Old Hollywood Glamour: Lana Turner

Date of Birth

8 February 1921, Wallace, Idaho, USA

Date of Death

29 June 1995, Century City, California, USA (throat cancer)

Birth Name

Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner

Nickname

Sweater Girl

Judy

Height

5.3

Spouse

Ronald Pellar (9 May 1969 - 26 January 1972) (divorced)

Robert P. Eaton (22 June 1965 - 1 April 1969) (divorced)

Frederick May (27 November 1960 - 15 October 1962) (divorced)

Lex Barker (8 September 1953 - 22 July 1957) (divorced)

Henry J. Topping, Jr. (26 April 1948 - 12 December 1952) (divorced)

Stephen Crane (14 March 1943 - 21 August 1944) (divorced) 1 child

Stephen Crane (17 July 1942 - 4 February 1943) (annulled)

Artie Shaw (13 February 1940 - 12 September 1940) (divorced)

Trivia

According to the book "Golden Girls of MGM" by Jane Ellen Wayne, she lost her eyebrows due to the glue used to attach false ones to give her an Asian look.

In her autobiography, she stated that her true birthdate is February 8, 1921. She stated that "I am one year younger than the records show."

Fainted during her 1953 wedding to Lex Barker.

One daughter: Cheryl Crane (fathered by Steve Crane).

Billy Wilkerson of The Hollywood Reporter found her sipping a Coke in a drugstore and was so taken by her he blurted out that standard Hollywood line, "How'd you like to be in pictures?". Her first role, sure enough, had her in a tight skirt and even tighter sweater sitting at a drugstore counter.

She was set to appear in Anatomy of a Murder (1959) with James Stewart until she objected to the off-the-rack wardrobe that director Otto Preminger had selected for her. Lee Remick took over the role.

Her daughter, Cheryl Crane, wrote a book about her life with her mother, her mother's 7 husbands and numerous boyfriends and living in Hollywood. It was entitled "Detour: A Hollywood Story" and was published in 1988 (ISBN:o-380-70580-X)

Once when she was being interviewed by Hedda Hopper, Lex Barker, Lana's future husband, was in the same room. There was a large vase of flowers blocking her view of Lex, so Lana got up, walked across the room and removed them, remarking, "He's brand new and I want to look at him!"

Her auburn hair was bleached for Idiot's Delight (1939). She was withdrawn from the film, but the fact that she had become a blonde not only changed her screen image but gave her such an outgoing, swinging personality that Hollywood called her the Nightclub Queen.

She was called the Sweater Girl. Interestingly, Lana, translated into Spanish means "wool."

In the movie Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) with Spencer Tracy and Ingrid Bergman she was originally supposed to play the part of Ivy, the tart, and Bergman was supposed to play the innocent girl engaged to Tracy but Bergman wanted Turner's part and so the roles were switched.

Once she was forced to evacuate her apartment building when a fire broke out. Having only minutes to collect what she needed, Lana grabbed her lipstick, her eyebrow pencil and her hairdryer.

She was a true American hybrid, with a mixture of Scottish, Irish, Dutch and English ancestry.

Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue"

"The Private Diary of My Life With Lana", a memoir, written by one of her closest friends, Eric Root, was published one year after her death. Root, a long time friend and hairdresser of Turner's, has a large collection of jewelry that belonged to Miss Turner. He still owns the beauty salon in Beverly Hills where Turner and many other iconic stars were clients.

Was considered for the role of Maggie Pollitt in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), which was eventually given to Elizabeth Taylor.

According to Richard Burton's biography "And God Created Burton" Turner had an affair with the actor when they were filming The Rains of Ranchipur (1955) together.

In her autobiography, Turner wrote that she was had skipped a typing class at Hollywood Highschool. She went to the Top Hat Cafe, on Sunset Boulevard, and was sitting at the counter, sipping a Coke. According to the Sunset Boulevard website, Billy Wilkerson, who wrote for the Hollywood Reporter, noticed her and thought she was attractive enough to be in films. With her mother's approval, he introduced Turner to the agent, Zeppo Marx, Groucho's brother. Soon, she was put under contract to MGM.

Suffered 3 stillbirths (in 1949, 1951 and 1956) during her life as a result of having the Rh factor.

Became pregnant by her 1st husband Artie Shaw in 1940 and later her then-lover Tyrone Power in 1946; on both occasions she had abortions.

Turner's father was murdered in December 1930 after participating in an all-night crap game in San Francisco, where the family had moved.

Personal Quotes

A successful man is one who makes more money than a wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

I planned on having one husband and seven children, but it turned out the other way around.

The truth is, sex doesn't mean that much to me now. It never did, really. It was romance I wanted, kisses and candlelight, that sort of thing. I never did dig sex very much.