1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Hollywood Land 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 1: is a production of Double Elvis. 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 2: Uma produce this record. I'm made by the Humangoit gloone 5 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 2: without the eight of any mechanical device. 6 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 1: Watch however, Why Hello, Wayne, I thought you'd gone up 7 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: to the day. 8 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 2: No, I'm not the friend God, just the time to 9 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 2: hear the old us from about a quarter mile down 10 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 2: effect something like this. 11 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: The stories about actress Lana Turner are insane. In the 12 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: nineteen forties, she sold millions of movie tickets as a 13 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: feature film fem Fetale, and just as many war bonds. 14 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: As Uncle Sam's most famous cheerleader, she rubbed elbows with 15 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: la gangsters, most notably with the infamous Mickey Cohen and 16 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: his crew. She was the pinnacle of hall glitz and glamour, 17 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: yet her personal life was mired in tragedy. Her father 18 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: was found brutally murdered after a late night poker game 19 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: when she was only nine years old. Years later, her 20 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,039 Speaker 1: mobbed up boyfriend would die suddenly in her Hollywood home, 21 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: allegedly an accident the hands of her daughter, and despite 22 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: the way she was seen by the public, not to 23 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:24,759 Speaker 1: mention the dumpster fire that was her personal life. Lana 24 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:29,039 Speaker 1: Turner made great films, unlike that clip I played you 25 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: at the top of the show. That wasn't a clip 26 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: from a great film. That was a fair youth sample 27 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: from the Library of Congress of Lily and Drew and 28 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: John Orrin performing the vaudeville sketch, a study in mimicry. 29 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: I played you that clip because I can't afford the 30 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: rights to Edward Metrix The Young Lions. And why would 31 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: I play you that specific slice of Celluloyd cheese. Could 32 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: I afford it? Because that was the number one movie 33 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: in America on April fourth, nineteen fifty eight, and that 34 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: was the day that Johnny Stompanado met the sharp end 35 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: of a kitchen knife inside Lana Turner's home. On this 36 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 1: episode La Gangsters, Deadly Poker Games, the sharp end of 37 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: the knife and pre eminent pinup girl, Lana Turner. I'm 38 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan and this is Hollywood Land. December fourteenth, nineteen 39 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: thirty San Francisco. They found his body slumped against a 40 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: warehouse in Paterero Hill, intersection of Mariposa and Minnesota. Legs 41 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: spread apart, feed a kimbo head against the wall, bruise 42 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: over his left eye. They said he'd been dead for 43 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: a few hours. Easy. His diamond stickpin was gone, and 44 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,919 Speaker 1: so was his wristwatch. His money was gone too. He'd 45 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: won the pot at the evening's poker match, or was 46 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: it the morning? The all night poker games downtown didn't 47 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: run on clocks, They ran on luck. His luck was 48 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 1: about to run out. He had done what he always 49 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: did when he found himself a bit more flush than usual. 50 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: He stuffed the scratch deep into the sock on his 51 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,519 Speaker 1: left foot. He walked away from the poker table, a 52 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: big winner with a big mouth, bragging all the way. Next, 53 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: he stopped by a nightclub to brag to his estranged wife, Mildred, 54 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: who was in the middle of her shift. She told 55 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: him to scram. Then he stopped by his hotel room 56 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: at Fourth and Mission. He rented it by the week. 57 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: He bragged to his reflection in the mirror, took a leak, 58 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: slapped on some aftershave. He walked back out into the 59 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: salty Frisco air looking for the next place to drink 60 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: or gamble away a chunk of the bills in his sock. 61 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: Hours later it was morning and the money was gone, 62 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 1: the sock too, and Virgil Turner, a thirty eight year 63 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: old war veteran, he. 64 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 3: Was long gone. 65 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: The stevedores down on the dock knew Virgil as their boss. 66 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: The guys he played cards with knew him as Ernie Johnson. 67 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:18,919 Speaker 1: His daughter Julia Jean knew him as Daddy. The Feds 68 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 1: back in Wallace, Idaho, knew Virgil as the silver miner 69 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: who ran corn liquor on the side, and the Fed 70 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,360 Speaker 1: started to ask questions about his bootlegging operation, it being 71 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: prohibition and all, and pretty soon Virgil wasn't running corn 72 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: liquor anymore. He was the one doing the running. Quite literally. 73 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: One night, under the cover of darkness, Virgil skipped town, 74 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: wife and young daughter in tow. They ran as far 75 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,679 Speaker 1: away as they could, far from silver mines and straight 76 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: into gold country. But in San Francisco they weren't so 77 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: much a family unit anymore. Virgil and Mildred split. The 78 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: little Julia Jean was staying with friends out in Stockton 79 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: when her father wound up dead that fateful December morning. 