Personal Data
Brief Bio
Discovered while a sixteen year old student at Hollywood High while drinking a Coke in the Top Hat Cafe. Lana avoided the casting couch partly because she was underage and was getting too much fan mail to offend when she was 18. She married seven times and had one daughter, Cheryl Crane.
Her career spanned almost 40 years. Her first movie, They Won't Forget, introduced her as the "sweater girl" with the sexy walk. Some say her kiss with Robert Taylor in Johnny Eager is the hottest kiss ever. Her version of The Postman Always Rings Twice portrays raw sexual attraction better than current movies and she always had her clothes on and there was not anything explicit. She turned in a memorable dramatic performance in Ziegfield Girl and was nominated for a Best Actress Acadamy Award in Peyton Place.
Most of Lana's problems arose from her being too trusting of others and her fear of bad publicity, even when she was the victim.
Source, Turner, Lana, Lana, Pocket Books, New York, NY, 1982
Body of Work
Film Year Page of Reference They Won't Forget 1937 25
The Postman Always Rings Twice 85
Johnny Eager 62
Ziegfield Girl 1941 56
Peyton Place.
A Star Is Born, (bit), 1937
They Won't Forget, 1937
The Great Garrick, 1937
The Adventures of Marco Polo, 1938
Four's a Crowd, 1938
Love Finds Andy Hardy, 1938
The Chaser, (bit) 1938
Rich Man Poor Girl, 1938
Dramatic School, 1938
Calling Dr. Kildare, 1939
These Glamour Girls, 1939
Dancing Co-Ed, 1939
Two Girls on Broadway, 1940
We Who Are Young, 1940
Ziegfeld Girl, 1941
Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, 1941
Honky Tonk, 1941
Johnny Eager, 1942
Somewhere I'll Find You, 1942
Slightly Dangerous, 1943
The Youngest Profession, 1943
Du Barry Was a Lady, (cameo) 1943
Marriage Is a Private Affair, 1944
Keep Your Powder Dry, 1945
Weekend at the Waldorf, 1945
The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946
Green Dolphin Street, 1947
Cass Timberlane, 1947
Homecoming, 1948
The Three Musketeers, 1948
A Life of Her Own, 1950
Mr. Imperium, 1951
The Merry Widow, 1952
The Bad and the Beautiful, 1952
Latin Lovers, 1953
Flame and the Flesh, 1954
Betrayed, 1954
The Prodigal, 1955
The Sea Chase, 1955
The Rains of Ranchipur, 1955
Diane, 1956
Peyton Place, 1957
The Lady Takes a Flyer, 1958
Another Time Another Place, 1958
Imitation of Life, 1959
Portrait in Black, 1960
By Love Possessed, 1961
Bachelor in Paradise, 1961
Who's Got the Action?, 1962
Love Has Many Faces, 1965
Madame X, 1966
The Big Cube, 1969
Persecution (or The Terror of Sheba), 1974
Bittersweet Love, 1976
Lana Links
© HWS, 1998