[248] A review in the Chicago Tribune praised her performance, noting: "when she takes the stand in the final (with Keir Dullea) courtroom scene, her face resembling a dust bowl victory garden, it's the most devastating denouement since Barbara Fritchie poked her head out the window. After the war, Turner was cast in a lead role opposite John Garfield in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), a film noir based on James M. Cain's debut novel of the same name. [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]). But the marriage was not a success, and in October 2015, Turner filed for divorce seeking joint custody of their two children. Actor (1945 - 1973 (bef.)) CONTACT DETAILS Web Site: . [219] She portrayed a struggling stage actress who makes personal sacrifices to further her career. A long-time heavy smoker, Turner was diagnosed with throat cancer in May 1992. Lana Turner's father was murdered when she was a child. Her next marriage was to Joseph Stephen Crane in 1942 (via Livingly ). Lana Turner Age: 74 (age at death) years Birthday: 8th February, 1921 Birthplace: Wallace, Idaho, USA Died: 29th June, 1995 Place of Death: Century City, California, USA Cause of Death: Throat cancer Height: 5' 3" (160 cm) Weight . [153] Suffering from depression over her career and financial problems, she attempted suicide in September 1951 by slitting her wrists in a locked bathroom. [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. [147] On May 24, 1950, Turner left her handprints and footprints in cement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. [187], In January 1958, Paramount Pictures released The Lady Takes a Flyer, a romantic comedy in which Turner portrayed a female pilot. [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. [214] The scandal also coincided with the release of Another Time, Another Place, and the film was met with poor box-office receipts and a lackluster critical response. William McGinley, holding the knife used to kill Johnny Stompanato, questions Lana Turner during the. [260] Meanwhile, after six months of marriage, Turner discovered Pellar had stolen $35,000 she had given him for an investment. [246] The two married in June of that year at his family's home in Arlington, Virginia. Date of death. This article is about the actress. The physical allure is just as heavy when she looks at a headwaiter as when she looks at a hero. "[109] Critic Anita Loos praised Turner's performance in the film, writing: "Lana Turner typifies modern allure. She was 74 years old. 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. [99][100] Their marriage was annulled by Turner four months later upon discovering that Crane's previous divorce had not yet been finalized. In a 1958 inquest, killing of Lana Turner's boyfriend was detailed Deputy Dist. [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. Tina Turner's son Ronnie Turner 's cause of death has been revealed. I don't think it's healthy to stay off the screen that long. In 1982, she accepted a much-publicized and lucrative recurring guest role in the television series Falcon Crest, which afforded the series notably high ratings. [97] She later claimed Topping's drinking problem and excessive gambling as her impetus for the divorce. [197] Their meeting was initially happy, but they soon began fighting. [261] In addition, she later accused him of stealing $100,000 worth of jewelry from her. [176] Turner gleefully told a reporter at the time that she was "walking around in a daze. [132] She was the studio's first choice for the role, but it was reluctant to offer her the part, considering her overbooked schedule. [170], MGM then gave Turner the titular role of Diane de Poitiers in the period drama Diane (1956), which had originally been optioned by the studio in the 1930s for Greta Garbo. When Frank Sinatra saw the film The Postman Always Rings Twice, his eyes were on stalks. [69] She would later recall that Shaw treated her "like an untutored blonde savage, and took no pains to conceal his opinion". [194] Fearing that her mother's life was in danger, Cheryl who had been watching television in an adjacent room grabbed a kitchen knife and ran to Turner's defense. [14][15] She was the only child of John Virgil Turner, a miner from Montgomery, Alabama, of Dutch descent, and Mildred Frances Cowan from Lamar, Arkansas, who had English, Scottish and Irish ancestry. [211] After four hours of testimony and approximately 25 minutes of deliberation, the jury deemed the killing a justifiable homicide. "[38] With her mother's permission, Turner was referred by Wilkerson to the actor/comedian/talent agent Zeppo Marx. [278][279][280] During this time, Turner was in the midst of a self-described "downhill slide". [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. "I'm getting close to that point, honey. The death was categorized as natural. Her popularity continued through the 1950s in dramas such as The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Peyton Place (1957), the latter for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. [42][48] Turner always detested the nickname,[49] and upon seeing a sneak preview of the film, she recalled being profoundly embarrassed and "squirming lower and lower" into her seat. [199][200] Stompanato got wind of the plan and showed up on the set with a gun, threatening her and Connery. lana turner cause of death. She is far more deadly because she lets her audience relax. [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. 