Crossword Dictionary

Lana Turner

Lana Turner, original name Julia Jean Mildred Francis Turner, (born February 8, 1920/21, Wallace, Idaho, U.S.—died June 29, 1995, Los Angeles, California), American film actress known for her glamorous looks and sexual allure. Though her skill as an actress was limited, Turner excelled in roles that highlighted her sexuality and working-class roots. She enjoyed her greatest popularity in the 1940s and ’50s, often playing the part of a “good girl gone bad.”

Turner endured a difficult childhood. After the family moved to San Francisco, her parents separated and she was placed in a foster home (where she was abused). Soon thereafter her father was murdered. Turner was reunited with her mother, and in 1936 they moved to Los Angeles, where, as legend has it, the golden-haired starlet was “discovered” at a drugstore soda fountain by a Hollywood film journalist. 

That led to a small part in Warner Brothers’ They Won’t Forget (1937), directed by Mervyn LeRoy, who suggested she drop her nickname, Judy, for something more glamorous; she chose Lana. LeRoy took her with him when he moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1938, and she remained under contract there until 1956.

Turner’s early film roles were undistinguished, but the tight sweater she had worn in They Won’t Forget prompted studio publicists to promote her as the “Sweater Girl,” and the sexy photographs she posed for were in great demand. American servicemen later made her one of their favourite pinups during World War II.

Turner’s screen roles often mirrored her tumultuous private life. Her seven husbands included bandleader Artie Shaw and movie-Tarzan Lex Barker, and she was romantically linked to numerous other men.