Editing Lana Turner (section)

===1958–1959: Johnny Stompanato homicide scandal===
{{Main|Johnny Stompanato homicide}}
[[File:Lana Turner and Johnny Stompanato.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=Woman and man in bathing suits, embracing|Turner and Stompanato in [[Acapulco]] on April 1, 1958, four days before he was stabbed to death by Turner's daughter]]
In January 1958, [[Paramount Pictures]] released ''[[The Lady Takes a Flyer]]'', a romantic comedy in which Turner portrayed a female pilot.{{sfn|Basinger|1976|p=115}} While shooting the film the previous spring, she had begun receiving phone calls and flowers on the set from [[gangster|mobster]] [[Johnny Stompanato]], using the name "John Steele".{{sfn|Turner|1982|p=158}} Stompanato had close ties to the Los Angeles underworld and gangster [[Mickey Cohen]], which he feared would dissuade her from dating him.{{sfn|Turner|1982|pages=200–203}} He pursued Turner aggressively, sending her various gifts.{{sfn|Turner|1982|pages=159–161}} Turner was "thoroughly intrigued" and began casually dating him.{{sfn|Turner|1982|p=161}} After a friend informed her of who Stompanato actually was, she confronted him and tried to break off the affair.{{sfn|Turner|1982|pages=163–165}} Stompanato was not easily deterred, and over the course of the following year, they carried on a relationship filled with violent arguments, physical abuse and repeated reconciliations.{{Sfn|Feldstein|2000|p=120}}{{Sfn|Turner|1982|pages=160–191}} Turner would also claim that on one occasion he drugged her and took nude photographs of her while unconscious, potentially to use as blackmail.{{sfn|Turner|1982|p=205}}

In September 1957, Stompanato visited Turner in London, where she was filming [[Another Time, Another Place (1958 film)|''Another Time, Another Place'']], co-starring [[Sean Connery]].{{sfn|Morella|Epstein|1971|pages=177–182}} Their meeting was initially happy, but they soon began fighting. Stompanato became suspicious when Turner would not allow him to visit the set and, during one fight, he violently choked her.{{sfn|Turner|1982|pages=168–169}} To avoid further confrontation, Turner and her makeup artist, Del Armstrong, called [[Scotland Yard]] in order to have Stompanato deported.{{Sfn|Fischer|1991|p=217}}{{sfn|Turner|1982|pages=169–172}} Stompanato got wind of the plan and showed up on the set with a gun, threatening her and Connery.{{sfn|Wayne|2003|p=185}} Connery answered by grabbing the gun out of Stompanato's hand and twisting his wrist, causing him to run off the set.{{sfn|Kohn|2001|p=388}} Turner and Armstrong later returned with two Scotland Yard detectives to the rented house where she and Stompanato were staying. The detectives advised Stompanato to leave and escorted him out of the house and to the airport, where he boarded a plane back to the U.S.{{Sfn|Turner|1982|p=170}}

On the evening of March 26, 1958, Turner attended the Academy Awards to observe her nomination for ''Peyton Place'' and present the award for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]].{{sfn|Turner|1982|p=180}} Stompanato, angered that he did not attend with her, awaited her return home that evening, whereupon he physically assaulted her.{{sfn|Turner|1982|pages=183–187}} Around 8:00&nbsp;p.m. on Friday, April 4, Stompanato arrived at Turner's rented home at 730 North Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills.{{sfn|Turner|1982|p=190}}{{sfn|Morella|Epstein|1971|p=186}} The two began arguing heatedly in the bedroom, during which Stompanato cut Turner's face and threatened to kill her, Cheryl, and her mother.<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|Feldstein|2000|p=120}} Fearing that her mother's life was in danger, Cheryl – who had been watching television in an adjacent room – grabbed a kitchen knife and ran to Turner's defense.{{sfn|Morella|Epstein|1971|p=188}}

According to testimony provided by Turner, Stompanato died at the scene when Cheryl, who had been listening to the couple's fight behind the closed door, stabbed Stompanato in the stomach when Turner attempted to usher him out of the bedroom.{{Sfn|Lewis|2017|p=94}} Turner testified that she initially believed Cheryl had punched him, but realized Stompanato had been stabbed when he collapsed and she saw blood on his shirt.{{sfn|Lewis|2017|p=94}}
[[File:Stephen Crane, Lana Turner, and Mildred Turner.jpg|thumb|upright=1|right|alt=Two women wearing sunglasses seated next to a man|Turner (center) with ex-husband Steve Crane and mother Mildred at Cheryl's juvenile court hearing, April 24, 1958]]
Because of Turner's fame and the fact that the killing involved her teenage daughter, the case quickly became a media sensation.{{sfn|Morella|Epstein|1971|p=195}} More than 100 reporters and journalists attended the April 12, 1958 [[inquest]], described by attendees as "near-riotous".{{Sfn|Feldstein|2000|pages=120–121}} After four hours of testimony and approximately 25 minutes of deliberation, the jury deemed the killing a [[justifiable homicide]].<ref name=cnn/>{{sfn|Turner|1982|p=203}} Cheryl remained a temporary ward of the court until April 24, when a [[juvenile court]] hearing was held, during which the judge expressed concerns over her receiving "proper parental supervision".{{sfn|Turner|1982|p=203}} She was ultimately released to the care of her grandmother, and was ordered to regularly visit a psychiatrist alongside her parents.{{sfn|Turner|1982|p=203}}

Though Turner and her daughter were exonerated of any wrongdoing, public opinion on the event was varied, with numerous publications intimating that Turner's testimony at the inquest was a performance; ''Life'' magazine published a photo of Turner testifying in court along with stills of her in courtroom scenes from three of her films.{{Sfn|Feldstein|2000|p=122}} The scandal also coincided with the release of ''Another Time, Another Place'', and the film was met with poor box-office receipts and a lackluster critical response.{{sfn|Valentino|1976|p=221}} Stompanato's family sought a [[Wrongful death claim|wrongful death]] suit of $750,000 in damages against both Turner and her ex-husband, Steve Crane. In the suit, Stompanato's son alleged that Turner had been responsible for his death, and that her daughter had taken the blame.<ref>{{cite web|work=Los Angeles Times|title=In a 1958 inquest, killing of Lana Turner's boyfriend was detailed|author=Smith, Doug|date=August 15, 2015|access-date=July 27, 2018|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-stompanato-turner-20150810-story.html}}</ref> The suit was settled out of court for a reported $20,000 in May 1962.{{sfn|Morella|Epstein|1971|p=233}} A 1962 novel by [[Harold Robbins]] entitled ''[[Where Love Has Gone (novel)|Where Love Has Gone]]'' and its subsequent [[Where Love Has Gone (film)|film adaptation]] were inspired by the event.{{sfn|Erickson|2017|p=119}} Following the trial, Cheryl often ran away from home and [[attempted suicide]] several times. This led her parents to check her into a [[mental hospital]], where her mental health improved shortly.<ref name=":1" /> When she turned 21, she secured a job working for her father.<ref name=":0" />