Lana Turner

AKA:

The Sweater Girl

Birth Name:

Julia Jean Turner

Birth Date:

February 8, 1921

Birth Place:

Providence Hospital, Wallace, Idaho

Death Date:

June 29, 1995

Place of Death:

2170 Century Park East, Unit E2006, Los Angeles, CA 90067

Age:

Cause of Death:

Throat cancer

Cemetery Name:

Cremated

Claim to Fame:

Show Business

Lana Turner was an American a pin-up model and a film actress with a 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. Turner established herself as a leading lady in Johnny Eager (1941); the musical Ziegfeld Girl (1941); the horror film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941); and the romantic war drama Somewhere I'll Find You (1942). Turner's reputation as a glamorous femme fatale was enhanced by her critically acclaimed performance in the noir The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), a role which established her as a serious dramatic actress. She was later nominated for an Academy award for best actress for her role in Peyton Place (1957), and won a David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress for her role in Madame X (1966).

And the rest of the story …

Turner married seven different men in her lifetime — and one of them, she married twice. Her first marriage to musician Artie Shaw lasted just a few months. Then she married Steve Crane, but their marriage was annulled because his divorce wasn’t finalized. They remarried and then divorced after a year.

Turner then married Bob Topping, followed by Lex Barker, both of whom she was married to for about four years. She was also married to her sixth husband, Robert Eaton, for four years — her longest stretch. Her marriage to Fred May lasted less than two years, while her final marriage to her last husband, Ronald Pellar, was less than three years.

Intense media scrutiny surrounded the actress in 1958 when her teenage daughter Cheryl Crane stabbed Turner’s lover, low level mobster and wannabe movie star Johnny Stompanato to death in their home during a domestic struggle. Given his brutal, physically abusive treatment of Lana Turner, let’s just say nobody shed a tear upon hearing of his demise.