Divas: Lana Turner

Lana Turner (1921-1995) was an American actress who in a five decade career starred in over 58 feature films and several television shows. Touted as the Hollywood bombshell, she was famous for playing good girls gone bad and consistently being in the tabloids for her multiple marriages, famous affairs, and a murder trial.

For Further Reading:

• Lana: The Public and Private Lives of Miss Turner
• Lana Turner: The volatile, legendary story of Hollywood’s first modern celebrity film star
• Two Survivors: The Scandalous Saga of Lana Turner and Cheryl Crane
• From the Archives: Lana Turner, Glamorous Star of 50 Films, Dies at 75

This month, we're diving into the "Divas" of history, examining how the label has been used from many angles, whether describing women pejoratively... or with admiration. 

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, and Vanessa Handy. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello. I'm Brittany Martinez, a senior producer here at Wonder
Media Network, and I'm excited to be guest hosting this
episode of Lamanica. This month, we're diving into the divas
of history, examining how the label has been used for
many angles, whether describing women pejoratively or with admiration. Today,

(00:24):
we're going over the fen fetale of the Golden Age
of Hollywood, an actress whose glitz and glamour could turn
the tragedies in her life into a career spanning five decades.
Let's talk about Lana Turner. Lana was born on February eighth,
nineteen twenty one, in Wallace, Idaho. An only child. Even

(00:46):
as a toddler, Lana was no stranger to the stage.
While her mother was modeling for a charity fashion show,
she bolted onto the stage and proceeded to dance. According
to her mother, she was the highlight of the evening.
But as she would grow older, life would deal her
a heavy blow. When Lana was just nine years old,

(01:08):
her father was killed after winning a sizeable amount of
money gambling. The crime was never solved. Without her father,
Lana and her mother struggled financially. Her mother then developed
respiratory problems. At the suggestion of a family friend, she
moved her and her daughter to a drier climate, Los Angeles, California.

(01:30):
Lana enrolled in Hollywood High School. She had no plans
of becoming a star. She didn't sing, dance, or act.
She did have good looks and great presence, but that's
what makes her Hollywood folklore all the more interesting. One day,
she cut typing class to grab a soda at the
local cafe. While sipping her drink, she was approached by

(01:52):
a talent agent who asked her a simple question, would
you like to be in the movies? Her response, I'll
have to ask my mother. With her mother's blessing, Lana
walked into the Warner brother Studios a few days later.
There she met director Mervyn Leroy, who not only signed

(02:15):
her to a weekly contract, but gave her her first
movie role. Released in nineteen thirty seven, They Won't Forget
follows the story of an ambitious attorney help bent on
sending a teacher to jail when he suspects he murdered
a student. Lana played the student in question, only appearing
on screen for a brief period, Yet the director made
it a point to dress Lana in a tight skirt

(02:37):
and sweater and poised her as the object of desire.
Her appearance, accentuated by a form fitting sweater, made such
an impact that people dubbed her sweater Girl. When Lanna
saw the film, though she was uncomfortable with the way
she was shot. She recalled that after the premiere quote,

(02:58):
mother and I crept out of the theater and stumbled
into a cab, not knowing what to say to each other.
I held myself very self consciously, trying not to bounce. Regardless,
the film would launch her career. That same year, Lury

(03:19):
left Warner Brothers and made his way to MGN with
Lana in tow. She starred in film after film, often
cast as the Angunu. The most notable might have been
nineteen thirty nine's Dancing co Ed, where she received pop
billing and met in Elope with her co star Artie Shaw.
The couple created a media storm, but the marriage wouldn't

(03:39):
make it through the spring. The couple parted ways and
Lana took on a new look. Once an actress praised
for her auburn ringlets, Lana died her hair blonde. She
took on a new, more serious role for her nineteen
forty one movie Zigfield Girl. In one of her many
iconic shots, Lana breaks down in the shadow after a

(04:00):
breakup with her lover, but as soon as she comes
upon a grand staircase, she straightens her back and descends
with grace to the tune of a full blown orchestra.
The film released to high box office returns, and Lana
became the it girl of Hollywood. Tabloids followed not only

(04:21):
her popularity in films, but the bevy of lovers and
suitors she entertained in her private life. She dated band
leader Tony Martin, drummer Buddy Rich, and was even rumored
to be the mistress of fame actor Clark Gable. What
really shocked her fans and even her studio was news
that Lana had elope again with restaurant owner Steve Crane

(04:44):
in nineteen forty two. They already had gotten married when
Lana realized Steve's divorce from his first wife had not
been finalized. Lanna annulled the marriage, only to realize she
was pregnant. She begrudgingly remarried Steve and gave birth to
her daughter, Cheryl Crane, but Lana divorced her husband yet

(05:04):
again in nineteen forty four and entered another chapter of
her career. Lanna became one of MGM's most sought after actresses.
She starred in The Postman Always Rings twice, a now
classic film noir that has garnered her the title of
them fetal. I've made a big mistake in my life,
and I've got to be this way just wants to

(05:25):
fix it behind you for a thing like that, how
would not If we do it right and you're smart, Frank,
you will think of a way plenty of men have.
In the mid nineteen forties, she was one of the
highest paid women in the US. She even bagged herself
a millionaire in Husband Number Three. But by the nineteen fifties,
Lana's movies had lost steam. After eighteen years, MGN did

(05:47):
not renew her contract. Her name never left the headlines, though.
In spring of nineteen fifty seven, Lana met Johnny Stampinado,
a mobster. Their affair grace the pages of many magazines,
but all that changed on April fourth, nineteen fifty eight.

(06:07):
Lana maintained that she had attempted to break up with Johnny,
and he flew into her rage. He threatened her and
her family, all while her fourteen year old daughter listened
from her room. The fight escalated to physical violence, and
in a panic, Cheryl grabbed the knife and stabbed Johnny,
killing him. That night, the cops and the media descended

(06:28):
upon their house. The court case took hold of Hollywood,
blurring the lines permanently between Lana's private life and public persona.
When she took the stand to support her daughter, reporters
compared her testimony to movies she had started. The killing
was ruled a justifiable homicide, allowing Cheryl to go free,

(06:48):
and Lanna's career gained its second wind. Lanna's new movie,
Peyton's Place in later nineteen fifty nine's imitation of Life,
focused on the complicated relationship between a single mother and
her daughter. That eerie similarity to Lana's life filled theater seats,
received critical acclaim and kept her booked and busy. Finally,

(07:11):
Lana's career came to an end. First, she moved to
theater and later television, and not one to give up
on love, she married and divorced three more men, totaling
eight marriages in her lifetime. She's quoted as saying, my
goal was to have one husband and seven children, but
it turned out to be the other way around. In

(07:37):
the spring of nineteen ninety two, Lana was diagnosed with
throat cancer. She passed away on June twenty fifth, nineteen
ninety five, with her daughter by her side. She was
seventy four years old. All month, We're talking about divas.
For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at

(07:58):
Womanic Podcasts. Special thanks to co creators Jenny and Liz
Kaplan for letting me sit in. As always, we'll be
taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you on Monday.