80 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: The cops thought it obvious to track down some of 81 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: the other usual gambling delinquents, the ones who were probably 82 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: at the same table with Virgil the nightie died. It 83 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: was very likely that one of them had tailed Virgil 84 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: that night and overtaken him when the time was right. 85 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: But the oddtops he gave them pause that there were 86 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: no other apparent wounds to Virgil's body, just that welt 87 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: above his eye. Whoever decked him gave him a cerebral hemorrhage. Bam, 88 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:32,280 Speaker 1: just like that. He died fast. It was so well orchestrated, 89 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: so clean, so precise, that the cops wouldn't rule out 90 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 1: the possibility that it was the work of someone with 91 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: more than a bad poker hand and a grudge. Gennaro 92 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: Briccolo level shit, maybe Luigi Malvaz or Frank Lanza the 93 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: Fisherman's Worth gang. The cops didn't know if they'd ever 94 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,840 Speaker 1: get the who, but they had what. Virgil Turner had 95 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: found himself on the wrong side of the wrong person 96 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: for the very last time. As far as want to 97 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 1: be European oubliettes went, the street of Paris was damn 98 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: nice continental food, old world decor booze straight off the boat, 99 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:11,159 Speaker 1: But as soon as you climbed the steps into the 100 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: lobby of the hotel. Christie, you knew you weren't in Europe, 101 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,160 Speaker 1: You're actually in the land of make believe. Hollywood Boulevard 102 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: nineteen forty two knew. The blonde starlet and the tight 103 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,840 Speaker 1: sweater took another sip of her mimosa and smiled politely 104 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: at the guests milling about the small yet stately streets 105 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: of Paris, and the starlet's husband stood at her side, 106 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: newly hitched marriage number two for both of them. He 107 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: shook the hands of the men as she hugged the women. 108 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 1: The men who were shaking hands stole as many looks 109 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: as they could at the drop dead starlet in that 110 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: skin tight sweater and tried not to let their jaws 111 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,719 Speaker 1: actually hit the floor with unbridled lust. And the couple 112 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 1: thanked their friends for coming. It really was a nice party. 113 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 1: The starlet thought. She only wished her daddy were there. 114 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: Not a day went by she didn't think about her father, Virgil, 115 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: and how she never got to say goodbye before he 116 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: died propped up against the warehouse a few blocks from 117 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: the central Basin. But she never talked about it anyway. 118 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: That was a long time ago. It had been years 119 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,080 Speaker 1: since anyone called her Julia Jean. She went by Lana. 120 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: Now the entire country knew her by that name, Lana Turner. 121 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: Even better, they knew her by sight, and what a sight. 122 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: Lana Turner was the kind of woman that launched a 123 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: thousand ships, and it wasn't just for her face. She 124 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: was the kind of woman that caused men to walk 125 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: into telephone poles as she strode by on the other 126 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: side of the street, the kind of woman that got 127 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: the ink pens at MGM's animation department worked up into 128 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: so much of a tizzy that pretty soon they were 129 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: creating entire shorts whose only plot was that of a 130 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: wolf salivating over a buxom character who bore more than 131 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: a passing resemblance to the actress, and she worked that 132 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: image to perfection to become the pre eminent pin up 133 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: girl bearing wartime. She toured the US for ten weeks 134 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty two to promote war bonds, offering up 135 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: her bankable kisses to the highest bidders. Lana alone was 136 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: responsible for over five million dollars in war bond sales. 137 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: That she may not have been the greatest actress any 138 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 1: of them had ever seen, but in movies like Love 139 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,559 Speaker 1: finds Andy Hardy, Honkey Tonk and Johnny Eager, the spell 140 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: she cast alone gave audiences in the late nineteen thirties 141 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: something even more indelible than acting chops. Everyone in Los 142 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 1: Angeles took notice of Lana Turner, not least of all 143 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: the underworld. Lana Turner knew the mob, even if she 144 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: didn't really know that she knew the mob, or maybe, 145 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: as became her MO just a decade later, she just 146 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: wouldn't fess up to knowing the mob. But the mob 147 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: was all around her. The guy who discovered her as 148 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: a teen sipping on a malt in a drugstore across 149 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: from Hollywood High the one in the same who stopped 150 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: dead in his tracks by the side of her alone, 151 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: slipped her his card and delivered that now famous line, 152 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: do you want to be in Pictures? That was Billy Wilkerson. 