Lana: The Lady, The Legend, The Truth

This is a new printing of Turner's 1982 autobiography and I applaud the publisher for reprinting this book. Turner tells of her life in Idaho during the Depression and the move to California, her parent's divorce, and her entry into films. She does not give much gossip about her many co-stars (which is good) but it would have been nice to know a bit more of what she thought of some of them. We know she liked Robert Taylor, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracey and did not like Wendell Corey. She did not discuss much about the actual making of the films or specific scenes. She did not seem to have many close female friends. She mentions Virginia Grey as a friend but does not really expound on what they did together. She describes her elopement with Artie Shaw in 1940 pretty much the way Ann Rutherford (who was in the same film) described it in a talk on her career once although Ann said that Artie tried to call her first and Ann's mother wouldn't let her come to the phone and then Artie called Lana and Artie and Lana eloped the same night. She had a poor judge of husbands - ending up with 7 - all who seemed to want her to support them. She describes in detail the stabbing death of Johnny Stompanato and the consequences it had on her daughter's life. She was a team player at MGM - pretty much doing what they said and when the studio finally let the player's go, was able to gain a resurgence in film and on the stage. She describes her faith in God at the end and crediting it with turning around her life. The book was originally published 13 years before her final illness but it was Turner's way of setting the record straight on her image.