[153] Suffering from depression over her career and financial problems, she attempted suicide in September 1951 by slitting her wrists in a locked bathroom. [64] In the midst of her marriage to Shaw, she starred in We Who Are Young, a drama in which she played a woman who marries her coworker against their employer's policy. [72][73] Ziegfeld Girl marked a personal and professional shift for Turner; she claimed it as the first role that got her "interested in acting",[74] and the studio, impressed by her performance, marketed the film as featuring her in "the best role of the biggest picture to be released by the industry's biggest company". [237], In November 1960, Turner married her fifth husband, Frederick "Fred" May, a rancher and member of the May department-store family whom she had met at a beach party in Malibu shortly after filming Imitation of Life. [21] She expressed interest in performance at a young age, performing short dance routines at her father's Elks chapter in Wallace. "I'm getting close to that point, honey. [211] After four hours of testimony and approximately 25 minutes of deliberation, the jury deemed the killing a justifiable homicide. [132] She was the studio's first choice for the role, but it was reluctant to offer her the part, considering her overbooked schedule. Turner's role in the film has also caused her to be frequently associated with film noir and the femme fatale archetype in critical circles. [247], In 1966, Turner had her last major starring role in the courtroom drama film Madame X, based on the 1904 play by Alexandre Bisson, in which Turner portrayed a lower-class woman who marries into a wealthy family. [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. [125][33] During this time, she also had romantic affairs with Frank Sinatra[126] and Howard Hughes, the latter of which lasted for 12 weeks in late 1946. [176] Turner gleefully told a reporter at the time that she was "walking around in a daze. "[314] In addition, Basinger credits Turner as the first mainstream female star to "take the male prerogative openly for herself", publicly indulging in romances and affairs that in turn fueled the publicity surrounding her. [322] No matter the setting, Turner also took care to ensure she was always "camera-ready", wearing jewelry and makeup even while lounging in sweatpants. Actress Lana Turner (born Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner) was one of America's most celebrated sex symbols during the 1940s and 1950s making over 50 films. Lana was born Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner on February 8, 1921. "[110], In August 1944, Turner divorced Crane, citing his gambling and unemployment as primary reasons. [191] Turner was "thoroughly intrigued" and began casually dating him. According to Closer Weekly, Turner was married eight times, including twice to the same man. [121][122] The film was produced by Carey Wilson, who insisted on casting Turner based on her performance in The Postman Always Rings Twice. Scotty Bowers, who claimed to have been one of Hollywood's most infamous hustlers and procurers, arranging illicit liaisons with both straight and gay film stars, often taking part in . CONTACT DETAILS Web Site: . It's an image I've worked too hard to obtain and preserve. Lana Turner spoke these words as aspiring actress Lora Meredith in Imitation of Life (1959), but they could have been uttered by almost any of her characters over her 4 decades in Hollywood. However, she doesn't look like a vamp. [183] Released in December 1957, Peyton Place was a major blockbuster success, which worked in Turner's favor as she had agreed to take a percentage of the film's overall earnings instead of a salary. [22] At age three, she performed an impromptu dance routine at a charity fashion show in which her mother was modeling. I don't wear any make-up and my hair's a mess." [41] While in the shop, she was spotted by William R. Wilkerson, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter. [137][138] Turner's wedding celebrations interfered with her filming schedule for The Three Musketeers, and she arrived to the set three days late. [33] In 1965, she met Hollywood producer and businessman Robert Eaton, who was ten years her junior, through business associates. [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". [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. [307] Film historian Jeanine Basinger notes that she "represented the girl who'd rather sit on the diving board to show off her figure than get wet in the water the girl who'd rather kiss than kibbitz". [189] Stompanato had close ties to the Los Angeles underworld and gangster Mickey Cohen, which he feared would dissuade her from dating him. Many of the aircraft had dedications or nose art honoring MGM's Stars. [278][279][280] During this time, Turner was in the midst of a self-described "downhill slide". "When six o'clock came, he went his way and I went mine. [147] On May 24, 1950, Turner left her handprints and footprints in cement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. [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. "I fought against doing the picture, but I lost. Confidential (1990). By the time this one comes out, it will be almost three years since I was last on the screen, in The Three Musketeers. [114] The film was a box-office hit.