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 one of the biggest stars of Golden Age Hollywood cinema. "[121] It was her first starring role that did not center on her looks. [262] She filed for divorce in January 1970,[97] after which she claimed to be celibate for the remainder of her life. [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. (The killing was later ruled justifiable homicide.) [204] Stompanato, angered that he did not attend with her, awaited her return home that evening, whereupon he physically assaulted her. [291] In her early 60s, Turner stopped drinking to preserve her health,[283] but she was unable to quit smoking. [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. "Joan Rivers interviews Lana Turner". [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. Lana Turner denied any romantic involvement with Clark Gable, but that did not stop her from making several more movies with him after Lombard's death. Nevertheless, she insisted she would not give up her glamorous image. 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. 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 . [217] A 1962 novel by Harold Robbins entitled Where Love Has Gone and its subsequent film adaptation were inspired by the event. Published on July 3, 2018 06:50 PM. [261] Pellar denied the accusations and no charges were filed against him. [64] A remake of The Broadway Melody, the film was marketed as featuring Turner's "hottest, most daring role". Turner's next film, Imitation of Life (1959), proved to be one of the greatest successes of her career, but . "[4] Critic Leonard Maltin noted in 2005 that Turner "came to crystallize the opulent heights to which show business could usher a small-town girl, as well as its darkest, most tragic and narcissistic depths". "[27], Turner sometimes lived with family friends or acquaintances so that her impoverished mother could save money. [258] She was diagnosed with throat cancer in the spring of 1992. [218] In popular music, Turner was referenced in songs recorded by Nina Simone[342] and Frank Sinatra,[343] and was the source of the stage name of singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. 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. Her person became her persona. [111] A lifelong Democrat, she spent the remainder of the year campaigning for Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1944 presidential election. The flesh is the same. [177], In 1956, Turner discovered she was pregnant with Barker's child, but gave birth to a stillborn baby girl seven months into the pregnancy. By the time this one comes out, it will be almost three years since I was last on the screen, in The Three Musketeers. [296] The cancer was found to have returned in July 1994. Getty Images The murder of mobster Johnny Stompanato was ultimately ruled a "justifiable homicide.". She is the most glamorous actress since Jean Harlow. [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. lana turner cause of death. [47] The film earned her the nickname of the "Sweater Girl" for her form-fitting attire, which accentuated her bust. [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. [222] When she returned to the set, "her face was so swollen, she couldn't work", Moore said. "[152], During this period, Turner's personal finances were in disarray, and she was facing bankruptcy. [97] During her early pregnancy, she filmed the comedy Marriage Is a Private Affair, in which she starred as a carefree woman struggling to balance her new life as a mother. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. [291][292] During her contract with MGM, photographs that showed her holding cigarettes had to be airbrushed at the studio's request in an effort to conceal her smoking. Her tempestuous personal life -- seven marriages, a stable of lovers, and a very public murder scandal -- only increased her reputation as a larger-than-life screen and sex goddess. [316] Columnist Dorothy Kilgallen took note of the intersections between Turner's life and screen persona early in her career, writing in 1946: Lana Turner is a super-star for many reasons but chiefly because she is the same off-screen as she is on. She'd grown up poor and uneducated, yet her mother always knew that Ava had what it took to be a movie star. She died in Los Angeles and buried in California . [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. Miss Turner was discovered in. [265] Variety noted of her performance: "Under the circumstances, Turner's performance as Carrie, the perverted dame of the English manor, has reasonable poise. 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 . Imperium', "The Screen in Review; 'Betrayed,' War Story, Opens at the State", "In a 1958 inquest, killing of Lana Turner's boyfriend was detailed", "Lana Turner Says She's Had It; Won't Marry Again", "Lana Turner Suspense Film Strains Credibility", "Lana Turner, Fifth Husband Separate; No Divorce Yet", "Lana Makes Melodrama 'Madame X' Credible", "Lana Turner in 'Divorce' Entertains Just Being Lana", "Music, Dance, Drama, Comedy Highlight Winter Play Season", "Lana Turner, the Sultry Actress, Is Dead at 75", "Lana Turner to Appear On CBS's 'Falcon Crest', "PPT's Shaktman led city's theatrical renaissance", "Lana Turner reveals she has throat cancer", "Lana Turner recovering after throat cancer surgery", "Lana Turner Determined to Beat Cancer Recurrence", "Lana Turner's Troubled Legacy Shows Signs of Life After Death: Tales of Suzy Bombmaker a "Politically Incorrect" boss and the judge who said too much", "Appeals Court Allows Lana Turner's Daughter to Challenge Trust Provisions", "GLS 592: The Hard Boiled Dames of Film Noir", "It only took 