153 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: And Wilkerson wasn't just editor of the Hollywood Reporter. He 154 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: was a compulsive gambler high stakes. Wilkerson had the ears 155 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,440 Speaker 1: some of LA's most dangerous and influential men, first named 156 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: Bassis with Bugsy Siegel. He was even cozier with the 157 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: guy who owned the streets of Paris, the one and 158 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: the same who was behind this brunch mingle session underway 159 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 1: at the underground hangout, and nat was Meyer Harris Cohen 160 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: aka Mickey Cohen aka Mickey c aka the Mick, aka 161 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: the King of Sunset Strip, no scratch that the King 162 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: of Los Angeles Jack, one time capone associate, former right 163 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: hand man, debugs himself race wire racketeer, the only guy 164 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:45,319 Speaker 1: in LA who could spit on the sidewalk and make 165 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: the nightly news and probably no apps of fucking lutey, 166 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: the toughest motherfucker in LA, having survived not one, but 167 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,960 Speaker 1: at least what six attempts on his life, including that 168 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: time would be assassin's wider ship ton of dynamite to 169 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: his house and tried to literally him away, But Mickey 170 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 1: Cohen wouldn't be blown away. The Feds would learn that 171 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:09,440 Speaker 1: a few years later, when they couldn't nail him for 172 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:11,319 Speaker 1: any of the bad shit, they knew he was behind, 173 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: so they nicked him on tax evasion charges and put 174 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 1: him away at McNeil Island in Washington State. He bounced 175 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: out of the pen just a few years later. The 176 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: mid fifties and back and Lana turned his life in 177 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: ways neither of them could have predicted. But back in 178 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: nineteen forty two at the Streets of Paris, Lona wasn't 179 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: on a first named basis with the Mick. All she 180 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: knew was that he was a friend of Wilkerson's, and 181 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: that any friend of Wilkerson's was a friend of hers. 182 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: Lona would get closer to the Mob over the next decade, 183 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: closer than her father ever got. Just like her father, 184 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,560 Speaker 1: her connections to the West Coast underworld would result in 185 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: an unexpected twist of the plot and a deadly twist 186 00:10:50,559 --> 00:11:18,319 Speaker 1: of the knife. The phone ringing in Sean Connery's room 187 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel woke him up from his 188 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: power nap. He looked at the clock next to the bed, 189 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,440 Speaker 1: eleven thirty am. He needed to get back on set soon, 190 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: and the phone rang again. Was probably a wake up 191 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 1: call courtesy of Walt Disney, his current employer, who had 192 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,480 Speaker 1: him on loan from twentieth Century Fox. Conery picked up 193 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:43,199 Speaker 1: the receiver, not Disney, heavy breathing, and then a calm introduction, 194 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:47,080 Speaker 1: more tortoise than hair. You know what this is? The 195 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: voice on the other of the line said, Conry had 196 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: some idea. The voice was deep, sounded like a sinus 197 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: infection with a grudge. But the voice wasn't interested in 198 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 1: Conrie's guesses. Rhetorical question, the voice said, And then the 199 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: voice introduced itself as Mickey Cohen. Connery knew who he was, correct, 200 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:08,560 Speaker 1: did you know the reason for his call? Again, that 201 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,440 Speaker 1: was rhetorical. Mickey has some friendly advice, one time only advice. 202 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 1: Listen up and listen closely. 203 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 3: Get the buck out of Los Angeles. 204 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,360 Speaker 1: And what if he didn't, Mickey Cohen would send one 205 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 1: of his boys around to Sean Connery with a free lesson, 206 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: the lesson he should have been taught already. Now Connery 207 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: knew what that was all about. That thing that happened 208 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: on the set of his last film, that thing that 209 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: happened abroad, but managed to humiliate Mickey Cohen From over 210 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:42,079 Speaker 1: five thousand miles away London nineteen fifty seven, Sean Connery 211 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 1: had been hand picked to share top billing in Another Time, 212 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: Another Place by the film's co star and love interest, 213 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 1: Lana Turner. Chose the twenty six year old Scott for 214 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: a major role in a major British melodrama he owed 215 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:58,439 Speaker 1: his career. This is pre Bond Connery, we're talking about 216 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: anything Connory really, but at six foot two, devastatingly handsome 217 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: and with that soon to be iconic action, he was 218 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: easily a leading man in anyone's eyes. Lana knew leading men. 219 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 1: As good as they looked, they often served to make 220 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: her look even better, as if that was even possible. 221 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: There was John Garfield and The Postman Always Rings Twice, 222 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: the nineteen forty six film Noir, where Lana got to 223 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: play the fem fetale, and there was Kurt Douglas and 224 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: The Bad and the Beautiful, the nineteen fifty two drama 225 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: where Lana was robbed of an Academy Award nomination for 226 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: Best Supporting Actress. Her own industry was so low to 227 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,640 Speaker 1: recognize her talent that they nominated her co star Gloria 228 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: Graham instead, despite the fact that Graham was on screen 229 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: for a mere nine and a half minutes, at the 230 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: time the shortest performance to ever win an Oscar Awards 231 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 1: were nice and all, but fame and power were better. 