[114][115]. . 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. No, she died on 06/29/1995, 27 years ago. [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 is the most glamorous actress since Jean Harlow. [122] Turner later recalled she was surprised about replacing Hepburn, saying: "I'm about the most un-Hepburnish actress on the lot. [104] She gave birth to a daughter, Cheryl, on July 25, 1943. An Aspiration Cut Short. Turner on her representation in press[305], When Turner was discovered, MGM executive Mervyn LeRoy envisioned her as a replacement for the recently deceased Jean Harlow and began developing her image as a sex symbol. [85] Meanwhile, the press continued to fuel rumors that Turner and Gable were romantic offscreen, which Turner vehemently denied. The clothes she wears are just like the clothes you pay to see her in on Saturday night at the Bijou. [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. [219] She portrayed a struggling stage actress who makes personal sacrifices to further her career. [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. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Ray Hamel and Denny Jackson Family (2) Trade Mark (2) Attractive figure Blonde hair Trivia (64) Born at 12:30pm-PST She'd grown up poor and uneducated, yet her mother always knew that Ava had what it took to be a movie star. William McGinley, holding the knife used to kill Johnny Stompanato, questions Lana Turner during the. [63] The film was a commercial success, and led to Turner appearing on the cover of Look magazine. [223], Released in the spring of 1959, Imitation of Life was among the year's biggest successes, and the biggest of Turner's career; by opting to receive 50% of the film's earnings rather than receiving a salary, she earned more than two million dollars. "I wasn't dumb," Gardner said. In the suit, Stompanato's son alleged that Turner had been responsible for his death, and that her daughter had taken the blame. [259] Premiering in September 1969, the series was given a major national marketing campaign, with billboards featuring life-sized images of Turner. After all those years as a sex symbol, nothing had changed--Lana was still as beautiful as ever. [16] Lana's parents had first met while 14-year-old Mildred, the daughter of a mine inspector, was visiting Picher, Oklahoma, with her father, who was inspecting local mines there. [198] To avoid further confrontation, Turner and her makeup artist, Del Armstrong, called Scotland Yard in order to have Stompanato deported. [119] Life magazine named the film its "Movie of the Week" in April 1946, and noted that both Turner and Garfield were "aptly cast" and "take over the screen, [creating] more fireworks than the Fourth of July". [8] John was 24 years old at the time, and Mildred's father objected to the courtship. [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. The Tragedy Of Mark Ruffalo Just Gets Sadder And Sadder. [102][103] Turner was urged by doctors to undergo a therapeutic abortion to avoid potentially life-threatening complications, but she managed to carry the child to term. Lana Turner was born on February 8, 1921 and died on June 29, 1995. [70], 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. [42], In 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 ($942 in 2021 dollars [43]). "[27], Turner sometimes lived with family friends or acquaintances so that her impoverished mother could save money. February 27, 2023 . [202] Turner and Armstrong later returned with two Scotland Yard detectives to the rented house where she and Stompanato were staying. Lana Turner died on June 29, 1995, in Los Angeles, California, USA. However, Turner notes in her autobiography that her birth certificate lists Julia Jean Turner as her official birth name. "[89], At the advent of US involvement in World War II, Turner's increasing prominence in Hollywood led to her becoming a popular pin-up girl,[90] and her image appeared painted on the noses of U.S. fighter planes, bearing the nickname "Tempest Turner". Date of death. [162] In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote of Betrayed: "By the time this picture gets around to figuring out whether the betrayer is Miss Turner or Mr. Article. [71] In the film, she portrayed Sheila Regan, an alcoholic aspiring actress based on Lillian Lorraine. [295] After undergoing radiation therapy,[292] Turner announced that she was in full remission in early 1993.
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