30 years for "My Baby Just Cares For Me" to be a hit", "Lana Del Rey has legs, a stalker, four Grammy nominations and a possible Broadway musical", "The 50 Most Infamous Actresses of All Time", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lana_Turner&oldid=1138339762, Converts to Roman Catholicism from Protestantism, United Service Organizations entertainers, Pages using Sister project links with wikidata namespace mismatch, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, TCMDb name template using numeric ID from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 9 February 2023, at 04:01. [295] After undergoing radiation therapy,[292] Turner announced that she was in full remission in early 1993. Lana Turner Lana Turner ( / ln / LAH-n; [a] born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921 - June 29, 1995) was an American actress. California state prison officials said Spector died Saturday at age 81 of natural causes at a hospital. [91] In June 1942, she embarked on a 10-week war-bond tour throughout the western United States with Gable. In her years as a top box office draw, she and longtime studio MGM forged her statuesque form into any number of pop . [34] She soon became a protge of LeRoy, who suggested that she take the stage name Lana Turner, a name she would come to legally adopt several years later. [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. [97] They remained friends throughout her later life. Her hair was dark, messy, uncombed. [193] Stompanato was not easily deterred, and over the course of the following year, they carried on a relationship filled with violent arguments, physical abuse and repeated reconciliations. The clothes she wears are just like the clothes you pay to see her in on Saturday night at the Bijou. [179][180] According to Cheryl, Turner confronted Barker before forcing him out of their home at gunpoint. [92], Throughout the war, Turner continued to make regular appearances at U.S. troop events and area bases, though she confided to friends that she found visiting the hospital wards of injured soldiers emotionally difficult. "[33], Her next project was Johnny Eager (1941), a violent mobster film in which she portrayed a socialite. Lana Turner was married to seven men, including bandleader Artie Shaw. On September 28, 1964 the date of his 28th wedding anniversary with wife Susan Flemming - Harpo Marx died at the age of 75 after undergoing an open-heart procedure. [209], Because of Turner's fame and the fact that the killing involved her teenage daughter, the case quickly became a media sensation. [62] In her next film, Dancing Co-Ed (1939), Turner was given first billing portraying Patty Marlow, a professional dancer who enters a college as part of a rigged national talent contest. [148], In response to the poor reception for A Life of Her Own, MGM attempted to rebrand Turner by casting her in musicals. [156], Turner's next project was opposite Kirk Douglas in Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), a drama focusing on the rise and fall of a Hollywood film mogul, in which Turner portrayed an alcoholic movie star. October 1968 203. [205] Around 8:00p.m. on Friday, April 4, Stompanato arrived at Turner's rented home at 730 North Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills. [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]. Lana Turner died Thursday at 75. Burton reportedly said: 'She set out to get me, and I let. [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. Pamela Tiffin [300][301], Cheryl and her partner Joyce LeRoy, whom Turner said she accepted "as a second daughter",[302] inherited some of Turner's personal effects and $50,000 in Turner's will. Lex Barker, Actor singer She married with Lex Barker (54), in 1953. So what happened? They were married on July 3, 2005, and had two kids, a daughter and a son. Following her film debut in . That licked me. [76] After completing the film, Turner and co-star Garland remained lifelong friends, and lived in houses next to one another in the 1950s. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Department of Medical . The film's curvaceous star, Lana Turner, in white shorts and a halter top that set off her tan, had never . [82] The Turner-Gable films' successes were often heightened by gossip-column rumors about a relationship between the two. [41] While in the shop, she was spotted by William R. Wilkerson, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter. Read Complete Obituary Photos [4] While she consistently embraced her glamorous persona, she was also vocal about her dedication to acting[121] and attained a reputation as a versatile, hard-working performer. With her film career launched in earnest by the dawn of the forties, she became a top pin-up . Lana Turner, 75, the sweater girl-turned-glamorous film star whose discovery at a soda fountain became the stuff Hollywood dreams are made of, died June 29 at her home in Century City, Calif. She . In January 1982, Turner reprised her role in Murder Among Friends, which toured throughout the U.S. that year; paired with Bob Fosse's Dancin', the play earned a combined gross of $400,000 during one week at Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall in June 1982. [135][136] Around this time, she began dating Henry J. . "[163] Upon returning to the United States in September 1953, Turner married actor Lex Barker,[97] whom she had been dating since their first meeting at a party held by Marion Davies in the summer of 1952. [182] The film, directed by Mark Robson, was adapted from Grace Metalious' best-selling novel of the same name.