Lana The Lady The Legend The Truth [Hardcover]

Lana. Turner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1982

Lana: The Lady, The Legend, The Truth, 1982 BCE, by Lana Turner. Hardcover with dust jacket, 252 pages, published by E. P. Dutton.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: E. P. Dutton, Inc.; Book Club Edition edition (1982)
• ASIN: B000NXA9X2
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,236,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood's Bombshell Remembers, January 4, 2001

By 

Pat Powell (St. Louis, Mo. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lana (Hardcover)

For quite some time, I didn't know what I thought about this book. It baffled me because it alternates between excruciating details about clothes, shoes, and hairstyles, and Lana's heartbreaking stories of love and betrayal. Lana Turner was married seven times. The reasons she gives for marrying each of her husbands are about as trivial as the reasons she gives for divorcing them. For instance, she was dating someone, and then Joan Crawford called her up and said he was HER man. So what does Lana do? She bumps into bandleader Artie Shaw at a party later in the evening, and MARRIES the guy-- THAT night. THEN, even though she had never even met him before their wedding day, she writes with genuine amazement that SHE didn't know he had been married twice before, or that he was abusive. She leaves him, finds out she is pregnant, and aborts the baby. Exit marriage one. Enter husband #2, Stephen Crane. She marries him on an impulse, finds out that he's still legally married to his first wife, and leaves him, angry and pregnant. She reluctantly goes back,(after alot of "fatherly persuasion" from her mentor, Louis B. Mayer, President of MGM Studios) has the baby,a daughter named Cheryl Christina Crane, who infamously stabbed her mother's abusive gang- tied lover to death in a trial that rocked 1950's Hollywood to its core. However, long before this incident, Lana had already discarded Cheryl's father, Stephen;so it's so long husband number two. HELLO husband #3: Millionare Bob Topping became her third husband, and she writes that she accepted his proposal because- get this- although she did not love him, and he was still married to someone else, "there's something awfully compelling about a big, diamond ring". To my utter bafflement, she actually leaves this husband,too. And on and on, right down to the last matrimonial drop- a "drip" which consisted of a charlatan Hollywood hypontist doctor,Dr. Dante, Lana's seventh and last groom. FYI: in a strange turn of events, this last husband dumped HER, via a memo he'd taped to her bathroom mirror. It said something to the effect that he just couldn't do "this" anymore, and, therefore, she would not be seeing him (or most of her money) again. He signed the note, "Love, Muggs". Upon reading it, Miss Turner fell to the floor in a dead faint; not because he left her high and dry, but because she "had no idea" his nick-name was "Muggs." The only thing she writes about with poignancy is her various failed attempts at motherhood and her countless miscarriages. She writes about how badly she wanted each pregnancy, and she becomes pregnant by movie idol Tyrone Power (who-- gasp!- was still legally married to HIS first wife). I actually saw a glimmer of maturity and strength of character, because she told Tyrone, "D--- it!! NObody is going to take THIS baby away from me!" Tyrone Power left the decision entirely in Lana's perfectly-manicured hands,vowed to support any decision she made- then took the first thing smoking out of the country. Lana began to plot and scheme.... she even tried to formulate some plan whereupon she would fly away to some far away, private island, then come back after having the baby, giving the columnists that age old story of "adopting" the baby on the spur of the moment, due to said baby's cuteness, and her generous spirit. In the cooler light of reason (and in the harsh light of gradually realzing that Tyrone does not consider her either "wife" or "mother" material, she comes to accept the absurdity of her proposed plan- "How on earth", she scoffs on these pages, "could Lana Turner return from the islands with a baby that was the spittting image of Tyrone Power and claim she'd "found" it?" So, sadly (in her words) she came to the same conclusion she did when faced with the prospect of being Artie Shaw's "Baby-Mama". And Lana terminated the pregnancy, telling herself that she and "Ty" could always get married and have scads of children. It seems almost pointless to write that this dream never materialized, as upon returning to the states and visiting with Lana, Mr. Power informed her that not only was he done with HER, he planned on getting married to Lana's stand in; Linda Christian, who subsequently bore him three bouncing, healthy children. Good Grief. Ironically, I think Lana Turner wrote this book to prove that she wasn't as shallow as people thought she was. It was apparently lost on her that this book underlined that theory indefinitely.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes the truth is ugly, November 29, 2004

By 

NANCAN "NANCAN" (Charlottesville, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lana: The Lady, the Legend, the Truth (Hardcover)

Although this book is jam-packed with lots of behind the scenes movie star action and photographs of this physically beautiful woman, this story is definitely a one-sided view of Lana's excuse for her often lurid life. It seems everyone in Hollywood was "out to get" Lana, and she desperately needed to marry (over and over) to rise above it all. She speaks glowingly of every husband, until they, too, turn out to be less than wonderful. It's a bit of a hoot that she becomes disenchanted with these fellows who she spent all of a week dating before saying "I do." Regarding her career, she often talks about how professional and hardworking she was on the set, but I think about 90% of her hard work went into perfecting her nearly flawless appearance. It is no wonder that her make-up man played such a big role in her life. She explains that she was "horrified" at herself on the screen in her debut performance as a "sweater girl", as if she was unaware of her attributes as she flounced across the screen. Although Hollywood back in the 40's and 50's did contain alot of despicable characters, Lana did few selfless acts herself. She professes to loving her only child, but continuously leaves her in the care of her long-suffering mother while she jetsets around the globe with new lovers or new husbands. The reader can only assume that she's (1) incredibly naive or (2) incredibly stupid. She sums it all up to "love" or a "what's a girl to do?" attitude. I don't doubt that given her physical beauty such a lifestyle would be very easy to fall prey to in Hollywood. It's a shame she felt it necessary to drag a child through it with her with disastrous adults. When her daughter begins to act out, (you know, like stabbing Lana's mobster boyfriend) Lana wonders if maybe it's due to her many marriages, houses and lifestyle. Duh! But in the end, she takes credit when her stunning daughter turns out to be a "brillant businesswoman". And, just when you think all hope for redemption is lost, she devotes her last chapter to her devotion to God. Afterall, what's a girl to do?

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From auburn to blonde, from Catholic student to goddess!, January 4, 2005

By 

Dave (Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lana: The Lady, the Legend, the Truth (Hardcover)

That, in my opinion, is a good summary of Lana Turner's rise to fame. Lana Turner was one of the most beautiful and talented actresses of her time, with unforgettable performances in classics like "The Postman Always Rings Twice", "Homecoming", "Johnny Eager", and "The Bad and the Beautiful". This autobiography is very gripping and provides a very entertaining look at Hollywood as experienced by Lana during her long and impressive career. There are three sections of great photos which show how timeless her beauty was. I agree with the previous reviewers' comments about Lana's descriptions of her failed marriages and not-so-perfect relationship with her daughter, but after all, a Hollywood legend like Lana had to defend and preserve her character. She's very candid about many events and scandals, and her writing style makes the book impossible to put down. For a "no-spin" account of Lana Turner I recommend searching for a biography, but unfortunately there are not many. This book is a definite must for all Lana Turner fans!