She was 74 years old when she passed away. CONTACT DETAILS Web Site: . [269], In the early 1970s, Turner transitioned to theater, beginning with a production of Forty Carats, which toured various East Coast cities in 1971. [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. William McGinley, holding the knife used to kill Johnny Stompanato, questions Lana Turner during the. [132] She was the studio's first choice for the role, but it was reluctant to offer her the part, considering her overbooked schedule. [61] Turner's onscreen sex appeal in the film was reflected by a review in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in which she was characterized as "the answer to 'oomph'". Lana Turner had an affair with Howard Hughes Lana Turner had an affair with Paul Newman Lana Turner had an affair with Tyrone Power Lana Turner's former husband was Artie Shaw Lana Turner . [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. After 18 years at MGM, I'm a free agentI used to go on a bended knee to the front office and say, please give me a decent story. ChickComedy/YouTube Comedian Lahna Turner was married to Ralphie May. [221] Her co-star Juanita Moore recalled that Turner cried for three days after filming a scene in which Moore's character dies. He was convicted of killing actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 at his castle-like mansion on the edge of Los Angeles. [213], Though Turner and her daughter were exonerated of any wrongdoing, public opinion on the event was varied, with numerous publications intimating that Turner's testimony at the inquest was a performance; Life magazine published a photo of Turner testifying in court along with stills of her in courtroom scenes from three of her films. [231], Shortly before the release of Imitation of Life in the spring of 1959, Turner was cast in a lead role in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder, but walked off the set over a wardrobe disagreement, effectively dropping out of the production. [101] Turner's blood condition resulted in Cheryl being born with near-fatal erythroblastosis fetalis. . [260] 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 1990's, Turner was diagnosed with throat cancer, complications of which would later become her cause of death. "[310] She also likened her to Clara Bow, adding: "Both of them, trusting and lovable, use their hearts instead of their heads. Getty Images The murder of mobster Johnny Stompanato was ultimately ruled a "justifiable homicide.". Atty. "[131], In August 1947, immediately upon completion of Cass Timberlane, Turner agreed to appear as the female lead in the World War II-set romantic drama Homecoming (1948), in which she was again paired with Clark Gable, portraying a female army lieutenant who falls in love with an American surgeon (Gable). "[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. Turner suffered through many personal tragedies and failed marriages in her quest to find happiness. She was 74 years old when she died. "[330], Defenders of Turner's acting ability, such as Jessica Hope Jordan[331] and James Robert Parish,[332] cite her performance in The Postman Always Rings Twice as an argument for the value of her work. In a 50 plus year career, she developed from a pin-up model into true Hollywood royalty. [276], Between 1979 and 1980, Turner returned to theater, appearing in Murder Among Friends, a murder-mystery play that showed in various U.S. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Department of Medical . I don't wear any make-up and my hair's a mess." Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner: Date of death: . [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]. "That, and a sense of loss and of growing up too fast. [69] In contemporaneous press, it was noted she had been hospitalized for "exhaustion". [53] Turner left Warner Bros. and signed a contract with MGM for $100 a week ($1,885 in 2021 dollars [43]). Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death, killing 180 people a day in Britain. [238] Turner moved in with him on his ranch in Chino, California, where the two took care of horses and other animals. [77], Following the success of Ziegfeld Girl, Turner took a supporting role as an ingnue in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), a Freudian-influenced horror film, opposite Spencer Tracy and Ingrid Bergman. [78] MGM had initially cast Turner in the lead, but Tracy specifically requested Bergman for the part. [75] 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 ($29,013 in 2021 dollars [43]). [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. 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. Stompanato was known to have been physically abusive to Turner. [189] Stompanato had close ties to the Los Angeles underworld and gangster Mickey Cohen, which he feared would dissuade her from dating him. [105][106], Meanwhile, publicity over Turner's remarriage to Crane led MGM to play up her image as a sex symbol in Slightly Dangerous (1943), with Robert Young, Walter Brennan and Dame May Whitty, in which she portrayed a woman who moves to New York City and poses as the long-lost daughter of a millionaire. Miss Turner, who had been treated for throat cancer, apparently died of natural causes, a police spokeswoman, Ramona Baety, confirmed to The Associated Press. But she had that sexy clean quality I wanted. . However, Turner notes in her autobiography that her birth certificate lists Julia Jean Turner as her official birth name. "[271] In 1975, Turner gave a single performance as Jessica Poole in The Pleasure of His Company opposite Louis Jourdan at the Arlington Park Theater in Chicago. [181] Weeks after her divorce, Turner began filming 20th Century-Fox's Peyton Place, in which she had been cast in the lead role of Constance MacKenzie, a New England mother struggling to maintain a relationship with her teenage daughter. [339], Turner has been depicted and referenced in numerous works across literature, film, music and art. (The killing was later ruled justifiable homicide.) During the shoot, Turner began an affair with her co-star Fernando Lamas, which ended after Lamas physically assaulted her; the incident also caused Lamas to lose his MGM contract upon the production's completion. Lana Turner was married to seven men, including bandleader Artie Shaw. 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. [118] Reviews of the film, including Turner's performance, were glowing, with Bosley Crowther of The New York Times writing it was "the role of her career". [63] The film was a commercial success, and led to Turner appearing on the cover of Look magazine. 