Nittolo and Liotta got engaged in December of 2020. "[121] It was her first starring role that did not center on her looks. [102][103] Turner was urged by doctors to undergo a therapeutic abortion to avoid potentially life-threatening complications, but she managed to carry the child to term. [344][345] In 2002, artist Eloy Torrez included Turner in an outdoor mural, Portrait of Hollywood, painted on the auditorium of Hollywood High School, her alma mater. Turner, Lana (September 28, 1982). [338] Turner has also been cited in scholarly discussions of women's sexuality. [35][36][e] One version of the story erroneously has her discovery occurring at Schwab's Pharmacy,[39] which Turner claimed was the result of a reporting error that began circulating in articles published by columnist Sidney Skolsky. [33] She stated that she had "never seen myself walking before [It was] the first time [I was] conscious of my body. This article is about the actress. So did she. Her next marriage was to Joseph Stephen Crane in 1942 (via Livingly ). She is the vamp of today as Theda Bara was of yesterday. [238] Turner moved in with him on his ranch in Chino, California, where the two took care of horses and other animals. [191] Turner was "thoroughly intrigued" and began casually dating him. [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. [262] She filed for divorce in January 1970,[97] after which she claimed to be celibate for the remainder of her life. [261] Pellar denied the accusations and no charges were filed against him. [11] She was an admirer of Bette Davis, whom she cited as her favorite actress. [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. Is Lana Turner still alive? [121], The Postman Always Rings Twice became a major box office success, which prompted the studio to take more risks on Turner, casting her outside of the glamorous sex-symbol roles for which she had come to be known. She was the subject of the poem "Lana Turner has collapsed" by Frank O'Hara,[340] and was depicted as a minor character in James Ellroy's novel L.A. [92], Arriving to sell bonds in her hometown of Wallace, Idaho, she was greeted with a banner that read "Welcome home, Lana", followed by a large celebration during which the mayor declared a holiday in her honor. [219] She portrayed a struggling stage actress who makes personal sacrifices to further her career. Burton reportedly said: 'She set out to get me, and I let. "[227] Critics and audiences could not help noticing that the plots of Peyton Place and Imitation of Life both seemed to mirror certain parts of Turner's private life, resulting in comparisons she found painful. He was found struggling to breathe on the sidewalk in front of his Encino home, the LAPD told the New York. [119] Life magazine named the film its "Movie of the Week" in April 1946, and noted that both Turner and Garfield were "aptly cast" and "take over the screen, [creating] more fireworks than the Fourth of July". [42], In December 1936, Marx introduced Turner to film director Mervyn LeRoy, who signed her to a $50 weekly contract with Warner Bros. on February 22, 1937 ($942 in 2021 dollars [43]). [85] Meanwhile, the press continued to fuel rumors that Turner and Gable were romantic offscreen, which Turner vehemently denied. [192] After a friend informed her of who Stompanato actually was, she confronted him and tried to break off the affair. [78] MGM had initially cast Turner in the lead, but Tracy specifically requested Bergman for the part. In the 1990's, Turner was diagnosed with throat cancer, complications of which would later become her cause of death. [242] The film became the first in-flight movie to be shown on a regular basis on a scheduled airline flight when TWA showed it to its first-class passengers. Lana Turner Lana Turner ( / ln / LAH-n; [a] born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921 - June 29, 1995) was an American actress. . [101] Turner's blood condition resulted in Cheryl being born with near-fatal erythroblastosis fetalis. I don't wear any make-up and my hair's a mess." [64] The following year, she had a lead role in her second musical, Ziegfeld Girl, opposite James Stewart, Judy Garland and Hedy Lamarr. Date of death. [199][200] Stompanato got wind of the plan and showed up on the set with a gun, threatening her and Connery. [220] The production was difficult for Turner given the recent events of her personal life, and she suffered a panic attack on the first day of filming. A Handley-Page Halifax bomber "London's Revenge" DK186 ZL L carried the name of Lana Turner into battle over Germany. From a Times Staff Writer. [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. [234] Instead, Turner took a lead role as a disturbed socialite in the film noir Portrait in Black (1960) opposite Anthony Quinn and Sandra Dee, which was a box-office success despite bad reviews. According to Closer Weekly, Turner was married eight times, including twice to the same man. Shortly after, the two eloped and moved west, settling in Idaho. [76] After completing the film, Turner and co-star Garland remained lifelong friends, and lived in houses next to one another in the 1950s. [243], In mid-1962, Turner filmed Who's Got the Action?, a comedy in which she portrayed the wife of a gambling addict opposite Dean Martin. She stopped smoking after her diagnosis and, in February 1993, announced she was cancer free. [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. I don't think it's healthy to stay off the screen that long. [246] The two married in June of that year at his family's home in Arlington, Virginia. [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". 