Movie mogul Louis B. Mayer once bragged that his studio had “more stars than there are in Heaven.” No doubt one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s most beautiful stars was Lana Turner. According to Hollywood legend, Turner was discovered sitting at Schwab’s Drugstore while wearing a tight-fitting sweater that accentuated her lovely figure. Naturally, she had to appear on screen in similar attire, thereby earning the title of MGM’s Sweater Girl. In the 1940s, Turner received the full MGM glamour treatment -- complete with changing her hair color from auburn to blonde -- and became one of our nation’s top pinup girls.

Prior to 1940, Turner appeared in such films as They Won’t Forget, The Great Garrick, The Adventures of Marco Polo, Four’s a Crowd, Love Finds Andy Hardy, These Glamour Girls, and Calling Dr. Kildare, and Dancing Co-eds. However, it wasn’t until 1941 that she attained A-list star status as the result of her fine performances in Ziegfield Girl (I had the paper dolls!), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Honky Tonk. In the latter film, she and Clark Gable made movie magic together. Later, Turner’s sultry scenes with John Garfield in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) emerged as some of the most memorable on celluloid. Unforgettable is the word for the sexy image of Turner standing in the doorway, a vision clad all in white -- white turban, white blouse, white shorts and white high heels.

More than just a pretty face and stunning figure, Turner earned a Best Actress nomination for Peyton Place in 1957. Well-suited for melodrama, she excelled in films like Imitation of Life (1959), Portrait in Black (1960), Love Has Many Faces (1962), and Madame X (1966). Her last movie, Thwarted, was completed in 1991.

Although not as extensive as her big screen work, Turner’s television career consisted of  appearing for one year in Harold Robbins’s The Survivors and a stint as Jacqueline Perrault on Falcon’s Crest

Turner’s private life contained more drama than many of her movies. When she was only nine years old, her father became the victim of a robbery murder. As an adult, she said “I Do” eight times -- twice to actor Stephen Crane. Her first husband was bandleader Artie Shaw; others with famous names include wealthy playboy Bob Topping and actor Lex Barker, who starred in a few Tarzan movies. In 1958, her daughter, Cheryl Crane, stabbed Johnny Stompanato to death, thinking she was saving her mother from a dangerous boyfriend. The verdict?  “Justifiable homicide.” Surprisingly, headlines erupting from this tragic incident didn’t dampen Turner’s career. Some of her most popular films came afterwards.  

Lana Turner, born Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner (in Wallace, Idaho), died of throat cancer on June 29, 1995. She was 75 years old.

(Sources: Internet Movie Database and Ephraim Katz's The Film Encyclopedia)