her career."[5] While not exactly giving up her pin-up credentials, Turner established herself as a skilled actress. The Postman Always Rings Twice was thus a turning point in her career. Turner commented on this:

"I finally got tired of making movies where all I did was walk across the screen and look pretty. I got a big chance to do some real acting in The Postman Always Rings Twice, and I'm not going to slip back if I can help it. I tried to persuade the studio to give me something different. But every time I wento into my argument about how bad a picture was they'd say, 'well, it's making a fortune.' That licked me."[11]

She got the role after turning down "four pretty-pretty parts in a row."[11] The film became a box office success, which prompted the studio to take more risks on the star.[11] In August 1946, it was announced Turner was set to replace Katharine Hepburn in the big budgeted historical drama Green Dolphin Street (1947), a role for which she darkened her hair and lost 15 pounds.[11][12] She was cast due to the persistance of producer Carey Wilson, who was overwhelmed by her performance in The Postman Always Rings Twice.[12] Turner later recalled she was surprised about replacing Hepburn, saying: "And I guess I'm about the most un-Hepburnish actress on the lot. But it was just what I wanted to do."[11] It was her first starring role that did not center on her looks. In an interview, Turner said: "I even go running around in the jungles of New Zealand in a dress that's filthy and ragged. I don't wear any make-up and my hair's a mess."[11] Nevertheless, she insisted she would not give up her glamorous image.[11]

Later that year, Turner headlined Cass Timberlane, a role that Jennifer Jones, Vivien Leigh and Virginia Grey were previously considered for.[13] As of early 1946, Turner was set for the role, but schedules with Green Dolphin Street almost prohibited her from taking the role, and by late 1946, she was almost recast.[14] Production of Cass Timberlane was very exhausting for Turner, as it was shot in between retakes of Green Dolphin Street.[15] Nevertheless, she took the female lead in Homecoming (1948) in August 1947, only moments after finishing Cass Timberlane.[16] She was the studio's first choice for the role, but they were reluctant to offer her the part, considering her overbooked schedule.[16] Paired again with Clark Gable in Homecoming, their chemistry projected on the screen was well received by the audience, and they were nicknamed "the team that generates steam".[17] By this period, Turner achieved the milestone of her film career, and was not only MGM's most popular star, but also one of the ten best paid women in the United States.[5]

In 1948, Turner appeared in her first Technicolor film, appearing as Lady de Winter in The Three Musketeers, opposite Gene Kelly, Van Heflin and June Allyson. In November 1947, she agreed to do the film, thereby giving up an unfinished film project called Bedeviled.[18] However, in January 1948 it was reported that she had withdrawn from the film. Initially, Louis B. Mayer gave her permission for doing so because of her schedule[19], but she was later that month put on suspension.[20] Eventually, Turner agreed to make the film, but did not start production until March due to having to lose weight. In 1949, she was to headline A Life of Her Own (1950). The project was shelved for several months, and Turner insisted in December 1949 that she had nothing to do with it, saying: "Everybody agrees that the script is still a pile of junk. I'm anxious to get started. By the time this one comes out, it will be almost three years since I was last on the screen, in The Three Musketeers. I don't think it's healthy to stay off the screen that long."[21]

in Mr. Imperium (1951)

During the 1950s, Turner starred in a series of films that failed to succeed at the box office, a situation MGM attempted to remedy by casting her in musicals. The first, Mr. Imperium (1951), was a flop, while The Merry Widow (1952) was more successful. She gave a widely praised performance in Vincente Minnelli's film, The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and later starred with John Wayne in the adventure film The Sea Chase (1955). She was then cast in the epic The Prodigal (1955), but the film and her performance in general were not well received. After the film Diane (1956), MGM opted not to renew her contract. This was a difficult time for Hollywood's major studios because a recent court decision forced them to divest themselves of their movie theaters. In addition, television had caught on in a big way; the public was staying home. Turner was just one of MGM's star roster to be let go.

Turner's career recovered briefly after she appeared in the hugely successful big-screen adaptation of Grace Metalious's best-selling novel, Peyton Place (1957), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Another few box-office failures followed (Another Time, Another Place (1958), for example) when the 1958 scandal surrounding her daughter's killing of Stompanato threatened to derail her career completely.

