[257] She was diagnosed with throat cancer in the spring of 1992. Please try again later. [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'". 
So what happened? [57] The film was a box-office success,[58] and her appearance in it as a flirtatious high school student convinced studio head Louis B. Mayer that Turner could be the next Jean Harlow, a sex symbol who had died six months before Turner's arrival at MGM. [147], In response to the poor reception for A Life of Her Own, MGM attempted to rebrand Turner by casting her in musicals. [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. [188] Stompanato had close ties to the Los Angeles underworld and gangster Mickey Cohen, which he feared would dissuade her from dating him. 
[193][194] Turner would also claim that on one occasion he drugged her and took nude photographs of her while unconscious, potentially to use as blackmail. [124] She discovered she was pregnant with Power's child in the fall of 1947, but chose to have an abortion. [190] Turner was "thoroughly intrigued" and began casually dating him. Learn more about managing a memorial . Lana's cause of death was throat cancer. "[109], In August 1944, Turner divorced Crane, citing his gambling and unemployment as primary reasons. [173] Meanwhile, Diane was given a test screening in late December 1955, and was met with poor response from audiences. [21][25] His robbery and homicide were never solved,[21] and his death had a profound effect on Turner. [268], In the early 1970s, Turner transitioned to theater, beginning with a production of Forty Carats, which toured various East Coast cities in 1971. Try again later. This account has been disabled. If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. [192] 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. "[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". It wasn't much of a play even when Julie Harris was doing it, and it all but disappears under the old-time Hollywood glamor of Miss Turner's star presence. Failed to delete flower. [152] Suffering from depression over her career and financial problems, she attempted suicide in September 1951 by slitting her wrists in a locked bathroom. Resend Activation Email. She was married and divorced eight times: in 1940 for only a year, Artie Shaw, a bandleader; from 1942 to 1943, divorced and remarried 1943 to 1944, Steven Crane, an actor; from 1948 to 1952, Bob Topping, a wealthy sportsman; from 1953 to 1957, Lex Barker, an actor known for the role of Tarzan; from 1960 to 1962, Fred May; from 1965 to 1969, Robert Eaton; and from 1969 to 1972, Ronald Peller, who would be convicted of several crimes over time including defrauding her of thousands of dollars. Her person became her persona. [314] 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". She willed the majority of her estate left to Carmen Lopez Cruz, her maid for 45 years. WebCause of Death: Cancer Married Life 1940-02-13 American actress Lana Turner (19) weds American bandleader Artie Shaw (29) in a Las Vegas elopement; divorce after 4 months [274] In the fall of 1978, she appeared in a Chicago production of Divorce Me, Darling, an original play in which she portrayed a San Francisco divorce attorney. I don't wear any make-up and my hair's a mess." [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]). 
[60] Upon completing Dramatic School, Turner screen-tested for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). During World War II, the American GI made her one of their favorite pinup girls, with her many photographs in voluptuous poses. [120] In August 1946, it was announced she would replace Katharine Hepburn in the big-budget historical drama Green Dolphin Street (1947), a role for which she darkened her hair and lost 15 pounds. [217], Turner has been noted by historians as a sex symbol, a popular culture icon[4][313] and "a symbol of the American Dream fulfilled Because of her, being discovered at a soda fountain has become almost as cherished an ideal as being born in a log cabin. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Biography - A Short Wiki [164][165] 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". Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. 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. [143] A Life of Her Own was among the least successful of Cukor's films, receiving unfavorable reviews and low box-office sales. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Lana Turner (6208)? You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. [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. "[167] Turner was next cast in John Farrow's The Sea Chase (1955), an adventure film starring John Wayne, in which she portrayed a femme fatale spy aboard a ship. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. [266] Her next film was Bittersweet Love (1976), a romantic comedy in which she portrayed the mother of a woman who unwittingly marries her half-brother. 
or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out.
"[120] It was her first starring role that did not center on her looks. [275], Between 1979 and 1980, Turner returned to theater, appearing in Murder Among Friends, a murder-mystery play that showed in various U.S. We have set your language to [212], 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. [127] As of early 1946, Turner was set for the role, but schedules with Green Dolphin Street almost prohibited her from taking it, and by late 1946, she was nearly recast. 
