Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner (1921 - 1995)

Born 8 Feb 1921 in Wallace, Shoshone, Idaho, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Arthur Jacob (Arshawsky) Shaw — married 13 Feb 1940 (to Aug 1940) in Las Vegas, Clark, Nevada, United States

Wife of Joseph Stephen Crane — married 17 Jul 1942 (to Aug 1944) in Las Vegas, Clark, Nevada, United States

Wife of Henry Junkins Topping — married 1948 (to 1952) in Greenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States

Wife of Alexander Crichlow Barker — married 7 Sep 1953 (to 22 Jul 1957) in Turin, Piedmont, Italy

Died 29 Jun 1995 at age 74 in Century City, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Lana Turner is Notable.

Lana Turner was an American actress whose career spanned nearly 50 years. In the 1940s, she was one of the most popular and highly paid actresses in the United States. As a major star for MGM, she was a huge box office draw, earning millions for her studio. Lana Turner is recognized as one of the foremost actresses of classical Hollywood cinema.^[1]

She was born 8 February 1921 in Wallace, Idaho, the daughter of John Turner and Mildred Cowen. Lana was very close to her mother, who was only 16 years older than her daughter.

Lana was married 7 times. She said "My plan was to have one husband and seven children, but it turned out the other way." Lana had one child, a daughter named Cheryl. She suffered three miscarriages, two boys and a girl.

She married Artie Shaw (Arthur Arshawsky) 13 Feb 1940 in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[2] They were divorced August 1940.^[3]

She married Joseph Crane in 1942 and 1943 in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[4] "The couple married July 17, 1942, in Las Vegas, Nev. Miss Turner obtained an annulment the following January on grounds that Crane's divorce from his first wife, Carol Kuntz Crane of Indianaplis, was not final. Crane and the actress were wed again March 14, 1943 in Tijuana, Mexico. They were divorced 21 August 1944 in Los Angeles.^[5]

She married sportsman and millionaire Henry Junkins Topping 26 April 1948 in Los Angeles.^[6] They were divorced December 1952.^[7]

She was married to Tarzan actor Lex Barker twice. They first married in Turin, Italy 7 September 1953. "Witnesses were two attorneys, Luciano Salza and Guyido Abrasino, who had cut red tape to get around the Italian rules requiring a 300-day waiting period after divorce and a two-week notice of intention to wed."^[8] They were married a second time a few months later 24 December 1953 in Los Angeles, California.^[9] They were divorced 22 July 1957.

She married businessman Frederic C. May 27 November 1960 in Los Angeles.^[10] They were divorced 15 October 1962 in Juarez, Mexico. "Juarez, Mexico (UPI)--Blonde actress Lana Turner got a 'quickie' divorce Monday from her fifth husband, West Coast sportsman Fred May. Miss Turner filed for the divorce in the 1st Civil Court of Judge Miquel Gomez Guerra. Several hours later Gomez signed the decree."^[11]

She married businessman Robert Purdy Eaton 22 June 1965 in Arlington, Virginia.^[12] They were separated in June 1967. They were divorced April 1969.^[13]

She married Ronald Pellar May 1969 in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[14] They were divorced in Los Angeles less than a year later November 1969.^[15]

She died 29 June 1995 in Century City, Los Angeles, California at the age of 74.^[16][17]

Obituary:^[18]

OBITUARY

Journal Gazette, The (Fort Wayne, IN) - Friday, June 30, 1995.

Lana Turner, the glamorous blonde whose acting career was overshadowed by her numerous marriages and the killing of a gangster boyfriend by her daughter, died Thursday, Daily Variety reported. She was 75.

Miss Turner, who disclosed in May 1992 that she had been treated for throat cancer, died at her Century City home with her daughter Cheryl Crane at her side, the newspaper said.

"She was doing fine. This was a total shock," Crane told Daily Variety columnist Army Archerd. "She'd completed seven weeks of radiation a short while ago, and it looked like she was fine. She just took a breath and she was gone."

The actress remained a star from the 1940s until the mid-1960s, winning an Academy Award nomination as best actress for "Peyton Place" in 1957 after she left her long-time studio, MGM.

Over the years, she appeared opposite the screen's top leading men in such films as "Johnny Eager" (Robert Taylor), "Honky Tonk" (Clark Gable), "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (John Garfield), "The Bad and the Beautiful" (Kirk Douglas), "The Sea Chase" (John Wayne) and "Cass Timberlane" (Spencer Tracy).

Her entrance into movies became part of Hollywood lore - she was discovered at a soda fountain when she was a teen-age schoolgirl, though not, as legend had it, at Schwab's drug store. Her early film appearances earned her the nickname "the Sweater Girl" and a pinup place in many a soldier's locker.

Her love life made even more headlines than her acting career. Miss Turner was married seven times and had many well-publicized romances with such figures as Howard Hughes, Tyrone Power and Fernando Lamas.

One of her love affairs ended in abuse and sensational headlines when hoodlum Johnny Stompanato was killed. He was hitting Miss Turner in her Beverly Hills bedroom on April 5, 1958, when Crane, then 15 years old, rushed in and fatally stabbed him with a carving knife.

