Cheryl Crane
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Cheryl Christina Crane (born July 25, 1943) is an American former
model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...
, retired real estate
broker A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. This may be done for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither ...
, author, and the only child of actress
Lana Turner Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...
. Her father was Turner's second husband, actor-turned-restaurateur Steve Crane. She was the subject of significant media attention in 1958 when, at fourteen years old, she stabbed to death her mother's lover, Johnny Stompanato, during a domestic struggle; she was not charged, and his death was deemed a
justifiable homicide The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide). Generally, there is a burden to produce exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification. In most countries, ...
. In the years following Stompanato's death, Crane's rebellious behavior was well-documented in the press. Upon graduating from high school she briefly worked as a model before entering the restaurant business, working at the Luau, a Polynesian restaurant owned by her father. She would later study restaurant management and hospitality at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
, hoping to become a restaurateur. In the 1980s, Crane shifted her career focus to real estate, becoming a broker in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
and
Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. In 1988, she authored a memoir titled '' Detour: A Hollywood Story'', and in 2011 published her first fiction work, ''The Bad Always Die Twice''.


Biography


Early life

Cheryl Crane was born July 25, 1943, at Hollywood Hospital in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to actress
Lana Turner Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...
and actor Steve Crane. At the time of her birth, Crane suffered near-fatal erythroblastosis fetalis due to her mother's Rh-negative blood. Her parents divorced in August 1944. She was raised primarily in
Bel Air, Los Angeles Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Los Angeles Westside, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in the U.S. state of California. Together with Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills, Bel Air fo ...
, and described her early life as: "famous at birth and pampered silly." She attended St. Paul the Apostle School, a Catholic primary and secondary school in Los Angeles, and later Emerson Junior High School. In 1957, she began attending the
Happy Valley School Besant Hill School of Happy Valley, formerly the Happy Valley School, is an American Private school, private, coeducational boarding school and day school in Ojai, California. Notable subjects are environmental science and sustainability progra ...
in
Ojai, California Ojai ( ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east– ...
.


Killing of Johnny Stompanato and aftermath

On April 4, 1958, at age 14, Crane stabbed her mother's boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato, to death. The killing was ruled a
justifiable homicide The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide). Generally, there is a burden to produce exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification. In most countries, ...
: she was deemed to have been protecting her mother during a domestic altercation. Stompanato was well known to have been abusive and extremely jealous of Turner and had previously pointed a gun at actor
Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...
, her co-star in '' Another Time, Another Place'', only to have Connery "take the gun from him, beat him, and force him from the movie set" after which "
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...
had him deported." Following Stompanato's death, Crane was made a
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
of the State of California and was placed in the El Retiro School for Girls in
Sylmar, Los Angeles Sylmar is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley and the northernmost neighborhood within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Historically known for its profusion of sylvan olive orchards, Sylmar can trace its past t ...
, for "psychiatric therapy" in March 1960. Six weeks later she and two other girls climbed a wall and fled. They were eventually returned to the school after she telephoned her father. Five weeks later, she again fled the campus with two other girls. They walked into Sylmar and were driven by a new acquaintance to
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
, where they were taken into custody a few hours later after being seen near her grandmother's home. Crane was released from the school in January 1961 to the custody of her mother and stepfather, Frederick D. May. Worried she was still suffering from the trauma of Stompanato's death, Turner sent Crane to the
Institute of Living An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...
in
Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
,
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
.


Later life and career

Standing at , Crane initially decided to pursue a career as a
model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...
after high school, and briefly modeled for several Los Angeles women's clothing stores. Crane then decided to work for her father at his restaurant, the Luau, on
Rodeo Drive Rodeo Drive () is a street in Beverly Hills, California, with its southern segment in the City of Los Angeles, known as one of the most expensive streets in the world. Its southern terminus is at Beverwil Drive, and its northern terminus is a ...
. "It took the restaurant business to get me out of my shyness," she would later say. "To realize I could greet people in the Luau and they wouldn't bite me. A restaurant is make-believe too, you know. It's always opening night." After working as a hostess for several years, Crane decided to pursue a career in the restaurant business; she enrolled in the School of Hotel Administration at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
where she studied restaurant and hospitality management for one year. In April 1970, Crane was detained by the
Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...
(LAPD) when three half-grown
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
plants were discovered in the back seat of her car. In that same year, she began dating model Joyce LeRoy, to whom she was introduced by
Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''
at a party held by
Wally Cox Wallace Maynard Cox (December 6, 1924 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He began his career as a standup comedian and played the title character of the popular early American television series '' Mister Peepers'' from 1952 to 195 ...
. After the closure of the Luau in 1979, Crane relocated with LeRoy to
Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
,
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, where she worked as a real estate
broker A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. This may be done for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither ...
. Around 1986, the couple relocated to
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. In 1988, Crane published a memoir titled '' Detour: A Hollywood Story'', in which she discussed the Stompanato killing publicly for the first time and admitted to the stabbing. She further alleged that she was subject to a series of
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
s at the hands of her stepfather and her mother's fourth husband, actor Lex Barker. The book went on to become a ''New York Times'' Best Seller. In it, Crane also publicly revealed how at age thirteen she had come out as a
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
to her parents: Turner would later state that she regarded Crane's partner, LeRoy, "as a second daughter." Upon Turner's death in 1995, Crane and LeRoy inherited Turner's personal effects as well as $50,000. The majority of her estate (estimated in court documents to be worth $1.7 million million in dollars was left to Carmen Lopez Cruz, her maid and companion for 45 years. Crane challenged the
will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
and Lopez claimed that the majority of the estate was consumed by
probate In common law jurisdictions, probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased; or whereby, in the absence of a legal will, the e ...
costs, legal fees, and medical expenses. In 1998, Crane was diagnosed with
breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
and successfully underwent a double
mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer choose to have ...
as well as radiation and
chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
to treat the cancer. Crane published her second memoir in 2008, titled ''Lana: The Memories, the Myths, the Movies'', which focused on her mother. She wrote her first fictional work, a mystery novel titled ''The Bad Always Die Twice'', which was published in 2011. As of 2011, Crane resided in the
Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
area working in real estate. In 2013 and 2014 she published two additional novels, ''Imitation of Death'' and ''The Dead and the Beautiful.'' Both are mystery novels featuring Nikki Harper, a real estate agent featured in ''The Bad Always Die Twice''. In November 2014, Crane married LeRoy, her longtime partner, after having been together for over four decades. Crane still worked as a real estate agent as of 2018.


Publications

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References


Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Cheryl 1943 births Living people American real estate brokers 20th-century American memoirists Businesspeople from Los Angeles Cornell University School of Hotel Administration alumni Female models from Los Angeles American lesbian writers American LGBTQ models LGBTQ people from California Lesbian memoirists Lesbian models American people acquitted of murder Writers from Los Angeles Lana Turner