Lana Turner, actress: biography, films

Childhood and youth

Kathleen Turner was born in the American city of Springfield, Missouri, on June 19, 1954. Allen's father Richard Turner was a Foreign Service officer who often worked and lived overseas with his wife Patsy and four children.

Actress Kathleen Turner

Kathleen grew up in England, where she graduated from high school in 1972. The girl was raised in the conservative traditions of strict Christian morality, so her parents perceived her interest in theater and participation in student productions as something obscene.

After the death of her father, Patsy and her children moved to the United States. 19-year-old Kathleen entered Springfield University, combining her studies with volunteer work at a Planned Parenthood center.

Kathleen Turner in her youth

An office career did not attract the girl, and in 1975 she left for Baltimore, where she continued her education at the College of Maryland, majoring in theater. After 2 years, Kathleen received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and made her debut in several productions directed by Steve Yager.

In 1977, Turner moved to New York and began a career as a stage actress. She first played at the Soho Repertory Theater and then got work on Broadway.

First film

It was at the cafe counter, sipping soda through a straw, that viewers first saw Turner on screen. She made her debut in 1937 in the film A Star is Born. However, the film “They Shall Not Forget” by Melvin Le Roy, which was released the same year, made a greater impression on the audience. Her character is treated very harshly and is killed off at the end of the film. This film was the first time the public saw Turner's naked body, which added to the conversation. Very flattering statements about the young star were published in the Hollywood Reporter. After the premiere of this film, everyone called her “The Girl in the Sweater,” since her heroine wore a tight blue sweater.

Movies

In 1981, Kathleen received a role in the erotic thriller Body Heat. The image of the sexy beauty Mattie Walker brought the actress worldwide fame. Critics noted the debutante's talent and predicted a great future for her in Hollywood.

Kathleen Turner in the movie Body Heat

There was no shortage of work; the directors saw Turner in the image of a fatal seductress and offered her appropriate scripts. However, the actress shied away from such roles in order to prevent typecasting, and from the mass of possible films she chose Carl Reiner’s comedy “Brains on a Twist.”

Kathleen returned to the image of a romantic beauty in the adventure film Romancing the Stone, released in 1984. The film became a worldwide hit, was nominated for an Oscar and received 2 Golden Globe awards, one of which was the award for Best Actress.

Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas in Romancing the Stone

In 1985, the cast of Romancing the Stone teamed up to film the sequel to the best-selling book. Kathleen rejected the original script for “The Pearl of the Nile,” and in order to retain the leading actress, Michael Douglas, who acted as a producer, agreed to remake the plot. The film was released, but did not repeat the resounding success of the first part of the adventure story.

The actress’s popularity increased many times after receiving the 2nd Golden Globe Award for the film “The Honor of the Prizzi Family,” where she was lucky enough to work with the unrivaled Jack Nicholson. And the pinnacle of Turner's career was Francis Ford Coppola's musical film Peggy Sue Got Married, for which she won the Best Actress award from the National Board of Film Critics and was nominated for an Oscar.

Kathleen Turner in the movie Peggy Sue Got Married

In the late 1980s, the actress became the voice of Jessica Rabbit in the feature-length cartoon Who Framed Roger Rabbit, after which she signed hundreds of autographs on photos of the animated character.

In 1989, Kathleen teamed up again with Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito in the black comedy War of the Roses. While creating the role of former gymnast Barbara Rose, Turner had to wear a swimsuit and train a lot. As a result, the actress performed all the acrobatic stunts on her own, without the help of stunt doubles.

Kathleen Turner in the movie "War of the Roses"

In the early 1990s, rheumatoid arthritis severely limited Kathleen's activities. She was forced to refuse several leading roles and eventually stopped appearing on film sets altogether. Illness and alcohol abuse affected the appearance of the actress.

In 2002, Kathleen's addiction became so serious that she had to undergo treatment and subsequent rehabilitation at Waverly Hospital in Pennsylvania. In an interview with reporters, Turner said that she was no longer the same as she was in her youth, and blamed age for all her problems.

Kathleen Turner in the TV series "Friends"

During this period, the actress voiced cartoon characters and starred in episodes of low-budget films. One of the few notable works of this time was the role of Chandler's father Bing in the television series Friends.