The killing was ruled a justifiable homicide on the grounds that the girl believed her mother was in danger.

Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner was born on Feb. 8, 1920, in Wallace, Idaho. Her father died when she was young, the victim of a robbery-murder.

After living for a time in San Francisco, Miss Turner's mother moved to Los Angeles in 1936, and the girl enrolled at Hollywood High School. One day she cut her typing class to run across the street to a malt shop, not Schwab's drugstore. There she had the fateful meeting with William R. Wilkerson, publisher of the trade paper Hollywood Reporter.

"Would you like to be in the movies?" Wilkerson asked.

"I don't know, I'll have to ask my mother," she replied.

The influential Wilkerson called director Mervyn LeRoy, who cast her in "They Won't Forget" as a sensuous Southern girl whose murder leads to a lynching. When Lana (newly named by LeRoy) walked down the town street in a tight sweater, her fortune was made.

She was signed to a contract at MGM, where she played Mickey Rooney's sweetheart in "Love Finds Andy Hardy" and other relatively minor roles. Her string of big movies began in 1941 with "Ziegfeld Girl," "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde" and "Honky Tonk."

Other MGM films include: "Somewhere I'll Find You," "Keep Your Powder Dry," "Weekend at the Waldorf," "Green Dolphin Street," "Homecoming," "The Three Musketeers," "A Life of Her Own," "The Merry Widow," "Latin Lovers" and "Diane."

A change in regimes at MGM found her cast in costume dramas, which she disliked. She bought her way out of the contract, and one of her first free-lance films was "Peyton Place," which brought the Oscar nomination. She lost to Joanne Woodward in "The Three Faces of Eve."

She also scored box-office success with tearjerker remakes "Imitation of Life" and "Madame X."

By the mid-1960s, Miss Turner's career in Hollywood films had dwindled.

Sources

1. ↑ Lana Turner biography on Wikipedia.
2. ↑ "Nevada County Marriages, 1862-1993," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL4L-2SFC : 22 July 2021), Artie Shaw and Julia Jean Turner, 13 Feb 1940; citing Marriage, Clark, Nevada, United States, Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, Las Vegas; FHL microfilm 005241853.
3. ↑ Watertown Daily Times Monday, Apr 26, 1948 Watertown, NY Page: 2.
4. ↑ "Nevada County Marriages, 1862-1993," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL4G-68B2 : 22 July 2021), Joseph Stephenson Crane and Julia Jean Turner, 17 Jul 1942; citing Marriage, Clark, Nevada, United States, Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, Las Vegas; FHL microfilm 005241859.
5. ↑ Flint Journal Tuesday, Aug 22, 1944 Flint, MI Page: 5.
6. ↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8KP-8ZM : 9 March 2021), Henry J Topping and Julia Jean Turner Crane, 26 Apr 1948; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,116,258.
7. ↑ Lana Turner Married to Movie Star Barker Dallas Morning News Tuesday, Sep 08, 1953 Dallas, TX Page: 5.
8. ↑ Lana Turner Married to Movie Star Barker Dallas Morning News Tuesday, Sep 08, 1953 Dallas, TX Page: 5.
9. ↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K86Z-S49 : 9 March 2021), Alexander Crichlow Barker and Lana Turner, 24 Dec 1953; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 1,343,366.
10. ↑ "California Marriage Index, 1960-1985," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V6GW-5D9 : 27 November 2014), Frederic C May and Lana Turner, 27 Nov 1960; from "California, Marriage Index, 1960-1985," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2007); citing Los Angeles, California, Center of Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento.
11. ↑ Register-Republic Tuesday, Oct 16, 1962 Rockford, IL Page: 4.
12. ↑ "Virginia, Marriage Certificates, 1936-1988," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV1S-J6B8 : 20 February 2021), Robert Purdy Eaton and Lana Turner May, 22 Jun 1965; from "Virginia, Marriage Records, 1700-1850," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2012); citing , Arlington, Virginia, United States, certificate 17980, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond.
13. ↑ Evansville Press Wednesday, Apr 02, 1969 Evansville, IN Page: 2.
14. ↑ Boston Record American Friday, May 09, 1969 Boston, MA Page: 3.
15. ↑ "California Divorce Index, 1966-1984," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPY2-JLH : 15 May 2014), Lana Turner and Ronald Dante, Nov 1969; from "California Divorce Index, 1966-1984," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2007); citing Los Angeles City, California, Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento.
16. ↑ "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VP8G-92K : 26 November 2014), Lana Turner, 29 Jun 1995; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
17. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6208/lana-turner : accessed 01 December 2021), memorial page for Lana Turner (8 Feb 1921–29 Jun 1995), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6208, ; Maintained by Find a Grave Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend.
18. ↑ Journal Gazette, The (Fort Wayne, Indiana) 30 June 1995, obit for Lana Turner dies at her home at 75, GenealogyBank.com (https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/1079575964A25F30 : accessed 1 December 2021).

See also:

• https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0001805/

• https://macaronsandmimi.com/star-of-the-month-lana-turner/

• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lana-Turner