232 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: Lana was attracted to the men who had one or 233 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: the other, even though many of them treated her badly 234 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: Mickey Wooney, Frank Sinatra, Robert Stack, Trooper, Howard Hughes, Peter Laffer, 235 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: and by the time she arrived in London in nineteen 236 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 1: fifty seven, she was working on divorce number four, this 237 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 1: one from Lex Barker, an actor known for playing Tarzan 238 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,320 Speaker 1: but who would soon be known better as a shitty 239 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: husband and allegedly an even shittier stepfather to Lana's preteen daughter. 240 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: In Lana's eyes, Connie was as good as a man 241 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: could be, honest, decent, upstanding. The two got on like 242 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: a house on fire. Connery showed her around the Big 243 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: Black Smoke, took her to the best restaurants and a 244 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: company turn of shows in the fashionable West End. There 245 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: was one person, however, who did not appreciate all the 246 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: attention Lana was receiving from her Scottish co star, Lana's 247 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: American boyfriend at the time, Johnny Stompanado. Johnny was irate, 248 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: and that's putting it mildly. He saw red before he 249 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: even boarded a NonStop flight from Los Angeles to London. 250 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: His intentions weren't exactly a secret. He was going to 251 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: fucking kill Sean Connery. Johnny Stompinado have been plucked from obscurity, 252 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: just like Sean Connery. But in Stomp's case, his benefactor 253 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: wasn't a blonde Hollywood bombshell. It was Mickey Cohen who 254 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: pulled Stomp up from the depths of the low level 255 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: extortion racket and gave him purpose. Stomp quickly became Mickey's 256 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: bag man and his driver, the guy who got his 257 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: hands dirty when Mickey didn't want to fuck up his 258 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: nice press suits. Stop didn't mind getting dirty. He'd gotten 259 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: into organized crime on the dirtiest level, extorting the upper 260 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 1: crust of LA with newdi photos and recordings he either 261 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: paid top dollar for or made himself. Studio fixers like 262 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: Eddie Mannox at MGM would happily toss some hushbucks at 263 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: Stomp if it meant that their contracts star a squeaky 264 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 1: clean public images wouldn't be dragged through a very public 265 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 1: muck LA's finest news. Stomp was dirty, and they pinched 266 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: him over and over again, but nothing ever stuck vagrancy, 267 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: armed robbery, a legal possession of a firearm. They put 268 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: Stomp under the harsh interrogation room lights when someone put 269 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: a hole through Edward Nettie Herbert with a shotgun, but 270 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: he walked a free man on that too. It never 271 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: said nothing, just like Mickey had taught him. Contrary to 272 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,240 Speaker 1: what Mickey had taught him, Stop knew that his own 273 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: survival sometimes meant that he had a turn on his 274 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 1: own people and give the cops what they wanted. Sometimes 275 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 1: it was a name, other times an address, a piece 276 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: of gossip that he had caught floating through a basement 277 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: office where weekly takes were counted. Stomp always knew a 278 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: guy if a guy was what you were looking for. 279 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: Stomp didn't take pride in being an informant, but at 280 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: the end of the day, he looked out for number 281 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: one and if it meant the difference between prison and 282 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: not prison. Mickey Cohen was no longer Number one, but 283 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: like many people in Hollywood, Johnny Stompinato had other plans. 284 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: He wanted to be in pictures, and more than that, 285 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: he wanted one of Hollywood's leading ladies draped on his arm. 286 00:16:55,440 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: Not just any leading lady, he wanted Lama Turner. Lana 287 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: didn't even know that Johnny Stomp was Johnny Stomp when 288 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: they began dating. He told her his name was John Steele. 289 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: He didn't mention anything about Mickey Cohen or shaking down 290 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:15,600 Speaker 1: Hollywood's elite with blurry titty picks. In fact, Lana didn't 291 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 1: know much about the guy besides the fact that he 292 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:19,720 Speaker 1: really liked her and he worked hard to win her over. 293 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: She soon found out that John Steele was a bunch 294 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: of bullshit and that Stop's day to day business was 295 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: a lot darker and more violent than she could have 296 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 1: ever imagined. That darkness and that violence crept into their 297 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,919 Speaker 1: day to day life. Stop was quick to anger, impulsive, 298 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: spoke with his fist when he was tired of speaking 299 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 1: with his mouth. But one of his broken record threats 300 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: was the one he made to slice up Lana's face 301 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,440 Speaker 1: with a knife, render her unemployable, and if Lana's daughter, 302 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 1: fourteen year old Cheryl Crane, was nearby, he'd extend the 303 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:51,440 Speaker 1: threat to her too. Threats turned to shoves, to smack smacks, 304 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 1: to bruises, and this was a huge problem. Lana wanted out. 305 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: She wanted Stop to move on, but Stop wasn't the 306 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:02,320 Speaker 1: moving on Tight far as he was concerned, Lana belonged 307 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: to him and the story the fear of retribution by Stomp, 308 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 1: or maybe worse, by Mickey Cohen was paralyzing, and it 309 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: was impossible to know just who was in Mickey Cohen's pocket. 