LANA TURNER A Life of Struggles Stardom

THE GOLDEN AGE'S MOST GLAMOROUS ACTRESS WAS OFTEN A FOOL FOR LOVE 

- LOUISE A. BARILE

In the 1940s, Lana Turner had her own special table at Ciro’s on the Sunset Strip. “How I’d love to dress up and go dancing with a handsome dark man,” she recalled in her 1982 memoir. “When I was seated, I’d give the room a long casing, bowing to this one or blowing that one a kiss. Silly, I guess, but fun.”

A great beauty who became a Hollywood legend, Lana appeared to have everything stardom promised, including fame, wealth and power. The only thing her enviable career couldn’t bring her — lasting love — would be her greatest sorrow. Worse yet, her poor choices in seven husbands and many lovers wouldn’t just impact her own life, they would also cause real harm to her daughter, Cheryl Crane.

Lana’s legend began in 1936 when she was spotted sipping a soda in an ice cream shop near her high school. Then known by her birth name, Julia Turner, she had never considered acting. “Her dream was to design clothing,” explains Darwin Porter, co-author of Lana Turner: Hearts & Diamonds Take All to Closer. Instead, within a year, Lana would become one of MGM’s brightest lights alongside Judy Garland, Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth.

As her star rose, Lana received a lot of attention from men. Her mother tried to rein in her social life, but Lana wouldn’t listen. “She wasn’t supposed to go out with servicemen, but she was just on a wild tear,” says Porter, adding that eventually Lana kicked her mother out of the home they shared so she could do exactly as she pleased. “She wanted unbridled dating privileges without restriction. I felt she was really looking for love.”