Late actress Lana Turner may have been one of the most prominent actresses in the 1940s, but her love life wasn’t a walk in the park. From her three pregnancies, only one child was born.
The story of Lana Turner and the extent to which MGM held control over her life will change the minds of those who believe Hollywood hasn’t changed much in the past decades.
LANA TURNER’S FIRST HUSBAND
Turner’s first husband was musician and actor Artie Shaw. They met on the set of 1939’s “Dancing Co-Ed,” but things between them didn’t start with the right foot.
The scene where he needed to play for her dance was shot right before the former couple was photographed. Shaw joked with Turner that he had to be nice or she’d lose her rhythms. This was to lighten the mood. “You better not!” She firmly replied.
Shaw believed she was “a little dumb,” so he completely forgot about her when the film was over. Shaw was then taken to the movie set by Phil Silvers two years later. Turner was acting in a scene, and Shaw was wearing a green-silk gown that fit her perfectly.
After the scene was over, she approached both men, and Silvers introduced her Shaw, even though he had met them before.
After wrapping up the scene, she approached both men, and Silvers introduced her to Shaw even though he knew they had previously met. It made the musician wonder if Silvers had “some mischief in mind.”
Unlike the first time they met, Turner treated Shaw sweetly. He finally got the courage to ask Shaw out, and she agreed. She said that she wanted a home and children while she was in his car.
Shaw believed that Shaw meant it, even though she also desired a family to return to. He did propose, and she said yes. However, even then, he wasn’t confident Turner meant it.
Studio portrait by Lana Turner, circa 1950. Shaw called an airline representative to request a plane for the couple to tie the knot.
When they got to Shaw’s house, he called an air service guy and asked for a plane to wherever they could tie the knot that same night. They were going to Las Vegas, so he thought Turner would cancel the marriage. She didn’t. Shaw said:
“This is Lana Turner – I don’t even know her. We’d just had our first date. She was a total stranger. We got married. It was a dream. A trance.”
Studio portrait of Lana Turner in 1958
TURNER’S FIRST ABORTION
Unfortunately, Shaw and Turner’s romance was short-lived, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) played a part in it. Shaw returned home while Turner attended a movie preview shortly after they had eloped in Las Vegas.
Late that night, film producer and MGM co-founder Louis Burt Mayer showed up at his place with a “delicate” topic to discuss. Mayer inquired Shaw if Turner was planning to have children.
She even admitted [Tyrone Power] was the only man she loved.
Shaw admitted he wasn’t sure, and while they were not planning on having them, they were not taking any precautions, so it was a real possibility.
Shaw admitted he wasn’t sure, and while they were not planning on having them, they were not taking any precautions, so it was a real possibility.
Mayer responded that MGM had invested a “considerable amount of money” in her – she became one of the studios’ most prominent stars and was widely regarded as one of the Hollywood love goddesses – so it would be “disastrous” if she had a child.
Lana Turner circa 1965. Shaw could not change his mind when the businessman said that love goddesses don’t have children.
The businessman added that love goddesses didn’t have children, but he still couldn’t change Shaw’s mind. Mayer and Johnny Hyde informed Shaw that Shaw’s wife had had an abortion.
Shaw never spoke to Turner about the matter, and Shaw was devastated when he discovered it. Although he didn’t want the child, he felt betrayed. According to author Jane Ellen Wayne, MGM girls were supposed to keep their “virginal image” even if they were married.
Tyrone Power, London Airport, England in January 1956. TURNER’S THIRD ABORTION Turner was in love with Tyrone Power in the mid-1940s after another brief marriage with actor and restaurateur Steve Crane.
TURNER’S SECOND ABORTION
In the mid-1940s, after another short marriage with actor and restauranteur Steve Crane, Turner fell in love with “The Mark of Zorro” star Tyrone Power. She even admitted he was the only man she loved.
Turner was so infatuated that she left the film set to travel to Mexico, where Power was on location. He would have married Annabella, his first spouse if the former couple hadn’t split up.
[Turner’s daughter] When she was 14, Turner’s boyfriend died. She made national headlines.
Lana Turner was in Los Angeles on December 18, 1984. She fell pregnant during Turner and Power’s love affair. It wasn’t great news.
During Turner and Power’s romance, she got pregnant, but it wasn’t good news. She said that she was one of the few people who didn’t have children back in those days because they were in love. If she had welcomed the child, she wouldn’t have worked again.
Turner was given the final say, and Power did the termination of the pregnancy. MGM head of publicity Howard Strickling made all the arrangements, and it is believed that he was the one making the decision, not Turner. This abortion deeply affected the actress as she said:
“[It] took more than a fetus from me. It took some part of my heart, a living symbol of the happiest time of my life.”
Turner and Power’s relationship ended shortly after. He met Linda Christian in Rome, where he ended up marrying her in 1948.
It is essential to point out that Strickling was known as MGM’s fixer. Strickling was responsible for Turner’s first abortion. He also arranged Power’s birth (a product of their affair in the 1940s).
Lana Turner with her daughter Cheryl Crane, July 1944. TURNER’S ONE CHILD. Out of the three pregnancies that Turner had, Cheryl Crane was born in July 1943, during the marriage of Steve Crane.
TURNER’S ONLY CHILD
Out of Turner’s three known pregnancies, she only had one child: Cheryl Crane, born in July 1943 during Steve Crane’s marriage.
Cheryl, who was 14 years old, made headlines for her murder of Turner’s boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato. Turner had warned Cheryl she would kick Stompanato from their home to stop her worrying about them arguing.
But things got worse when Stompanato threatened Turner’s family.
However, things escalated when Stompanato threatened to destroy Turner’s family. Cheryl ran downstairs, grabbed her knife, and returned upstairs. Turner then opened the door, and Stompanato “ran into the knife.”
After spending three weeks in a juvenile hall, the jury decided it was a justifiable homicide, so Cheryl was released without trial. Turner, who had a remarkable career and an extraordinary life, died June 1995.