[79] While the film was financially successful,[80] Time magazine panned it, calling it "a pretentious resurrection of Robert Louis Stevenson's ghoulish classic As for Lana Turner, fully clad for a change, and the rest of the cast they are as wooden as their roles. In 1936, when Turner was 15, she was discovered while purchasing a soda at the Top Hat Malt Shop in Hollywood. [256] According to Turner, Pellar (also known as Ronald Dante or Dr. Dante)[257] falsely claimed to have been raised in Singapore and to have a Ph.D. in psychology. [188] While shooting the film the previous spring, she had begun receiving phone calls and flowers on the set from mobster Johnny Stompanato, using the name "John Steele". [179][180] According to Cheryl, Turner confronted Barker before forcing him out of their home at gunpoint. [92], Arriving to sell bonds in her hometown of Wallace, Idaho, she was greeted with a banner that read "Welcome home, Lana", followed by a large celebration during which the mayor declared a holiday in her honor. [270] A review in The Philadelphia Inquirer noted: "Miss Turner always could wear clothes well, and her Forty Carats is a fashion show in the guise of a frothy, little comedy. It wasn't much of a play even when Julie Harris was doing it, and it all but disappears under the old-time Hollywood glamor of Miss Turner's star presence. Humor has been the balm of my life, but it's been reserved for those closest to me. [333][334][335] In a 1973 Films in Review retrospective on her career, Turner was referred to as "a master of the motion picture technique and a hardworking craftsman". Lana Turner died on June 29, 1995, in Los Angeles, California, USA. [125] She discovered she was pregnant with Power's child in the fall of 1947, but chose to have an abortion. "[109] Critic Anita Loos praised Turner's performance in the film, writing: "Lana Turner typifies modern allure. Burton reportedly said: 'She set out to get me, and I let. In a caree. The growth of maturity is reflected neatly in her distinguished portrayal. [95], During World War II the Royal Canadian Air Force 427 Lion Squadron had been "adopted" by MGM. Liotta was 67 at the time of his death, and although no official cause of death has been revealed, sources told PEOPLE that there is no foul play suspected in his passing. William McGinley, holding the knife used to kill Johnny Stompanato, questions Lana Turner during the. [246] The two married in June of that year at his family's home in Arlington, Virginia. [288] In September, Turner released an autobiography entitled Lana: The Lady, the Legend, the Truth. Atty. She was 75. [8] John was 24 years old at the time, and Mildred's father objected to the courtship. [273][274] Critic Elaine Matas noted of a 1977 performance that Turner was "brilliant" and "the bright spot in an otherwise mediocre play". [212] Despite this, Cheryl ran away from home multiple times and the press wrote about her rebelliousness. [286] Her appearance was a ratings success, and her character returned for an additional five episodes.[287]. Even the love goddess Lana Turner, who co-starred with Burton in The Rains Of Ranchipur, enjoyed a fling with him in his trailer. [244] In September of that year,[245] Turner and May separated, divorcing shortly after in October. [28] They also frequently moved, for a time living in Sacramento and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. [217] A 1962 novel by Harold Robbins entitled Where Love Has Gone and its subsequent film adaptation were inspired by the event. [268] Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times wrote that the film served "as a reminder that Miss Turner was never one of our subtler actresses". The biography is as colorful as any plot she has ever romped through on screen. In the mid-thirties, Columbia Pictures put her under a long-term contract, transforming dark-haired teenager Rita Cansino into redhead bombshell Rita Hayworth. Nevertheless, she insisted she would not give up her glamorous image. Turner, Lana (September 28, 1982). [186] Though grateful for the nomination, Turner would later state that she felt it was not "one of my better roles". [69] In contemporaneous press, it was noted she had been hospitalized for "exhaustion". Miss Turner, who had been treated for throat cancer, apparently died of natural causes, a police spokeswoman, Ramona Baety, confirmed to The Associated Press. [22] At age three, she performed an impromptu dance routine at a charity fashion show in which her mother was modeling. [272] From 1976 to 1978, she starred in a touring production of Bell, Book and Candle, playing Gillian Holroyd. [276], Between 1979 and 1980, Turner returned to theater, appearing in Murder Among Friends, a murder-mystery play that showed in various U.S. [253] In April 1969,[254] Turner filed for divorce from Eaton after four years of marriage upon discovering he had been unfaithful to her. "She'd completed. She also struggled for a long period with alcoholism and smoking, both of which led to the throat cancer that would take her life. [145], In 1949, Turner was to star in A Life of Her Own (1950), a George Cukor-directed drama about a woman who aspires to be a model in New York City. [205] Around 8:00p.m. on Friday, April 4, Stompanato arrived at Turner's rented home at 730 North Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills. [97] They remained friends throughout her later life. [172][173] The production was rushed to