Anyone can easily see by looking at Kathleen Turner’s age how far she has come in the Hollywood industry and how many awards she has so far won.
The American actress, a two-time Golden Globe winner, was created on June 19, 1954, in Springfield, Missouri.
Kathleen Turner, a well-known stage and film actress, rose to recognition in the 1980s as a result of her extraordinary elegance, intelligence, beauty, and talent.
She pursued her acting career in spite of opposition from her traditional family, earning Tony Award nominations for her Broadway performances in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.”
At the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), where she studied theatre, she developed her craft by performing in a number of stage shows under the direction of Steve Yeager.
Turner’s work on television helped to prepare her for her acting debut in “Body Heat,” where she played a crafty lady who staged her husband’s murder. Her raw sexuality and adventurous attitude were displayed by the character, which made her popular among professionals in the field.
Did you know that Turner was renowned for playing unusual characters in her films?
She consistently kept her audiences on the edge of their seats in shows like “Serial Mom,” “Peggy Sue Got Married,” and “Prizzi’s Honour.”
Sadly, Kathleen Turner’s health problems eventually prevented her from advancing professionally, yet even at 68 years old in 2023, she will continue to make headlines.
Early Kathleen Turner age parental opposition to acting Allen Richard Turner, her mother Patsy, and Kathleen Turner were both U.S. Foreign Service officers.
Because of her father’s work, the family regularly travelled. She was brought up in a traditional Christian family.
Turner had a strong interest in the performing arts from a young age against her parents’ objections.
Before moving back to the US, she finished high school in 1972 at the American School in London.
After enrolling at Missouri State University for two years, Kathleen graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1977.
She participated in numerous theatre performances under Steve Yeager’s direction while she was a college student.
When she arrived in New York in 1977, Kathleen Turner was 23 years old. At the Soho Repertory Theatre, she made her off-Broadway debut as the female lead in Michael Zetter’s play “Mister T.”
A few months later, at The Little Theatre’s production of “Gemini,” she made her Broadway debut as Judith Hastings.
When Turner was chosen to play the femme fatale Matty Walker in the thriller “Body Heat” in 1981, it served as her movie debut.
It was favourably liked how she played a lovely, crafty woman who plots her husband’s death.
Turner deliberately sought out a variety of parts after making her debut, despite the stereotype that she was a seductive seductress.
She appeared in the science fiction comedy “The Man with Two Brains” in 1983 as a gold-digging wife.
In the 1984 Robert Zemeckis romantic comedy Romancing the Stone, which also starred Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito, Kathleen Turner performed a humorous role.
Turner’s rise to fame was aided by the commercial success of the movie.
In the comedy-drama Peggy Sue Got Married from 1986, she played a middle-aged woman who accidentally finds herself in high school.
She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for this performance.
She also starred in the 1989 black comedy “The War of the Roses,” which examines the dissolution of an affluent couple’s seemingly ideal marriage, opposite Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito.
She was in high demand as an actor all through the 1980s.
Rheumatoid arthritis, which Kathleen first experienced in the 1990s, had a significant negative influence on her career.
She also struggled with binge drinking during this time, which made her professional life much more difficult.
She appeared in numerous poorly regarded films in the early 1990s. She did achieve some popularity in 1994 though, thanks to her portrayal of Beverly Sutphin in the dark comedy “Serial Mom.”
She plays a seemingly perfect housewife who develops into a serial killer and becomes well-known as a result of her notoriety.
She appeared in supporting roles in films including “A Simple Wish” (1997), “The Real Blond” (1997), and “The Virgin Suicides” (1999) during the late 1990s when she was unable to land major roles. She also provided the voice for an episode of “The Simpsons” at this time.
In the 2000s, she worked on resurrecting her career while her health became better. She participated in a Broadway production of “The Graduate” in 2002.
The play was sold out as a result of Turner’s connection to it.
She received praise for her portrayal of Martha in the 2005 Broadway revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
In recent years, she has appeared in films including “Marley & Me” (2008) and “The Perfect Family” (2011).
Kathleen Turner claimed that after working with “B-movie director” John Waters, her previous agent forewarned her about the effects on her career.
Turner stated in an interview that her managers and other business partners had warned her against working with John Waters, calling him a B-movie filmmaker and warning that it would damage her career. She claimed their advice had made her angry.
But after discussing the material with Waters, the Body Heat actor decided to take the job.
Turner vented her annoyance, saying she felt like she belonged in some sort of institution and needed to be kept in a glass case.
She remarked, “So I said, ‘Yeah, well, watch me.'” She rejected the notion and declared that she was not going to follow it.
The 68-year-old continued, “Honestly, if you’d told me, ‘You’re going to do this John Waters film,’ I’d have said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.'” at the same time.
Turner appeared in the 1994 black comedy Serial Mom directed by John Waters.
She was extremely intelligent, smoked, drank, used foul language, and spoke openly about enjoying sex when at the height of her career.
She divorced her spouse sixteen years ago, but she hasn’t been dating since. In 1984, she tied the knot with businessman Jay Weiss. In 2007, Weiss and Turner were divorced.
She and her ex-husband have a 30-year-old daughter named Rachel Ann.
In a recent interview, 68-year-old Turner said that her friendship with 78-year-old Douglas almost developed into something more.
Turner was not married at the time Romancing the Stone was being filmed in 1983, and Douglas was not married to his first wife, Diandra Luker.
In an interview, Turner said, “I think we might have been falling in love, but then Diandra flew down and made it very clear that she did not consider Michael to be available.”
She claimed that the reason it ended was because she was unable to become involved in a woman’s relationship.