Lana Turner
“A glamorous symbol of the studio era whose offscreen life rivaled her films for drama.”
Discovered as a teenager in 1936 at a Hollywood malt shop, Turner went from soda-fountain unknown to overnight sensation with her tight-sweatered walk-on in 'They Won't Forget' (1937). The role made her the original 'Sweater Girl' and set MGM grooming her into a glamour star.
An Overnight Sensation
Born in a small Idaho mining town and raised in modest circumstances, Turner was discovered as a teenager in Hollywood. A brief, attention-grabbing scene in 'They Won't Forget' branded her the 'Sweater Girl' and launched her MGM career.
Glamour and Noir
MGM built her into one of its top glamour stars through the 1940s and 1950s. She showed real dramatic range as the scheming wife in 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' and earned an Oscar nomination for 'Peyton Place.'
Scandal and Survival
Her private life was as dramatic as her films, marked by seven marriages and the 1958 killing of lover Johnny Stompanato by her daughter. She rebounded commercially with 'Imitation of Life' and later worked in television.
Career Timeline
- 1921Born Julia Jean Turner in Wallace, Idaho
- 1936Discovered at a Hollywood malt shop, age 15
- 1937'They Won't Forget' makes her the 'Sweater Girl'
- 1941Stars opposite Clark Gable in 'Honky Tonk'
- 1946Femme fatale in 'The Postman Always Rings Twice'
- 1952Acclaimed in 'The Bad and the Beautiful'
- 1957Oscar nomination for 'Peyton Place'
- 1958Daughter kills lover Johnny Stompanato
- 1959Box-office hit 'Imitation of Life'
- 1969Mostly retires from films
- 1982Recurring role on TV's 'Falcon Crest'
- 1995Dies in Los Angeles of throat cancer
Biggest Hits
- The popular legend that she was discovered at Schwab's Drugstore is false; she set the record straight in her memoir, naming the Top Hat malt shop.
- In 1958 her teenage daughter, Cheryl Crane, stabbed Turner's lover Johnny Stompanato to death; a coroner's inquest ruled it justifiable homicide.
The Moment You Remember
Many recall her in Imitation of Life, a mother torn between career and family, the film building to a funeral sequence whose raw emotion left audiences in tears.
Portrait: MGM · Public domain (studio publicity still) · via Wikimedia Commons