In the trail of the related negative publicity, Turner accepted the lead role in Ross Hunter's remake of Imitation of Life (1959) under the direction of Douglas Sirk. Universal Studios capitalized on her new-found notoriety; the result was one of the biggest hits of the year, as well as the biggest hit of Turner's career. Critics and audiences couldn't help noticing that the plots of both Peyton Place and Imitation of Life had borrowed heavily from Turner's private life. Each film depicted the troubled, complicated relationship between a single mother and her teenage daughter.

She made her last film at MGM starring with Bob Hope in Bachelor in Paradise (1961). Other highlights of this era include two Hunter productions (for whom she did Imitation of Life), Portrait in Black (1960) and Madame X (1966), which proved to be her last major starring role.

Personal life

Lana Turner in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941).

Turner was well known inside Hollywood circles for dating often, changing partners often, and for never shying away from the topic of how many lovers she had in her lifetime.

Turner was married eight times to seven different husbands:

She later famously said, "My goal was to have one husband and seven children, but it turned out to be the other way around."

The Stompanato killing

Turner met Johnny Stompanato during the spring of 1957, shortly after ending her marriage to Barker. At first, Turner was susceptible to Stompanato's good looks and prowess as a lover, but after she discovered his ties to the Los Angeles underworld (in particular, his association with gangster Mickey Cohen), she tried to break off the affair out of fear of bad publicity. Stompanato was not easily deterred, however, and over the course of the following year, they carried on a relationship filled with violent arguments, physical abuse and repeated reconciliations.

In the fall of 1957, Stompanato followed Turner to England where she was filming Another Time, Another Place (1958) costarring Sean Connery. Fearful that Turner was having an affair with Connery, Stompanato stormed onto the set brandishing a gun. Connery managed to land a single punch to Stompanato's jaw and took away his gun. Stompanato was soon deported by Scotland Yard for the incident.[27]

Lana Turner's former home in Beverly Hills where Johnny Stompanato was killed in 1958.

On the evening of April 4, 1958, Turner and Stompanato began a violent argument in Turner's house at 730 N. Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills. Fearing her mother's life was in danger, Turner's fourteen-year-old daughter, Cheryl, grabbed a kitchen knife and ran to Turner's defense.[28]

Many theories abound as to what happened afterward, but it appears Crane stabbed Stompanato, killing him. The case quickly became a media sensation. It was later deemed a justifiable homicide at a coroner's inquest, at which Turner provided dramatic testimony. Some observers have said her testimony that day was the acting performance of her life.[29]

Later life

In the 1970s and 1980s, Turner appeared in several television roles, most notably as a guest star for several episodes on the series Falcon Crest as Jaqueline Perrault, but the majority of her final decade was spent out of the public eye.

She died at the age of 74 in 1995 of complications from throat cancer, which was diagnosed in 1992 and which she had been battling ever since, at her home in Century City, Los Angeles, California. She was, until her death, a very heavy smoker.

Turner was survived by Cheryl Crane, her only child, and Crane's life partner Joyce "Josh" LeRoy, whom she said she accepted "as a second daughter". They inherited some of Turner's sizable estate, built through shrewd real estate holdings and investments. However, the majority of her estate was left to her maid, Carmen Lopez Cruz.

For her contribution to the motion-picture industry, Turner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6241 Hollywood Boulevard.

In the mid-1990s, Turner became a Born-Again Christian.[30]

In literature

Turner is the subject of the poem "Lana Turner has collapsed" by the poet Frank O'Hara.

She was the visual basis for the character Janice Porter in the comic Batman: Dark Victory.