In 2006, thanks to new treatment methods, the disease that had tormented Kathleen for 8 years receded. The actress’s creative biography resumed after she starred in the films “Monster House” and “Nip/Tuck,” as well as in an episode of the crime project “Law and Order.” And after some time, Kathleen’s filmography was replenished with the films “The Perfect Family” and “Dumb and Dumber To 2.”

One of the actress’s last works on television was her role in the action-packed series “The Path,” the final season of which was released in 2020. The lack of leading roles forced Turner to resume her theatrical career. For her stage roles performed by the actress on Broadway, she was twice awarded the Tony Award for Best Actress.

Career of actress Kathleen Turner before illness

Kathleen Turner made her first television debut in the TV series Doctors, and in 1981 she appeared in the provocative film Body Heat as Mattie Walker. This is a crime melodrama, where Kathleen played the role of a beautiful and “fatal” woman who seduces a modest lawyer and invites him to kill her rich husband.

In 1984, the next significant film for the aspiring actress was the romantic comedy Romancing the Stone by Robert Zemeckis, starring Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito. The premiere turned out to be incredibly commercially successful and Kathleen Turner received not only world fame, but also recognition of her talent. For her superbly performed role, the actress received a Golden Globe film award.

The next year, Kathleen Turner (with the same cast) repeated her success in her second film about the adventures of a young writer in the film “The Pearl of the Nile.”

In 1985, the crime melodrama “The Honor of the Prizzi Family” was released on wide screens, where Kathleen starred with Jack Nicholson in the title role. For her brilliant performance, the actress received her second Golden Globe.

In 1989, the actress again appeared on screen with Michael Douglas in Danny DeVito's tragicomedy The War of the Roses. The film tells the story of a wealthy married couple who, after 17 years of marriage, decided to divorce due to differences in life. During the filming, the actress distinguished herself with excellent body control for some scenes.

On the set of the comedy detective “V.I. Warshawski" in 1991, the actress broke her nose during one of the fight scenes.

Personal life.

In 1984, Kathleen Turner became the wife of millionaire Jay Weiss, the son of the owner of the famous brand Donna Karan. 3 years after the wedding, the couple had a daughter, Rachel Ann, who, at the insistence of her husband, the actress raised in Jewish traditions.

Kathleen Turner and Jay Weiss

Kathleen's happy love life came crashing down when she suffered from arthritis. In 2006, the couple announced a break in their relationship, and a year later an official divorce followed.

Kathleen Turner disease

In 1993, Kathleen Turner's career went downhill after she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Doctors predicted that the Hollywood star of the 80s would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Kathleen Turner was confused: after all, at 39, she had never even suffered from a headache, and now any movement caused pain. At times she was so unbearable that the actress even became addicted to alcohol at one time.

The doctors just shrugged their shoulders and prescribed a series of meaningless medications and hormone therapy, which caused Kathleen Turner to become very fat.

Thanks to her husband, Jay, she managed to find another doctor who canceled all previous treatment options and began to conduct a new, at that time, pulse therapy with a combination of gymnastic exercises and swimming in the pool.

A few years later, Kathleen Turner beat the disease and returned to her acting career in the mid-90s.

Kathleen Turner now

Currently, Kathleen lives in New York and is engaged in teaching. The actress combines her performances on the theater stage with work on a series about the life of country singer Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton's Heartstrings, which is scheduled to premiere in 2020.

Kathleen Turner in 2018

Nothing is known about what is currently happening in Turner’s personal life. The actress does not blog or have accounts on social networks.

Personal life of Kathleen Turner

In 1984, Turner married a wealthy businessman named Jay Weiss, who lived in New York. From this marriage, Kathleen had a daughter, Rachel Ann Weiss, in 1987. In 2007, the couple filed for divorce.

Thanks to the amazing talent of the game and successfully chosen projects, today the total value of the celebrity’s property is estimated at $30 million.

Today, Turner supports the Arthritis Foundation and serves as a leader of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The actress, who has gone through a difficult path to recovery, urges: “Remember: the simplest thing that will help you find out if you have a predisposition to arthritis is to simply take a blood test.”

Filmography