Facts about Lana Turner
Lana Turner Biography
Known as the “Sweater Girl,” Lana Turner (like Betty Grable) was a popular pinup for GIs in World War II. After the war she became a genuine movie star, helped by her contract with powerful MGM Studios.
Her best-known movies included The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and Peyton Place (1957).
Turner became one of Hollywood’s favorite legends for allegedly being “discovered” at Schwab’s Drugstore on Sunset Boulevard at age 16. (Her official site claims the actual location was the Top Hat Cafe, across the street from Hollywood High.)
Turner’s notoriety was assured in 1958 when her lover, mobster Johnny Stompanato, was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife by her daughter Cheryl Crane. (The killing was later ruled justifiable homicide.)
Lana Turner was married to seven men, including bandleader Artie Shaw.
In the 1980s she had a recurring role on the TV series Falcon Crest. Her autobiography, Lana: The Lady, the Legend, the Truth, was published in 1982.
Extra credit
Lana Turner’s eyebrows were shaved off for her role in the 1938 film The Adventures of Marco Polo. The eyebrows never grew back, and thereafter Turner wore false eyebrows in public… Lana Turner’s birthdate is sometimes listed as 1920, not 1921. Turner claims in her autobiography that 1920 is an old error and that her birth certificate gives the date as 1921.