310 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,880 Speaker 1: So Lana kept her relationship with Stomp on the down low, 311 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 1: and the opportunity to star in another place, another time 312 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: seemed like a godsend, an answer to her prayers, because 313 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,119 Speaker 1: it took her all the way to London, far away 314 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: from Hollywood and very very far away from Johnny Stompinato. 315 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,639 Speaker 1: Then the distance only managed to make things worse. Stomp 316 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:36,399 Speaker 1: couldn't sit still back home. He was being fed as 317 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:38,880 Speaker 1: steady diet of rumors that his girl was getting hot 318 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,919 Speaker 1: and heavy with her co star. Meanwhile, he was stuck 319 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: sitting around La like a real chump. And so he 320 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,919 Speaker 1: did a thing that only a jealous, violent extortionist would do. 321 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:54,199 Speaker 1: He took matters into his own hands. When Johnny Stompinado 322 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:56,439 Speaker 1: hit the film set in London, he stuck out like 323 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,959 Speaker 1: a sore thumb, lime green suit, silk shirt unbuttoned all 324 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: to his waist, tiny pistols for cuff links, and titled 325 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,199 Speaker 1: American Gangster attitude. He muscled his way past Lana, just 326 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 1: like always, he went straight for Connery, hand out stretched, 327 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: cold thirty eight tucked inside his fist. Stomp was mumbling 328 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: something to the effect of he didn't know how they 329 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,200 Speaker 1: did it in Scotland, and he didn't get two shits either. 330 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 1: This was how they did it in America, and this 331 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 1: was what Sean Connery had coming to him, that six 332 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: foot two brogue having pencil fuck and the cameras were 333 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: still rolling when Stomp made his move. Lana screamed. The 334 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,480 Speaker 1: revolver was aimed directly at Connery's chest. Someone yelled cut, 335 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: but Stop was in over his head. Connery was ex 336 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: Royal Navy, decent, honest, upstanding in a straight up badass. 337 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: Connery moved fast. He shielded Lana behind his body with 338 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: his left arm. His right hand grabbed under Stomp's wrist 339 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:51,160 Speaker 1: and gave it a quick twist. Something snapped, Stomp hollowed. 340 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,919 Speaker 1: Connery ripped the gun from Stomp's limp hand and tossed 341 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,680 Speaker 1: it on to the ground. A few crew members gasped. 342 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: Stop grabbed his injured hand. You Scottish fuck, he snarled. 343 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: In he took one step towards Connery. Connery moved fast again. 344 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:05,640 Speaker 1: He brought his right arm back. This clenched in decked 345 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:11,359 Speaker 1: Johnny Stompinatto right in the nose. Stomp nursed the busted 346 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 1: shas on the next plane back to the States, having 347 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:18,159 Speaker 1: been deported by Scotland yard for bringing an unlicensed firearm 348 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: into the country. It was a bad look and it 349 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: didn't make Mickey Cohen happy. Less happy was Johnny Stompinato, 350 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: who returned to Los Angeles with more than simply his 351 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:32,880 Speaker 1: pride wounded. He was insulted, rejected, jonesing for some kind 352 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: of physical revenge, and he had officially become the most 353 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: dangerous person in Lana Turner's life. We'll be right back 354 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: after this were where where John Wayne approached the podium 355 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:54,399 Speaker 1: at the RKO Pantagious Theater in Hollywood with none of 356 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,160 Speaker 1: his customary lazy gait. He walked fast to the rhythm 357 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 1: of the audience's applause. His mind was set on the 358 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: glass of wild turkey waiting for him backstage, and the 359 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:07,919 Speaker 1: sooner he got this formality over and done with, the 360 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,439 Speaker 1: sooner he'd get to put more bourbon on his lips. 361 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,160 Speaker 1: From this particular role. Presenter at the nineteen fifty eight 362 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: Academy Awards ceremony was an obligation, not something he wanted 363 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: to do, but something that was expected of him. Duke 364 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: had traded in his customary monument Valley duds for a 365 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 1: black and white tux. He reached the podium, exchanged some 366 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:33,200 Speaker 1: pre written banter with mc bob Hope, and then, envelope 367 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,879 Speaker 1: in hand, proceeded to list off the names of the 368 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: performers up for Best Actress, Deborah Kerr, Anna Mannone, Elizabeth Taylor, 369 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: Joanne Woodward, and for her performance in Peyton Place, Lama Turner. 