accommodate a Christmas release and was completed in only three months, but it received unfavorable reviews from critics. Confidential (1990). Lana Turner was married to seven men, including bandleader Artie Shaw. She'd grown up poor and uneducated, yet her mother always knew that Ava had what it took to be a movie star. Lana Turner's autobiography was finished just before her death. [322][325] Film historians Joe Morella and Edward Epstein have observed that, unlike many female stars, Turner "wasn't resented by female fans", and that women made up a large part of her fan base in later years. [104] She gave birth to a daughter, Cheryl, on July 25, 1943. [56] During the shoot, Turner completed her studies with an educational social worker, allowing her to graduate high school that year. [94] Upon completing the tour, Turner had sold $5.25 million in war bonds. The 1958 stabbing death of Johnny Stompanato, a reputed mobster, was definitely a homicide, but what may never be known is whether it was committed by film star, Lana Turner, who had been his girlfriend, or Turner's 14-year-old daughter, Cheryl Crane. The flesh is the same. "[33], Her next project was Johnny Eager (1941), a violent mobster film in which she portrayed a socialite. [63] The film was a commercial success, and led to Turner appearing on the cover of Look magazine. "Joan Rivers interviews Lana Turner". She died on June 25, 1995, in Culver City, California, after a long bout with cancer. But it was just what I wanted to do. [60] Upon completing Dramatic School, Turner screen-tested for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). The film's curvaceous star, Lana Turner, in white shorts and a halter top that set off her tan, had never . [47] Her first starring role for MGM was scheduled to be an adaptation of The Sea-Wolf, co-starring Clark Gable, but the project was eventually shelved. She stopped smoking after her diagnosis and, in February 1993, announced she was cancer free. "[250] The role earned Turner a David di Donatello Golden Plaque Award for Best Foreign Actress that year. "[146] Although unenthusiastic about the screenplay, Turner agreed to appear in the film after executives promised her suspension would be lifted upon doing so. [87][88] James Agee of Time magazine was critical of co-star Robert Taylor's performance and noted: "Turner is similarly handicapped: Metro has swathed her best assets in a toga, swears that she shall become an actress, or else. [294] She underwent exploratory surgery to remove the cancer,[294] but it had metastasized to her jaw and lungs. [86] "I adored Mr. Gable, but we were [just] friends," she later recalled. Despite being a comedian, May had a serious side to him. By the time this one comes out, it will be almost three years since I was last on the screen, in The Three Musketeers. In a 50 plus year career, she developed from a pin-up model into true Hollywood royalty. Lana Turner, nome artstico de Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner (Wallace, 8 de fevereiro de 1921 Los Angeles, 29 de junho de 1995), foi uma atriz norte-americana. She is the most glamorous actress since Jean Harlow. A coroner's inquest brought considerable media attention to Turner and concluded that Crane had acted in self defense. [210] More than 100 reporters and journalists attended the April 12, 1958 inquest, described by attendees as "near-riotous". I don't wear any make-up and my hair's a mess." [267] Her next film was Bittersweet Love (1976), a romantic comedy in which she portrayed the mother of a woman who unwittingly marries her half-brother. In the film, she portrayed the daughter of a wealthy patriarch who pursues a relationship with a man in love with her sister. [209] Turner testified that she initially believed Cheryl had punched him, but realized Stompanato had been stabbed when he collapsed and she saw blood on his shirt. February 27, 2023 . [220] The production was difficult for Turner given the recent events of her personal life, and she suffered a panic attack on the first day of filming. [315] Film scholar Jessica Hope Jordan considers Turner an "implosion" of both a "real-life image and star image" and suggests that she utilized one to mask the other, thus rendering her representative of the "ultimate femme fatale". Anne Heche's Official Cause Of Death Revealed. [121] 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. [64], In February 1940, Turner garnered significant publicity when she eloped to Las Vegas with 28-year-old bandleader Artie Shaw, her co-star in Dancing Co-Ed. [52] In her early films, Turner did not color her auburn hairsee Dancing Co-Ed (1939), in which she was billed "the red-headed sensation who brought "it" back to the screen". [224][307] However, her image in 1946's The Postman Always Rings Twice marked a departure from her strictly-sex symbol screen persona to that of a full-fledged femme fatale. Johnny Stompanato Is Killed By Lana Turner's Daughter. [153] Suffering from depression over her career and financial problems, she attempted suicide in September 1951 by slitting her wrists in a locked bathroom. [29], While baptized a Protestant at birth,[32] Turner attended Mass with the Hislops, a Catholic family with whom her mother had temporarily boarded her in Stockton, California. Lana Turner's father was murdered when she was a child. Occupations. These Freudian Montage Shots Show Mental State of Jekyll Changing to Hyde", "Lana's Kisses Sell Bonds Without Her Fancy Speech", "The Story is the Same But Hollywood Has Changed", "Movie of the Week: The Postman Always Rings Twice", "Lana Turner To Play Lead In 'Green Dolphin Street", "Hepburn's Screen Career Unaffected by Frankness", "Lana Turner Says She Is Now the Home-Girl Type", "Lana Turner leaves Footprints At Grauman's Chinese Theater", "Pinza Is Tops, Lana Is Dull In 'Mr. Lana Turner died Thursday at 75. During the course of the book it's evident Turner led a charmed life of opportunity with the perks of showbiz royalty on one hand and on the other hand she had a dramatic dark personal life with more twists and turns than most daytime drama scripts. Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death, killing 180 people a day in Britain. [308] 1941's Ziegfeld Girl was the first film to showcase Turner with platinum blonde hair, which she wore for much of the remainder of her life and for which she came to be known. [96], In July 1942,[97] Turner met her second husband, actor-turned-restaurateur Joseph Stephen "Steve" Crane, at a dinner party in Los Angeles. I've been sprung. Lana Turner was born on February 8, 1921 and died on June 29, 1995. [157] The Bad and the Beautiful was both a critical and commercial success, and earned her favorable reviews. Indeed, there is cause for suspicion that they didn't even bother to think. [22] In the mid-1930s, Turner's mother developed respiratory problems and was advised by her doctor to move to a drier climate, upon which the two moved to Los Angeles in 1936.[22][25]. [33] In 1965, she met Hollywood producer and businessman Robert Eaton, who was ten years her junior, through business associates. [311] The likeness was most evident in Peyton Place and Imitation of Life, both films in which Turner portrayed single mothers struggling to maintain relationships with their teenage daughters. Cause of death. Turner's notoriety was assured in 1958 when her lover, mobster Johnny Stompanato, was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife by her daughter Cheryl Crane. [127], Turner's next film was the romantic drama Cass Timberlane, in which she played a young woman in love with an older judge, a role for which Jennifer Jones, Vivien Leigh and Virginia Grey had also been considered. Mervyn LeRoy on Turner during her first audition, December 1936[34], Turner's discovery is considered a show-business legend and part of Hollywood mythology among film and popular cultural historians. [275] In the fall of 1978, she appeared in a Chicago production of Divorce Me, Darling, an original play in which she portrayed a San Francisco divorce attorney. [292] 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. "[337], Because of the intersections between Turner's high-profile, glamorous persona, and storied, often troubled personal life, she is included in critical discussions about the Hollywood studio system, specifically its capitalization on its stars' private travails. Lana Turner (/ln/ LAH-n;[a] born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921 June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Her next marriage was to Joseph Stephen Crane in 1942 (via Livingly ). [161] The films were Flame and the Flesh, in which she portrayed a manipulative woman who takes advantage of a musician, and Betrayed, an espionage thriller set in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands; the latter marked Turner's fourth and final film appearance opposite Clark Gable. [99][100] Their marriage was annulled by Turner four months later upon discovering that Crane's previous divorce had not yet been finalized. [218], Turner has been noted by historians as a sex symbol, a popular culture icon[4][314] and "a symbol of the American Dream fulfilled Because of her, being discovered at a soda fountain has become almost as cherished an ideal as being born in a log cabin. "[249] Kaspar Monahan of the Pittsburgh Press lauded her performance, writing: "Her performance, I think, is far and away her very best, even rating Oscar consideration in next year's Academy Award race, unless the culture snobs gang up against her. [133] 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. [20] As a child, Turner was known to family and friends as Judy. [312] Film scholar Richard Dyer cites Turner as an example of one of Hollywood's earliest stars whose publicized private life perceptibly inflected their careers: "Her career is marked by an unusually, even spectacularly, high degree of interpenetration between her publicly available private life and her films not only do her vehicles furnish characters and situations in accord with her off-screen image, but frequently incidents in them echo incidents in her life so that by the end of her career films like Peyton Place, Imitation of Life, Madame X and Love Has Many Faces seem in parts like mere illustrations of her life."[313]. "[321], According to her daughter, Turner's obsessive attention to detail often resulted in dressmakers storming out during dress fittings. [212][299] According to Cheryl, Turner's death was a "total shock", as she had appeared to be in better health and had recently completed seven weeks of radiation therapy. [165][166] She was reluctant to appear in the film because of the character's scanty, "atrocious" costumes and "stupid" lines, and during the shoot struggled to get along with co-star Edmund Purdom, whom she later described as "a young man with a remarkably high opinion of himself".