Lana Turner

Before she was a blonde bombshell, Lana Turner was an auburn-haired starlet for MGM Studios. Shown here on the brink of super stardom for the 1939 film THESE GLAMOUR GIRLS. She was born Julia Jean Turner on February 8, 1921 in Wallace, Idaho. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a dramatic actress as well as for her highly publicized personal life. In the mid-1940s, she was one of the highest-paid women in the United States, and one of MGM's biggest stars. She appeared in such classics as "Johnny Eager" (1941), "Ziegfeld Girl" (1941), "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1941), "Somewhere I'll Find You" (1942), "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946) and “The Three Musketeers” (1948). Her popularity continued throughout the 1950s in dramas such as "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952) and "Peyton Place" (1957). By the 1960s, however, fewer roles were coming her way with the rise of new and younger stars. She still managed to turn in memorable performances in such films as “Portrait in Black” (1960), “Bachelor in Paradise” (1961) and “Madame X” (1966). By the next decade the roles were coming in at a trickle. Her last appearance in a big-screen production was in “Witches' Brew” (1980). Her final film work came in the acclaimed TV series “Falcon Crest” (1981) in which she played Jacqueline Perrault from 1982-1983. Still as beautiful as ever in older age, Lana passed away on June 25, 1995, after a long bout with cancer (aged 75).

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