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 more than $50 million for the studio during her 18-year contract with them. This article is about the actress. He is survived by his wife, fellow comic Lahna Turner, and their two . Anne Heche's Official Cause Of Death Revealed. [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. "[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. [212][213] Cheryl remained a temporary ward of the court until April 24, when a juvenile court hearing was held, during which the judge expressed concerns over her receiving "proper parental supervision". Dana Andrews, whose film portrayals ranged from a sensitive, tough-talking detective in the 1944 movie "Laura" to a bombardier returning to a . The flesh is the same. [225] Reviews were mixed,[226] although Variety praised her performance, writing: "Turner plays a character of changing moods, and her changes are remarkably effective, as she blends love and understanding, sincerity and ambition. Turner played women who wanted things: money, status, a successful man. [86] "I adored Mr. Gable, but we were [just] friends," she later recalled. The pair, per TCM, divorced shortly after. [7] Shortly after completing They Won't Forget, she made an appearance in James Whale's historical comedy The Great Garrick (1937), a biographical film about British actor David Garrick, in which she had a small role portraying an actress posing as a chambermaid. [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". [97] Topping proposed to her at the 21 Club in New York City by dropping a diamond ring into her martini, and they married shortly after in April 1948 at the Topping family mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut. [272] From 1976 to 1978, she starred in a touring production of Bell, Book and Candle, playing Gillian Holroyd. [113] She was then cast as the female lead in Week-End at the Waldorf, a loose remake of Grand Hotel (1932) in which she portrayed a stenographer (a role originated by Joan Crawford). [33] In 1965, she met Hollywood producer and businessman Robert Eaton, who was ten years her junior, through business associates. In the 1980s she had a recurring role on the TV series Falcon Crest. [201] Connery answered by grabbing the gun out of Stompanato's hand and twisting his wrist, causing him to run off the set. [235][236] Ray Duncan of the Independent Star-News wrote that Turner "suffers prettily through it all, like a fashion model with a tight-fitting shoe". Johnny Stompanato Is Killed By Lana Turner's Daughter. [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". [50][51], In late 1937, LeRoy was hired as an executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), and asked Jack L. Warner to allow Turner to relocate with him to MGM. Lana has always acted hastily and been guided more by her own ideas than by any advance any studio gave her. [155] The Merry Widow proved more commercially successful than Turner's previous musical, Mr. Imperium, despite receiving unfavorable critical reviews. [186] Commenting on her image, she once told a journalist: "Forsaking glamour is like forsaking my identity. Cause of death: esophageal cancer. Ralphie May's wife was a fellow comedian named Lahna Turner. [79] The studio recast Turner in the smaller role, though she was still given top billing. [21] She expressed interest in performance at a young age, performing short dance routines at her father's Elks chapter in Wallace. [9] She became "thrilled" by the ritual practices of the church,[9] and when she was seven, her mother allowed her to formally convert to Roman Catholicism. [144] A Life of Her Own was among the least successful of Cukor's films, receiving unfavorable reviews and low box-office sales. Shaq accuses Ron of making Lana his . [216] The suit was settled out of court for a reported $20,000 in May 1962. I'll work for nothing, just give me a good story. [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. [187], In January 1958, Paramount Pictures released The Lady Takes a Flyer, a romantic comedy in which Turner portrayed a female pilot. She is the vamp of today as Theda Bara was of yesterday. [38], By Turner's own account, she was a junior at Hollywood High School when she skipped a typing class and bought a Coca-Cola at the Top Hat Malt Shop[34][40] located on the southeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and McCadden Place. The project was shelved for several months, and Turner told journalists in December 1949: "Everybody agrees that the script is still a pile of junk. In her years as a top box office draw, she and longtime studio MGM forged her statuesque form into any number of pop . [294] She underwent exploratory surgery to remove the cancer,[294] but it had metastasized to her jaw and lungs. [60] This was followed by These Glamour Girls (1939), a comedy in which she portrayed a taxi dancer invited to attend a dance with a male coed at his elite college. Lana was 74 years old at the time of death. Humor has been the balm of my life, but it's been reserved for those closest to me. [153] Suffering from depression over her career and financial problems, she attempted suicide in September 1951 by slitting her wrists in a locked bathroom. That licked me. There was something smoldering underneath that innocent face. I'm anxious to get started. [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". Harrison had surgery and radiation in 1998. Her next marriage was to Joseph Stephen Crane in 1942 (via Livingly ). Intense media scrutiny surrounded the actress in 1958 when her teenage daughter Cheryl Crane stabbed Turner's lover Johnny Stompanato to death in their home during a domestic struggle. [174] Though an elaborate marketing campaign was crafted to promote the film, it was a box-office flop,[175] and MGM announced in February 1956 that it was opting not to renew Turner's contract. 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. "[250] The role earned Turner a David di Donatello Golden Plaque Award for Best Foreign Actress that year. Lana Turner died Thursday at 75. [104] She gave birth to a daughter, Cheryl, on July 25, 1943. [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. The home is located within the Wallace Historic District, which is on the. "Joan Rivers interviews Lana Turner". [264] Turner's remains were cremated and given to Cheryl. [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. [262] She filed for divorce in January 1970,[97] after which she claimed to be celibate for the remainder of her life. Occupations. "[33] Several years after the film's release, Modern Screen journalist Nancy Squire wrote that Turner "made a sweater look like something Cleopatra was saving for the next visiting Caesar". Browse 79 lana turner 1955 stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. These desires often lead the women to unfortunate places - mid-century Hollywood . The detectives advised Stompanato to leave and escorted him out of the house and to the airport, where he boarded a plane back to the U.S.[203], On the evening of March 26, 1958, Turner attended the Academy Awards to observe her nomination for Peyton Place and present the award for Best Supporting Actor.