Lana Turner (1921–1995) was an American actress who appeared in over fifty films during her career, which spanned four decades. Discovered in 1937 at age 16, she signed a contract with Warner Bros. but soon transferred to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[1] The studio's co-founder, Louis B. Mayer, helped further her career by casting her in several youth-oriented comedies and musicals, including Dancing Co-Ed (1939)[2] and Ziegfeld Girl (1941), the latter of which was a commercial success and helped establish her as one of the studio's leading performers.[3] Turner subsequently co-starred with Clark Gable in the drama Somewhere I'll Find You (1943), the first of four films she would appear in with him.[4]
In 1957, she took a leading role portraying Constance MacKenzie in 20th Century Fox's Peyton Place, a film adaptation of the Grace Metalious novel of the same name.[14] The film was a major box office success,[15] and Turner earned her first and only Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance.[14] In 1959, she accepted the lead role in Douglas Sirk's remake of Imitation of Life, a drama for Universal Pictures in which she portrayed a struggling stage actress, which was another commercial success at the box office.[16] Turner's final leading role was in 1966's Madame X, for which she earned a David di Donatello award for Best Actress.[17] She spent the majority of the 1970s in semiretirement, appearing in touring stage plays, such as Forty Carats[18] and Bell, Book and Candle.[19] In 1982, she was cast in a recurring guest role on the television soap opera Falcon Crest.[20] She made her final film appearance in the comedy horror film Witches' Brew in 1980.