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. In a 1958 inquest, killing of Lana Turner's boyfriend was detailed Deputy Dist. Tuesday, July 07, 2015 Lana Turner (1921-1995) Birth name: Julia Jean Turner Birthdate: Tuesday, February 8th, 1921 Location: Wallace, Idaho, USA Died: Thursday, June 29th, 1995 Location: Los Angeles, California, USA Cause of death: Throat cancer Humor has been the balm of my life, but it's been reserved for those closest to me. [241] The same year, she starred in By Love Possessed (1961), based on a bestselling novel by James Gould Cozzens. [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". [322][325] Film historians Joe Morella and Edward Epstein have observed that, unlike many female stars, Turner "wasn't resented by female fans", and that women made up a large part of her fan base in later years. The star of films such as The Postman Always Rings Twice, Peyton's Place, and The Bad and The Beautiful took the world by storm. [272] From 1976 to 1978, she starred in a touring production of Bell, Book and Candle, playing Gillian Holroyd. Actress Lana Turner (born Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner) was one of America's most celebrated sex symbols during the 1940s and 1950s making over 50 films. [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]. [333][334][335] In a 1973 Films in Review retrospective on her career, Turner was referred to as "a master of the motion picture technique and a hardworking craftsman". The flesh is the same. [322] No matter the setting, Turner also took care to ensure she was always "camera-ready", wearing jewelry and makeup even while lounging in sweatpants. [278][279][280] During this time, Turner was in the midst of a self-described "downhill slide". 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. [121] In the midst of filming Green Dolphin Street, Turner began an affair with actor Tyrone Power,[123][124] whom she considered to be the love of her life. ``She just took a breath and she was gone,'' her daughter, Cheryl Crane, was quoted as saying in Daily Variety, a trade newspaper. lana turner cause of death. [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. Despite being a comedian, May had a serious side to him. [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". Family Husbands Lana Turner had four marriages. Mervyn LeRoy on Turner during her first audition, December 1936[34], Turner's discovery is considered a show-business legend and part of Hollywood mythology among film and popular cultural historians. 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. But it was just what I wanted to do. William Joseph Shields (10 March 1888 - 14 January 1961), known professionally as Barry Fitzgerald, was an Irish stage, film and television actor. [273][274] Critic Elaine Matas noted of a 1977 performance that Turner was "brilliant" and "the bright spot in an otherwise mediocre play". [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. [154] She was saved by her business manager, Benton Cole, who broke down the bathroom door and called emergency medical services. [29] Following her father's death, Turner lived for a period in Modesto with a family who physically abused her and "treated her like a servant". [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. "[168] 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. "When six o'clock came, he went his way and I went mine. The clothes she wears are just like the clothes you pay to see her in on Saturday night at the Bijou. Turner, who had been treated for throat cancer, apparently died of natural causes, a police spokeswoman, Ramona Baety, confirmed to The Associated Press. In 1992, Turner was diagnosed with throat cancer and died of the disease three years later at age 74. [21] She expressed interest in performance at a young age, performing short dance routines at her father's Elks chapter in Wallace. [202] Turner and Armstrong later returned with two Scotland Yard detectives to the rented house where she and Stompanato were staying. He is survived by his wife, fellow comic Lahna Turner, and their two . 1. [213] She was ultimately released to the care of her grandmother, and was ordered to regularly visit a psychiatrist alongside her parents. [232][233] She was replaced by Lee Remick. Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death, killing 180 people a day in Britain. The last time I begged for a good story they gave me The Prodigal. Dec. 18, 1992 12 AM PT. 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. 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. This was a total shock," Crane told Daily Variety columnist Army Archerd. "[102], Turner returned to feature films with a lead role in the 1974 British horror film Persecution, in which she played a disturbed wealthy woman tormenting her son. [258], With few film offers coming in, Turner signed on to appear in the television series Harold Robbins' The Survivors. 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 . [22] At age three, she performed an impromptu dance routine at a charity fashion show in which her mother was modeling. [52] Warner obliged, as he believed Turner would not "amount to anything". [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. [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. [125][33] During this time, she also had romantic affairs with Frank Sinatra[126] and Howard Hughes, the latter of which lasted for 12 weeks in late 1946. [267] 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. 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. [198] To avoid further confrontation, Turner and her makeup artist, Del Armstrong, called Scotland Yard in order to have Stompanato deported. [341] The Stompanato murder and its aftermath were also the basis of the Harold Robbins novel Where Love Has Gone (1962). Turner on her representation in press[305], When Turner was discovered, MGM executive Mervyn LeRoy envisioned her as a replacement for the recently deceased Jean Harlow and began developing her image as a sex symbol. "[266] In April 1975, Turner spoke at a retrospective gala in New York City examining her career, which was attended by Andy Warhol, Sylvia Miles, Rex Reed and numerous fans. [209], Because of Turner's fame and the fact that the killing involved her teenage daughter, the case quickly became a media sensation. [223], 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. Her person became her persona. [23] On December 14, 1930,[24] her father won some money at a traveling craps game, stuffed his winnings in his left sock, and headed for home. [218], 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. [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.