370 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: Peyton Place had been released a few months earlier, in 371 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: December of nineteen fifty seven, just in time to be oscuworthy. 372 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: It wasn't exactly a box office smash, and the controversial 373 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 1: novel that it was based on had been a huge 374 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: hit in nineteen fifty six. Despite the negative reviews, the 375 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 1: critics called it trash. The book depicted the underbelly of 376 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 1: seemingly idyllic small town life with nods to incest, abortion, adultery, 377 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: and murder, and the readers who kept it on the 378 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,640 Speaker 1: New York Times bestseller list for over a year did 379 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 1: so by buying and reading it in secret. It was 380 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,639 Speaker 1: the fifty shades of gray of the fifties, and the 381 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 1: movie's screenplay was written by John Michael Hayes, who had 382 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: just come off writing a four picture run for Alfred Hitchcock, 383 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: including Rear Window and To Catch a Thief. Hayes had 384 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: to tone down much of the novel's explicit sexuality, and 385 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,200 Speaker 1: with Journeyman director Mark Robeson at the helm, the film 386 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: wound up a big screen soap opera. Still, it was 387 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: a soap opera that allowed Lana to flex her acting 388 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:48,879 Speaker 1: chops and prove for once and for all that she 389 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: was more than just a pretty face. Lana couldn't say 390 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: she was surprised as she, along with the rest of 391 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,440 Speaker 1: the Oscars crowd, watched Joanne Woodward race to the stage 392 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: to collect her gold statuette when Duke revealed her name 393 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,160 Speaker 1: inside the envelope. As they said, it was an honor 394 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,679 Speaker 1: simply to be nominated. For Lana Turner, being made award 395 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: worthy was something worth celebrating. To join in this celebration, 396 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: Lana brought her mother and her daughter, Cheryl Crane with 397 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,240 Speaker 1: her to the awards ceremony, much to the chagrin of 398 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: Johnny Stompinato. Not only did Lana not want all of 399 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,879 Speaker 1: Hollywood gossiping about a noted gangster as her beau. She 400 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: remained resolute in her desire to remove Stomp from her 401 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: life in any way possible. Stomp remained supremely offended and 402 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: let Lna know as much. When she returned home that night, 403 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:38,879 Speaker 1: she got to bask in the glory of being one 404 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,159 Speaker 1: of the top five actresses in the country for a 405 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:45,120 Speaker 1: few minutes, and then Stomp arrived and their never ending 406 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: fight resumed. For Lona's daughter, Cheryl, who often tried to 407 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: drown out the couple's violent rouse with hands over her 408 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,159 Speaker 1: ears in her bedroom, it was like a bad dream 409 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,200 Speaker 1: come to life. Every day was as bad as the last. 410 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,159 Speaker 1: Every day had the potential to be even worse, and 411 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,119 Speaker 1: she didn't think he could have gotten any worse than 412 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 1: Lex Barker. Lex was Lana's second husband. He was known 413 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,399 Speaker 1: around town as the actor who played Tarzan in a 414 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: series of RKAO movies in the early fifties, but Cheryl 415 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: got to know him as something even worse. According to Cheryl, 416 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: Lex had repeatedly raped her since she was ten years old. 417 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,119 Speaker 1: He did it for years when Lana was on set, 418 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: and he threatened Cheryl with further violence if she ever 419 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,399 Speaker 1: said anything, or when Lana found out, she gave Lex 420 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:32,479 Speaker 1: twenty minutes to get his shit together and get out 421 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: of her house. Cheryl figured they had hit rock bottom 422 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 1: when it came to her mother's lovers, but the transition 423 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: from Lex to Stomp was like a jump out of 424 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,159 Speaker 1: the frying pan and into the fire. Stomp was just 425 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: a different kind of beast. He didn't do the things 426 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:49,159 Speaker 1: to her that Lex had done, but she knew he 427 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:53,679 Speaker 1: was capable of other horrible acts. Cheryl had listened to 428 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: Lana and Stomped get into countless fights at the house. 429 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:58,879 Speaker 1: They got into her pretty good, and they were loud. 430 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 1: They threw things around, ship broke. According to a memoir 431 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 1: the Cheryl published forty years later, the evening of April fourth, 432 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty eight was worse than most. It was good Friday, 433 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,640 Speaker 1: but for Lona Turner's daughter Cheryl, there was nothing good 434 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:19,360 Speaker 1: about it. Cheryl could only cover her ears with trembling 435 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,960 Speaker 1: hands so much, and there was no drowning out the 436 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,879 Speaker 1: arguing on this particular evening. On this particular evening, she 437 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 1: feared for her mother's life. So instead of barricading herself 438 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:32,880 Speaker 1: in her room for one more night. She instead made 439 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,199 Speaker 1: her way into the kitchen, where she picked up the 440 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: brand new eight inch kitchen knife that Lana had just 441 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:41,640 Speaker 1: bought that day. With the knife, she'd scare Johnny Stompinado 