Cheryl Crane & Josh LeRoy

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Cheryl Christina Crane (born July 25, 1943) is the only child of actress Lana Turner, from her marriage to actor-restaurateur Stephen Crane, her second husband.

On April 4, 1958, at age 14, Cheryl Crane stabbed her mother's boyfriend Johnny Stompanato to death. The killing was ruled a justifiable homicide: Crane was deemed to have been protecting her mother. Stompanato was well-known to have been abusive, extremely jealous of Turner and had previously pointed a gun at actor Sean Connery, 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.

Following Stompanato's death, Crane was made a ward of the State of California and sent to an all-girls boarding school, from which she escaped in 1960. She was captured and then released in 1961. In 1969, Crane was detained by the Los Angeles Police Department when three half-grown marijuana plants were discovered in the back seat of her car.

Years later, Cheryl publicly revealed that she was a lesbian to her mother, who accepted the news well. Turner said she regarded Cheryl's partner, Jocelyn "Josh" LeRoy, "as a second daughter".


Cheryl Crane is the only child of actress Lana Turner. At age 14, Cheryl Crane stabbed her mother's boyfriend Johnny Stompanato to death: the killing was ruled a justifiable homicide. Cheryl revealed that she was a lesbian to her mother, who accepted the news well. Turner said she regarded Cheryl's partner, Jocelyn "Josh" LeRoy, "as a second daughter". Crane lives in the Palm Springs, California, area, where she works as a real-estate agent with LeRoy, her partner of 38 years (as of 2014).



In her autobiography, Detour: a Hollywood Tragedy - My Life With Lana Turner, My Mother (1988), Crane 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 assaults at the hands of her stepfather and her mother's fourth husband, actor Lex Barker.

Crane was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, underwent a mastectomy and was treated with radiation and chemotherapy. She has since been in remission.

Crane currently lives in the Palm Springs, California, area, where she works as a real-estate agent with LeRoy, her partner of 37 years. Crane has written a mystery novel titled The Bad Always Die Twice, was published in 2011. Her detective is a Hollywood "realtor to the stars" whose mother is a legendary Hollywood star.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheryl_Crane

Further Readings:

Detour: A Hollywood Story by Cheryl Crane
Mass Market Paperback: 374 pages
Publisher: Avon Books (Mm) (December 1988)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 038070580X
ISBN-13: 978-0380705801
Amazon: Detour: A Hollywood Story

She grew up when Hollywood was at its peak, and her mother, Lana Turner, was one of its brightest stars. Life was a glittering world of privilege and promise...and a succession of "uncles" and stepfathers. Then one night, when she was just fourteen, Cheryl Crane, plunged a knife into one of them - Johnny Stompanato. Now, for the first time, Cheryl talks about her harrowing childhood, about what happened on that violent night in 1958...and the nightmare of public scrutiny that followed. Here is the powerful and personal story of Cheryl's "detour" through hell - suicide attempts, reform school, a mental hospital, and drug abuse. And her triumphant journey back - to a brilliant business career, and finally, to a loving relationship with her legendary mother. Includes 16 pages of personal photographs.

More Real Life Romances at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance