Lana Turner (1921-1995) - Find a Grave Memorial (2024)

Actress. She is remembered as an American calendar pin-up model and film actress with a 50-year career. According to Hollywood legend, Lana Turner was discovered sipping a soda at Schwab's drugstore. However, Turner was actually spotted at the counter of Currie's Ice Cream Parlor across the street from Hollywood High School. When she was six years old, her parents relocated to San Francisco as the family was struggling financially. After her parents separated, she had an unstable home life and was placed in a foster home for a short time. Following the never-solved murder of her father in a robbery, her mother brought her to Los Angeles. At age sixteen, she signed with Warner Brothers Studio. Born Julia Jean Mildred Francis Turner, the renamed Lana Turner made her screen debut at age 17 in a bit part in the 1937 film "A Star Is Born." That same year she gained her nickname the "Sweater Girl" for the impression she made as the sweater-clad schoolgirl whose murder sets into motion the plot of "They Won't Forget". By 1938 she was under contract to MGM, appearing in films "Dramatic School," "Rich Man, Poor Girl," "Love Finds Andy Hardy," "These Glamour Girls," "Dancing Co-Ed" and "Calling Dr. Kildare." Turner became a star in a string of major 1941 films: "Ziegfeld Girl," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "Honky Tonk" co-starring with Clark Gable and "Johnny Eager" co-starring with Robert Taylor. During World War II, the American GI made her one of their favorite pinup girls, with her many photographs in voluptuous poses. Turner came into her own after World War II in steamy films such as "The Postman Always Rings Twice" in 1946 and "Cass Timberlane" in 1947. Turner's private life, however, was a fiasco with her battling alcoholism and numerous marriages. 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. With Steven Crane, she had a daughter Cheryl Crane in 1943. In 1958 her longtime boyfriend and organized crime figure, Johnny Stompanato, was stabbed to death by Turner's fourteen-year-old daughter, during one of many violent arguments Turner had with Stompanato. Although her daughter was not charged with murder as the court ruling was justifiable homicide related to domestic abuse, she had problems for years with her daughter as a complication of this ordeal. Turner got her biggest break in 1957 starring in the nine-time Oscar nominated film "Peyton Place." She received an Oscar nomination for her role as a worried mother in the scandalous tale of sex and passion in a New England town, but did not have a role in the film sequel or the television series, which followed. Placing first, she did receive a couple of European awards. Turner continued to appear in films until 1980 and had a recurring role from 1982 to 1983 in the role of Jacqueline Perrault on the television Prime Time soap opera, "Falcon Crest." In 1985 her last television appearances were in three episodes of "Love Boat." She appeared in five roles on stage from 1971 to 1982. She published her autobiography, "Lana: The Lady, The Legend, The Truth" in 1982.

Actress. She is remembered as an American calendar pin-up model and film actress with a 50-year career. According to Hollywood legend, Lana Turner was discovered sipping a soda at Schwab's drugstore. However, Turner was actually spotted at the counter of Currie's Ice Cream Parlor across the street from Hollywood High School. When she was six years old, her parents relocated to San Francisco as the family was struggling financially. After her parents separated, she had an unstable home life and was placed in a foster home for a short time. Following the never-solved murder of her father in a robbery, her mother brought her to Los Angeles. At age sixteen, she signed with Warner Brothers Studio. Born Julia Jean Mildred Francis Turner, the renamed Lana Turner made her screen debut at age 17 in a bit part in the 1937 film "A Star Is Born." That same year she gained her nickname the "Sweater Girl" for the impression she made as the sweater-clad schoolgirl whose murder sets into motion the plot of "They Won't Forget". By 1938 she was under contract to MGM, appearing in films "Dramatic School," "Rich Man, Poor Girl," "Love Finds Andy Hardy," "These Glamour Girls," "Dancing Co-Ed" and "Calling Dr. Kildare." Turner became a star in a string of major 1941 films: "Ziegfeld Girl," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "Honky Tonk" co-starring with Clark Gable and "Johnny Eager" co-starring with Robert Taylor. During World War II, the American GI made her one of their favorite pinup girls, with her many photographs in voluptuous poses. Turner came into her own after World War II in steamy films such as "The Postman Always Rings Twice" in 1946 and "Cass Timberlane" in 1947. Turner's private life, however, was a fiasco with her battling alcoholism and numerous marriages. 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. With Steven Crane, she had a daughter Cheryl Crane in 1943. In 1958 her longtime boyfriend and organized crime figure, Johnny Stompanato, was stabbed to death by Turner's fourteen-year-old daughter, during one of many violent arguments Turner had with Stompanato. Although her daughter was not charged with murder as the court ruling was justifiable homicide related to domestic abuse, she had problems for years with her daughter as a complication of this ordeal. Turner got her biggest break in 1957 starring in the nine-time Oscar nominated film "Peyton Place." She received an Oscar nomination for her role as a worried mother in the scandalous tale of sex and passion in a New England town, but did not have a role in the film sequel or the television series, which followed. Placing first, she did receive a couple of European awards. Turner continued to appear in films until 1980 and had a recurring role from 1982 to 1983 in the role of Jacqueline Perrault on the television Prime Time soap opera, "Falcon Crest." In 1985 her last television appearances were in three episodes of "Love Boat." She appeared in five roles on stage from 1971 to 1982. She published her autobiography, "Lana: The Lady, The Legend, The Truth" in 1982.

Bio by: Linda Davis

Parents

• Virgil Madison Turner 1894–1930
• Mildred Frances Cowan Turner 1904–1982

Spouses

• Artie Shaw 1910–2004 (m. 1940)
• Joseph Stephen Crane 1916–1985 (m. 1942)
• Henry Junkins "Bob" Topping Jr 1914–1968 (m. 1948)
• Lex Barker 1919–1973 (m. 1953)
• Frederick Clemens "Fred" May 1917–1993 (m. 1960)
• Robert Purdy Eaton 1931 – unknown (m. 1965)

Children

• Baby Boy Topping 1949–1949
• Baby Boy Topping 1950–1950
• Baby Girl Barker 1956–1956

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