442 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 1: out of their house and out of their lives. She 443 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: walked slowly down the hallway towards Lana's bedroom, knife clutched 444 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,479 Speaker 1: against her stomach. The sharp end of the blade guided 445 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,359 Speaker 1: away like a dowsing rod to water, and the yelling 446 00:25:55,440 --> 00:26:00,119 Speaker 1: coming from Lona's bedroom intensified. Stompinado dominated the argument I'll 447 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 1: never get rid of me. I'll cut you up. I'll 448 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: cut you good. Don't think I won't, And Cheryl remembered 449 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: the time Mana told her about stomp holding a razor 450 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: to her face in a hotel somewhere and issuing the 451 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,360 Speaker 1: same vile threat In the evening after the Academy awards, 452 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:16,280 Speaker 1: when Mana walked away from another vicious argument with bruises 453 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,679 Speaker 1: in places that she could easily conceal. Cheryl took a 454 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:23,160 Speaker 1: few more steps toward the bedroom door. She imagined eggshells 455 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,399 Speaker 1: on the floor. She closed her eyes, and she was 456 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: walking on clouds. Inside the bedroom, voices rumbled again. I'll 457 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: cut you so good that no one will be able 458 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: to tell it to you anymore. Bodies rustled, Something hit 459 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:38,000 Speaker 1: the floor and smashed into one hundred little pieces. Lana screamed, 460 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 1: you'll never work again, and Cheryl tightened the grip of 461 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,640 Speaker 1: the knife handle. She could feel her hands shaking. Her 462 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,280 Speaker 1: heart was in her throat, it pounded in her ears. 463 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 1: Stomp's voice got louder and more unhinged. Your daughter's next 464 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 1: to you, fucking mother too. Cheryl was standing right in 465 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 1: the front of the bedroom door. Now she didn't have 466 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: to see her mother's face to know the tears were 467 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:00,959 Speaker 1: streaming down, tears of fear, of guilt, and rage. She 468 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: could hear it in the way Lana's voice was shaking. 469 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: Cheryl thought about throwing the bedroom door open, leaping inside, 470 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: blade first and screaming, screaming something like, get your fucking 471 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:12,679 Speaker 1: hands off of my mother. Would stop thinks she'd do that? 472 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: Would Stomp think so that she was really that crazy 473 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 1: that a fourteen year old could outgangster a gangster. Which. 474 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,120 Speaker 1: She didn't have to open the bedroom door. It opened 475 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,240 Speaker 1: for her. It flung open, and Lana was there hand 476 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,120 Speaker 1: on the doorknob as she exited the room, her back 477 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,360 Speaker 1: turned on the argument. As she exited the room, Stompanado 478 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: came after her. His arm was in the air. He 479 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: was winding up. Cheryl took a step forward towards stomp 480 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,240 Speaker 1: eight inch blade as her guide. Stomp walked right into 481 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:42,760 Speaker 1: Cheryl's hand, right into the knife, which went straight through 482 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:47,800 Speaker 1: his unbuttoned, silk dressed shirt and into his stomach. Stomp's 483 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,400 Speaker 1: eyes lit up, and Cheryl gasped and let go over 484 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,280 Speaker 1: the knife handle, and Lana's scream began, But this time 485 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,400 Speaker 1: the scream was different than the one Cheryl had heard earlier. 486 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,280 Speaker 1: Stomp's legs wobbled, blood began to soap through the front 487 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:02,640 Speaker 1: of his shirt. He blinked his eyes in disbelief. 488 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:24,000 Speaker 3: God, Eryl, he said, what have you done? 489 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,440 Speaker 1: Aggie Underwood turned the plastic baggy over in her hands. 490 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,640 Speaker 1: She narrowed her eyes to give the hairy contents closer inspection. 491 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: What am I looking at? 492 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 3: She asked. 493 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: Mickey Cohen puffed on a wet cigar. Mickey dumped a 494 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:47,239 Speaker 1: pile of open envelopes on Aggie's desk, Love letters from 495 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: Lana Turner to Johnny Stoppinado. Aggie raised an eyebrow, La, La, 496 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: she said, and then unfolded letter in hand proceeded to 497 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:59,080 Speaker 1: read a passage of Mana's expressive handwriting out loud. I 498 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,440 Speaker 1: need to touch you, to feel your tenderness and your strength, 499 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,440 Speaker 1: to hold you in my arms so so close, to 500 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: cuddle you sweetly, and then to be completely smothered in 501 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 1: your arms. And kisses, Oh so many kisses. Aggie raised 502 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: her other eyebrow and looked at Mickey. Oh so many kisses. 503 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: Mickey Cohen wasn't buying Lana's story, the one about stomp 504 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: walking into Cheryl's knife. He knew when something smelled off, 505 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,160 Speaker 1: and this whole stomp homicide stunk to high heaven. If 506 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: he was a betting man, and he was, he'd put 507 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 1: his money on Lana Turner as the knife wielder. The 508 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: kid was just taking the fall, and he was further 509 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 1: convinced that the dirty was confidentially leaking to his good friend. 