Turner and Stompanato appear as minor characters in James Ellroy's novel "L.A. Confidential"

Filmography

Year Title Role Co-stars Notes
1937 They Won't Forget Mary Clay Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson Turner's film debut
Topper Uncredited Constance Bennett, Cary Grant, Roland Young, Billie Burke
The Great Garrick Mademoiselle Auber Brian Aherne, Olivia de Havilland
1938 The Adventures of Marco Polo Nazama'a Maid Gary Cooper, Sigrid Gurie, Basil Rathbone
Love Finds Andy Hardy Cynthia Potter Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland
The Chaser Miss Rutherford (scenes deleted) Dennis O'Keefe, Ann Morriss, Lewis Stone
Four's a Crowd Passerby (uncredited) Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Patric Knowles
Rich Man, Poor Girl Helen Thayer Robert Young, Lew Ayres, Ruth Hussey
Dramatic School Mado Luise Rainer, Paulette Goddard
1939 Calling Dr. Kildare Rosalie Lewett Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day
These Glamour Girls Jane Thomas Lew Ayres
Dancing Co-Ed Patty Marlow Richard Carlson, Artie Shaw Turner met her future husband Artie Shaw on this film and they married soon after
1940 Two Girls on Broadway Patricia 'Pat' Mahoney Joan Blondell, George Murphy Remake of the 1929 hit film The Broadway Melody
We Who Are Young Marjorie White Brooks John Shelton
1941 Ziegfeld Girl Sheila Regan James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr Turner's breakthrough role
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Bea Emery Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman Turner was originally to play Ivy Pearson the prostitute, with Bergman playing Bea. However the roles were switched.
Honky Tonk Elizabeth Cotton Clark Gable, Claire Trevor Turner's first of four films with Clark Gable
1942 Johnny Eager Lisbeth Bard Robert Taylor, Van Heflin
Somewhere I'll Find You Paula Lane Clark Gable, Robert Sterling Second film starring Turner and Gable
1943 The Youngest Profession Herself (guest star) Virginia Weidler, John Carroll Cameo role
Slightly Dangerous Peggy Evans/Carol Burden Robert Young, Walter Brennan
Du Barry Was a Lady Cameo Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly Uncredited guest star
1944 Marriage Is a Private Affair Theo Scofield West John Hodiak, James Craig
1945 Keep Your Powder Dry Valerie 'Val' Parks Laraine Day, Susan Peters
Week-End at the Waldorf Bunny Smith Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson Remake of the 1932 film Grand Hotel. Turner played the role similar to Joan Crawford's in that film
1946 The Postman Always Rings Twice Cora Smith John Garfield Considered to be Turner's greatest performance and her signature film. Turner herself regarded this as one of her personal favorites
1947 Green Dolphin Street Marianne Patourel Van Heflin, Donna Reed, Richard Hart
Cass Timberlane Virginia Marshland Spencer Tracy
1948 Homecoming Jane 'Snapshot' McCall Clark Gable, Anne Baxter, John Hodiak Third film starring Turner and Gable
The Three Musketeers Milady de Winter Gene Kelly, Vincent Price, June Allyson, Van Heflin, Angela Lansbury
1950 A Life of Her Own Lily Brannel James Ray Milland, Louis Calhern, Ann Dvorak The only film Turner made with George Cukor as director
1951 Mr. Imperium Fredda Barlo Ezio Pinza
1952 The Merry Widow Crystal Radek Fernando Lamas
The Bad and the Beautiful Georgia Lorrison Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Gloria Grahame
1953 Latin Lovers Nora Taylor Ricardo Montalban
1954 The Flame and the Flesh Madeline Pier Angeli, Carlos Thompson
Betrayed Carla Van Oven Clark Gable, Victor Mature Fourth and final film starring Turner and Gable
1955 The Prodigal Samarra Edmund Purdom, Louis Calhern
The Sea Chase Elsa Keller John Wayne
The Rains of Ranchipur Lady Edwina Esketh Richard Burton, Fred MacMurray
1956 Diane Diane de Poitiers Roger Moore, Marisa Pavan, Pedro Armendariz Turner's last film under her 18 year contract with MGM.
1957 Peyton Place Constance MacKenzie Lee Philips, Hope Lange, Diane Varsi, Russ Tamblyn, Arthur Kennedy Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress
1958 The Lady Takes a Flyer Maggie Colby Jeff Chandler
Another Time, Another Place Sara Scott Sean Connery, Barry Sullivan
1959 Imitation of Life Lora Meredith John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Juanita Moore, Susan Kohner Turner's most successful film. The last film directed by Douglas Sirk
1960 Portrait in Black Sheila Cabot Anthony Quinn, Sandra Dee, John Saxon
1961 By Love Possessed Marjorie Penrose Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jason Robards
Bachelor in Paradise Rosemary Howard Bob Hope
1962 Who's Got the Action? Melanie Flood Dean Martin
1965 Love Has Many Faces Kit Jordan Cliff Robertson, Ruth Roman
1966 Madame X Holly Parker John Forsythe, Constance Bennett, Burgess Meredith, Ricardo Montalban
1969 The Big Cube Adriana Roman George Chakiris, Karin Mossberg, Richard Egan
1974 Persecution Carrie Masters Trevor Howard
1976 Bittersweet Love Claire Robert Lansing, Celeste Holm
1980 Witches' Brew Vivian Cross Teri Garr, Richard Benjamin
1991 Thwarted Margo Lane William Hauckes, Victor Helou Turner's last film appearance

