Lana Turner

Turner married eight times to seven different husbands and later famously said, "My goal was to have one husband and seven children, but it turned out to be the other way around.

In 1958, her daughter, Cheryl Crane, stabbed Turner's lover Johnny Stompanato to death. It brought considerable media attention and was deemed justifiable homicide at a coroner's inquest.

Turner died of complications from throat cancer and was survived by Cheryl Crane, her only child. She willed the majority of her estate left to Carmen Lopez Cruz, her maid for 45 years.

Lana Turner was born Julia Jean Mildred Francis Turner on February 8, 1921 in Wallace, Idaho, and was the only daughter of John Virgil Turner, a miner from Alabama and Mildred Frances Cowan, a sixteen-year-old native of Arkansas.

She was called Judy by her family and friends and had a difficult childhood. Her parents separated and her father was murdered for the money he won at a craps game.

Her mother developed health problems and was advised by her doctor to move to a drier climate. They moved to Los Angeles in 1931where her mother worked 80 hours a week as a beautician

Turner was spotted by William R. Wilkerson, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter. Attracted by her beauty, he referred her to comedian/talent agent Zeppo Marx whose agency immediately signed her.

Her first film was ‘They Won't Forget’ (1937).It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy. She was nicknamed "The Sweater Girl" from her form-fitting attire in the film which she detested throughout her entire career.

In 1937, she signed a contract with MGM and acted in several teen-oriented films including the flirtatious girl described as "the kissing bug,” opposite teen idol Mickey Rooney in ‘Love Finds Andy Hardy’.

In the early 1940s, she starred in films such as, ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ with Spencer Tracy, and Ingrid Bergman, and with Clark Gable in ‘Honky Tonk’, and ‘Somewhere I'll Find You ‘.

In ‘Ziegfeld Girl’ (1941), she starred alongside James Stewart, Judy Garland, and Hedy Lamarrthe. The film tells the parallel stories of three women-performers in the renowned Broadway show the Ziegfeld Follies.

She gave a stellar performance in ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’, a 1946 drama-film noir based on a novel by James M. Cain. A big hit, the film recorded a profit of $1.6 million.

She starred with Hope Lange in ‘Peyton Place’, a 1957 film based on Grace Metalious’ novel and depicted the lives of the residents of a small New England mill town surrounded by moral hypocrisy.

In ‘Imitation of Life’ (1959), she proved critics wrong with her flawless performance as Lora Meredith, a struggling actress with a young daughter. The film’s box-office success proved she had not lost her edge.