510 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: Aggie Underwood, city editor of the Los Angeles Herald Express, 511 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: painted a very clear picture. That picture was that Lana 512 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: Turner was head over heels in love with the man 513 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 1: who wound up dead in her house. She wasn't scared 514 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: of him. The letters offered contradictory testimony that in no 515 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 1: way was stomp as awful and violent as he was 516 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:01,720 Speaker 1: being portrayed by Lana and her lawyers. Aggie didn't care 517 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:03,680 Speaker 1: if it was the truth or not. A scoop was 518 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: a scoop. She just knew it would sell papers, and 519 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: so while readers devoured her steamy love letters in the papers, 520 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,720 Speaker 1: Lana took the witness stand for the coroner's inquest into 521 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 1: the homicide of Johnny Stompinato. To non believers, like fucking 522 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,760 Speaker 1: gangster Mickey Cohen, Lana's hour long testimony was the performance 523 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 1: of her career. The deep breasts that filled her lungs 524 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 1: before she spoke, the white gloves she wore while she 525 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:31,680 Speaker 1: twisted her hands together, the plate up anguish, the feverish anxiety, 526 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: the tears. She hadn't been so convincing since the postman 527 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: always rings twice, or so Mickey Cohen thought. When Mickey 528 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 1: Cohen was asked to testify, he did what he always 529 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: did when he was put in a court room in 530 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: front of a microphone. He didn't say nothing about nobody. 531 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:49,720 Speaker 1: He leaned forward from the witness chair breath heavy on 532 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:53,600 Speaker 1: the court's mic and said, I refused to identify the 533 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: person in question as John Stompinato Junior, on the grounds 534 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: that I may be accused of this murder. He was 535 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,240 Speaker 1: on the stand all of two minutes. He left and 536 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 1: bought a cheap coffin for Stomp's body. He put up 537 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: cash for funeral expenses, but he was a no show 538 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:12,040 Speaker 1: at the ceremony. His presence was required in another court 539 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: room in La had to face charges for punching out 540 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: a prick waiter who had accidentally spilled hot coffee all 541 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:21,719 Speaker 1: over his suit in front of Frank Sinatra no less. Meanwhile, 542 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: a twelve man coroner's jury quickly ruled Johnny Stompinado's death 543 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 1: a justifiable homicide and there would be no charges pressed 544 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:33,479 Speaker 1: against Lana Turner or Cheryl Crane. The inquest did, however, 545 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: shed some light on Lana Turner's skills as apparent, and 546 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:39,760 Speaker 1: the district attorney found them lacking, and Cheryl became a 547 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: ward of the court. The sensational media circus surrounding the 548 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: drama in Laana Turner's life did have a positive impact somewhere. 549 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 1: Ticket sales for Peyton Place were up thirty eight percent. 550 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:53,360 Speaker 1: All they ink spilled over Lana and Stomp turned the 551 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 1: Soso soap opera into the second highest grossing film of 552 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty eight. A year later, the media circus had settled, 553 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 1: Cheryl was living with her grandmother. The movie Lana had 554 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:07,480 Speaker 1: made in London with Sean Connery, another place, another time bombed. 555 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 1: Lana was down, not quite out. She was offered a 556 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 1: lead role in Douglas Serk's high art melodrama Imitation of Life. 557 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,120 Speaker 1: But there was a catch. She would have to forego 558 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:20,840 Speaker 1: a traditional salary in exchange for a percentage of the 559 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 1: film's profits. It was a gamble big time, but it 560 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:28,560 Speaker 1: also paid off, really big time. Lana wound up making 561 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: two million dollars off the deal, which in nineteen fifty 562 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 1: nine was the highest salary and American actress had ever 563 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: earned for a film. And to think, just years before 564 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: she was known not as a legitimate actress but as 565 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: the sweater girl, the one who promised kisses to red 566 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 1: blooded American males with war bond receipts in hand. It 567 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:51,400 Speaker 1: was a positive turn of events. It perhaps proof that 568 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 1: the house didn't always win, and now the goal would 569 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:59,840 Speaker 1: be to maintain that newfound positivity, fly straight, love well, 570 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: do good, stay away from the wrong side of the 571 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 1: wrong person. Whether or not Lana Turner would be able 572 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:10,400 Speaker 1: to do all of that, well, that's another story that 573 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 1: ought to be in pictures. I'm Jake Brennan and this 574 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: is hollywood Land. 575 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 2: Hollywood Land was created by Years Truly and is produced 576 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 2: in partnership. 577 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 1: With Double Elvis. 578 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 2: Follow like, rate, and review hollywood Land wherever you get 579 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:40,200 Speaker 2: your podcasts, and get in touch with us on social 580 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:43,680 Speaker 2: media at double Elvis. If you like hollywood Land, check 581 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:46,600 Speaker 2: out my other show, the award winning Disgraceland, which looks 582 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:48,720 Speaker 2: at the world of music through the lens of true crime. 583 00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:51,720 Speaker 2: Just search for Disgraceland or wherever you get your podcasts. 584 00:33:57,360 --> 00:33:58,520 Speaker 3: Goods al