Turner-Stompanato scandal
The Turner-Stompanato scandal revolves around the tumultuous relationship between actress Lana Turner and Johnny Stompanato, a known figure in organized crime. In March 1958, the affair culminated in a dramatic incident at Turner's Beverly Hills home where a confrontation escalated when Stompanato demanded money for his gambling debts. During this altercation, he threatened Turner with a razor blade, prompting her fourteen-year-old daughter, Cheryl, to intervene with a kitchen knife, fatally wounding Stompanato. The case drew significant media attention and led to an inquest where Turner's poignant testimony resulted in Cheryl being exonerated, with the coroner's jury declaring the act justifiable homicide in defense of her mother. This incident not only shocked the public but also highlighted the darker side of Hollywood, exposing the intersection of celebrity culture and organized crime. The scandal remains a notable chapter in Hollywood history, reflecting the complexities of fame and personal safety against a backdrop of violence and desperation.
On this Page
Turner-Stompanato scandal
The Event Killing of movie star Lana Turner’s gangland lover Johnny Stompanato by her teenage daughter
Date April 4, 1958
Place Beverly Hills, California
The stabbing death of Johnny Stompanato at the hands of Lana Turner’s teenage daughter was a sensational scandal, exposing to a newly decorous public a layer of decadence and violence underneath Hollywood’s glamorous surface.
Although the passionate affair between thirty-two-year-old hoodlum Johnny Stompanato and aging blonde screen goddess Lana Turner had virtually finished, Stompanato burst into the star’s Beverly Hills home on Good Friday in 1958 demanding that she pay his gambling debts. When Stompanato threatened to slash Turner with a razor blade, her fourteen-year-old daughter, Cheryl, used a kitchen butcher knife to stab him in the stomach, wounding him fatally. At the ensuing inquest, Turner’s emotional testimony led to her daughter’s exoneration, with the coroner’s jury ruling the death justifiable homicide in protection of her mother.
Impact
With near-legendary status in the annals of Hollywood crime stories, the murder not only shocked and disillusioned the 1950’s public by disclosing the less-than-ideal private life of a glamorous movie queen but also revealed in a more general way an unexpected relationship between the underworld of organized crime and Hollywood’s elite.
Bibliography
Anger, Kenneth. Hollywood Babylon. New York: Random House, 1987. Compendium of lurid Hollywood scandals in which Anger explores Stompanato’s killing within the context of a sordid Hollywood culture of excessive hedonism, self-promotion, and corruption.
Crane, Cheryl. Detour: A Hollywood Story. Westminster, Md.: Arbor House, 1988. Autobiography of Turner’s daughter Cheryl Crane, which includes her version of the crime.
Wayne, Jane Ellen. Lana: The Life and Loves of Lana Turner. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. Biography of Lana Turner covers her entire life and career, including her many lovers; extensively details her relationship with Stompanato and his murder.