Lana Turner and Gene Kelly, 1948

Lana Turner (1920—1995), American film actress known for her glamorous looks and sexual allure. Though her skill as an actress was limited, Turner excelled in roles that highlighted her sexuality and working-class roots. She enjoyed her greatest popularity in the 1940s and ’50s, often playing the part of a “good girl gone bad.” Turner endured a difficult childhood. After the family moved to San Francisco, her parents separated and she was placed in a foster home (where she was abused). Soon thereafter her father was murdered. Turner was reunited with her mother, and in 1936 they moved to Los Angeles, where, as legend has it, the golden-haired starlet was “discovered” at a drugstore soda fountain by a Hollywood film journalist. That led to a small part in Warner Brothers’ They Won’t Forget (1937), directed by Mervyn LeRoy, who suggested she drop her nickname, Judy, for something more glamorous; she chose Lana. LeRoy took her with him when he moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1938, and she remained under contract there until 1956.