See also

References

  1. ↑ Turner, Lana "Lana: The Lady, The Legend, The Truth". Part of the misconception may derive from Jeanine Basinger's error in her book, "Lana Turner, A Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies".
  2. ↑ Basinger, Jeanine (1976). Lana Turner. Pyramid Publications. p. 19.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wayne, Jane Ellen (2003). The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others. Carroll & Graf Publishers. pp. 164–165. ISBN 0786713038. 
  4. ↑ Fischer, Lucy (1991). Three Way Mirror: Imitation of Life. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. pp. 3–28. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir. Turner Classic Movies. 2001.
  6. ↑ The Charleston Gazette, December 17, 1937, p. 4
  7. ↑ "'Our Dancing Daughters' Will Star Lana Turner", Schenectady Gazette, March 28, 1940, p. 10
  8. ↑ Lana Turner Biography - LanaTurner.org
  9. ↑ "Clark Gable and Lana Turner Cast As New Hollywood Co-Starring Team" by Louella O. Parsons, The Milwaukee Sentinel, December 6, 1940, p. 22
  10. ↑ http://www.cmgww.com/stars/turner/biography.html
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 "Imagine This, Lads; Lana Turner Asks That You Concentrate On Her Acting" by Virginia MacPherson, Toledo Blade, October 15, 1946
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Lana Turner To Play Lead In 'Green Dolphin Street'" by Dorothy Manners, St. Petersburg Times, August 3, 1946, p. 13
  13. ↑ "Notes for Cass Timberlane (1948)". Turner Classic Movies. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=2320&category=Notes. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 
  14. ↑ "News Of The Movies" by Dorothy Manners, The San Antonio Light, August 3, 1946
  15. ↑ "Cass Timberlane: Overview Article". Turner Classic Movies. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=2320&category=Articles. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Hepburn's Screen Career Unaffected By Frankness" by Louella O. Parsons, St. Petersburg Times, August 12, 1947, p. 8
  17. ↑ "Homecoming: Overview Article". Turner Classic Movies. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=669&category=Articles. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 
  18. ↑ "Independents Seek Shelter Of Major Studios for Cold Winter" by Bob Thomas, Denton Record-Chronicle, December 5, 1947, p. 4
  19. ↑ "Hollywood" by Louella Parsons, Middletown Times Herald, January 15, 1948, p. 12
  20. ↑ Basinger, J., Lana Turner, 1976, p. 80
  21. ↑ "Lana Turner Says She Is Now the Home-Girl Type" by Bob Thomas, Argus-Press, December 7, 1949, p. 13
  22. ↑ "Lana Turner Slated to Co-Star With Lew Ayres by Louella O. Parsons, Schenectady Gazette, March 7, 1940, p. 10
  23. ↑ "Henry J. (Bob) Topping Dies; Was Heir to Tin Plate Fortune", The New York Times, 23 April 1968
  24. ↑ "Actress's Marriage Stirs Church Trial", The New York Times, 20 May 1948
  25. ↑ "Milestones: Apr. 11, 1969". Time. April 11, 1969. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900767,00.html?promoid=googlep. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
  26. ↑ Jones, J. Harry (August 5, 2006). The Amazing Dr. Dante Has Seen It All. The San Diego Union-Tribune.
  27. ↑ In Lana Turner's Bedroom
  28. ↑ http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/2024/page19.html
  29. ↑ "Lana Turner's Daughter Tells Her Story". Larry King Live. August 8, 2001. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0108/08/lkl.00.html. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
  30. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnvSy8gEF4I

Further reading

External links