13. Lana Turner and Johnny Stompanato
Lana Turner was the classic blonde bombshell of the 1940s, a popular pinup among American servicemen and teenage boys and a favorite co-star with Clark Gable. Her role in The Postman Always Rings Twice established her as a serious actress at the same time her well-publicized personal life called her morals into question among those inclined to do so. She developed a reputation of being hard to work with, temperamental, and a sex symbol relying on her looks as much as her acting ability. The legend that she was discovered by a Hollywood mogul at Schwab’s Pharmacy has long been debunked, but the scandal which surrounded her in 1958, after her daughter stabbed to death reputed mob figure Johnny Stompanato, has not.
Stompanato wooed Lana with flowers and phone calls while she was filming The Lady Takes a Flyer, and unaware of his reputation and mob contacts, she began dating him. When she learned that he had similarly stalked other actresses (including Zsa Zsa Gabor and June Allyson) and of his underworld contacts, she broke off their affair. In April 1958, after a heated argument in her home during which Stompanato allegedly threatened to kill her, Turner’s daughter came to her mother’s defense with a kitchen knife. Stompanato was killed and Turner’s daughter was charged with manslaughter. The combination of a female sex symbol, a mobster, and her daughter’s involvement was too much for the press to resist and the trial became a media circus. Turner’s daughter, Cheryl, was acquitted, though the scandal remained for many months, with numerous reports that Lana’s testimony (she was the only eyewitness to the killing) had been nothing more than an example of her practicing her craft as an actress.