[116] The classic film noir marked a turning point in Turner's career as her first femme fatale role. Original Name. Weve updated the security on the site. [41] While in the shop, she was spotted by William R. Wilkerson, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter. That licked me. [131] Homecoming was well received by audiences, and Turner and Gable were nicknamed "the team that generates steam". [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. [213] 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. You can always change this later in your Account settings. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. [222], 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. It's an image I've worked too hard to obtain and preserve. [115] She portrayed Cora, an ambitious woman married to a stodgy, older owner of a roadside diner, who falls in love with a drifter and their desire to be together motivates them to murder her husband. [217], In the wake of negative publicity related to Stompanato's death, Turner accepted the lead role in Ross Hunter's remake of Imitation of Life (1959) under the direction of Douglas Sirk. [54] The same year, she was loaned to United Artists for a minor role as a maid in The Adventures of Marco Polo. [128] Production of Cass Timberlane was exhausting for Turner, because it was shot in between retakes of Green Dolphin Street. [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. I don't think it's healthy to stay off the screen that long. [169], 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. [187] 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". [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. But she had that sexy clean quality I wanted. Birth. 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. WebLana Turner ( born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921 June 29, 1995) was an American actress. [94] Upon completing the tour, Turner had sold $5.25 million in war bonds. [129] Cass Timberlane earned Turner favorable reviews, with Variety noting: "Turner is the surprise of the picture via her top performance thespically. [236], 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. Weblana turner cause of death. A Handley-Page Halifax bomber "London's Revenge" DK186 ZL L carried the name of Lana Turner into battle over Germany. Are you sure that you want to delete this flower? "When six o'clock came, he went his way and I went mine. Here is all you want to know, and more! [337] Turner has also been cited in scholarly discussions of women's sexuality. [69] In contemporaneous press, it was noted she had been hospitalized for "exhaustion".
WebLana Turner 's former home in Beverly Hills where Stompanato was killed in 1958. Miss Turner, who had been treated for throat cancer, apparently died of natural causes, a police spokeswoman, Ramona Baety, confirmed to The Associated Press. [234][235] Ray Duncan of the Independent Star-News wrote that Turner "suffers prettily through it all, like a fashion model with a tight-fitting shoe". WebLana Turners Death Cause and Date Born (Birthday) 19210208 Death Date June 29, 1995 Age of Death 74 years Cause of Death Oropharyngeal Cancer Profession Movie Actress The movie actress Lana Turner died at the age of 74. Learn more about merges. [211] Despite this, Cheryl ran away from home multiple times and the press wrote about her rebelliousness. Her next film, Imitation of Life (1959), proved to be one of the greatest commercial successes of her career, and her starring role in Madame X (1966) earned her a David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress. [315] 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. [79] While the film was financially successful at the box office,[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. [302] Cheryl challenged the will, and Cruz said that the majority of the estate was consumed by probate costs, legal fees and medical expenses.[303]. WebOn June 29, 1996 at the age of 75, the oral cancer got the better of Lana, and she died at home with her daughter at her side. "[162] 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. The growth of maturity is reflected neatly in her distinguished portrayal. [228] During this time, Turner's daughter Cheryl privately came out as a lesbian to her parents, who were both supportive of her. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. Stompanato became suspicious when Turner would not allow him to visit the set and, during one fight, he violently choked her. 
[288] She subsequently guest-starred on an episode of The Love Boat in 1985,[289] which marked her final on-screen appearance. 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. He was later found bludgeoned to death on the corner of Minnesota and Mariposa Streets, on the edge of San Francisco's Potrero Hill and the Dogpatch District, with his left shoe and sock missing. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. Tribal elders believed the gossip and sentenced her to death--they would tie her to a canoe and send her over the falls. 
This was a total shock," Crane told Daily Variety columnist Army Archerd. [181] The film, directed by Mark Robson, was adapted from Grace Metalious' best-selling novel of the same name. The last time I begged for a good story they gave me The Prodigal. 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. I'm anxious to get started. "[313] 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. [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. "She was doing fine. According to Hollywood legend, Lana Turner was discovered sipping a soda at Schwab's drugstore. [214] Stompanato's family sought a wrongful death suit of $750,000 in damages against both Turner and her ex-husband, Steve Crane. [209] More than 100 reporters and journalists attended the April 12, 1958 inquest, described by attendees as "near-riotous". Following the never-solved murder of her father in a robbery, her mother brought her to Los Angeles. Year should not be greater than current year. [21] She expressed interest in performance at a young age, performing short dance routines at her father's Elks chapter in Wallace.