Through With Love?—Lana Turner
No more tears for Turner—at least that’s what Lana says. “My marriage to Bob is over,” she admits, “and I’m reconciled to that. There’s no sense in re-hashing things. A girl must forget and look to the future.”
Does she mean a future without love? It doesn’t seem likely, for looming very large in Lana’s life today is Cy Howard, a tall, dark haired radio producer who is recognized in Hollywood as a “character.”
“Characters” have a way of capturing Lana’s fancy, probably because average men bore her too easily. She likes her male escorts to be sharp, witty, and colorful. Cy Howard qualifies. He knows all the answers.
Cy was born 35 years ago in Milwaukee. His big claim to fame is that he was the creator of two outstanding radio shows, “My Friend Irma” and “Life with Luigi.” He has also written the Irma motion pictures and That’s My Boy, which starred Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.
Cy Howard has been described in the press as, “uncouth, brash, vain,” and not particularly well-bred. But he is tall, dark, handsome and talented. That’s the type Lana has specialized in. Greg Bautzer, Artie Shaw, Steve Crane, Ty Power, Bob Topping all fill the bill.
Just how serious she is about Cy, Lana isn’t saying. “He’s very nice, and he’s a lot of laughs,” is the limit of her description. There’s little doubt, though, that Howard is helping her to forget the past.
A few months ago, as you’ll recall, Lana was in pretty bad shape mentally. She was trying desperately to get in touch with her third husband Bob Topping. She wanted to find out whether he was going to reconcile or move out of the house.
She had heard all sorts of stories. One was that Bob was leaving her in order to marry June Horne Cooper, ex-wife of the former child star, Jackie Cooper.
Another was that Bob was down at Newport sailing around the harbor on his boat and just wouldn’t get in touch with her.
Added to this were the eye-opening reports from the private detective Lana’s lawyers had hired to tail Topping.
Smiling pretty for the people at Ciro’s Lana is with Cy Howard whom she started to date shortly after her separation from Bob Topping.
Lana made many fruitless attempts to get in touch with Topping. She even tracked Drue Mallory down at a friend’s house and asked where she might contact her husband. Drue didn’t know a thing. Innocently, she had rented her house to a well-recommended stranger. Whether the stranger was a friend of Bob’s and whether Bob was there, she didn’t know.
Lana was upset. The next day she announced her separation from Topping. A few nights later she slipped in her shower, pushed her arm through the glass shower door, and was hospitalized midst false reports that she had attempted suicide.
It was following all this that Cy Howard came upon the scene.
A if to prove to the world that her marital breakup with Bob was just one of those things she could take in stride, and that those “suicide” stories were pure fiction, Lana had Cy take her to Ciro’s. She wanted the public to see her acting gay and animated, as beautiful as ever, and as carefree.
The following night, Cy and Lana dined at Chasen’s, one of Hollywood’s most popular restaurants. Dave Chasen gave them a front booth so that no one could possibly miss seeing them. And there was Lana again, immaculately coiffured, stunningly dressed, listening to Cy talk—which he can do for long periods of time.
On Sunday evenings the “smart” thing to do in Hollywood is dine at Chasen’s, so everyone was there. A constant stream of celebrities kept coming over to Lana’s table and saying, “How are you, darling? You look wonderful.” And Lana kept replying, “I never felt better in my life.”
The following day, the gossip columns were loaded with Turner-Howard items. Lana believed she’d proved to the world that (a) her marital mishap with Topping hadn’t gotten her down, and (b) she was back in circulation again.
Actually, Lana wasn’t really fooling anyone. Bob Topping had deeply hurt her ego by getting himself mentioned with June Horne Cooper not only in Walter Winchell’s column but in several others, too.
How would you feel if you were one of the most glamorous and beautiful motion picture stars in the world and your husband supposedly found you so dull that he preferred the society of other people?
If you were in Lana’s shoes, you’d probably say to yourself, “I’ye been married four times, and all four marriages have failed. What’s the matter with me, anyway? Either it’s my fault, or all the men I pick for husbands are 14-karat jerks. Haven’t I any ability to judge character?”
In an effort to get away from this sort of introspection, Lana began dating Cy.
Since Howard loves publicity, many people felt at first that it was all a publicity gimmick. It is no such thing. Lana Turner and Cy Howard need each other.
Both are basically insecure; both fear loneliness; both covet companionship.
Howard loves to be mentioned in connection with celebrities, and this may be a motivation for dating Lana. Previously, his name had been linked with Paulette Goddard’s.
Although she hired a press agent a few months ago, Lana is not particularly publicity conscious. By nature generous and considerate, she has occasionally permitted her name to be used to foster the career of some rising young actor, as she did years ago with Peter Lawford. But she has never indulged in romance in order to become column material.
At this stage, her romance with Cy Howard is genuine. It is ego-restoring. Lana needs to feel desirable again.
What could be better than to have a handsome, wealthy, talented young-man-about-town pay court?
And that’s what Cy Howard has been doing. After a few dates with Lana, Cy had to fly to New York. Everyone predicted he would continue on to Europe to see Paulette Goddard.
Howard didn’t do anything of the kind. He phoned Lana in Holmby Hills practically every night from New York. He told her he was canceling his trip overseas and would fly back to see her.
She felt great. Maybe not as great as when Topping was courting her in New York back in 1947. But then again, Cy didn’t have Topping’s inherited wealth.
Bob’s first gift to Lana in New York was a 15-karat diamond ring. “It was delivered,” Lana recalls, “while I was weighing myself in the bathroom. The first thing I did was to put it on my finger and jump right back on the scale.” Other gifts followed.
The jewelry was worth at least $50,000, and Lana felt, justifiably enough, that Topping thought the world of her. Why else would he spend a fortune to get rid of Arline Judge and another in gifts?
Lana married Bob Topping on the rebound. There’s no doubt about that now. When Ty Power walked out on her to marry Linda Christian, Lana was ready for the rebound. But she did everything possible to make the marriage a success. There is conclusive legal evidence to substantiate the belief that its failure was not her fault.
What everyone is asking nowadays, however, is this: Will Lana Turner get married on the rebound again, this time to Cy Howard?
Lana has come a long way in wisdom from the night she eloped to Las Vegas with Artie Shaw.
Her divorce from Topping will be obtained in California; purposely, too. A California divorce imposes a year’s wait before another marriage. During that year, Lana will have time to determine whether her romance with Cy is genuine or therapeutic.
It’s Lana’s nature to be married. She has been going with men for 16 of her 30 years. She’s not the type for hen parties.
What is even more important, men like Lana. She’s honest, forthright, and witty.
In the past Lana’s husbands have turned out to be men who like to marry frequently.
Cy Howard has made the trek to the altar only once, with a cute night club singer, Nan Wynn, a few years ago. The marriage ended in divorce.
Howard’s friends say that Cy is too self-centered to succeed at marriage.
If this is true, then he is not the boy for Lana. Here is one girl who is willing to devote all her time, all her love—her whole life—to a happy marriage.
To date, her batting average has been zero. Maybe Cy Howard will change all that.
THE END
—BY STEVE CRONIN
It is a quote. MODERN SCREEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 1952
