Kathleen (I) Turner filmography and biography
Date of birth: 19 June 1954, Springfield, Missouri, USA
Kathleen (I) Turner trivia
- (1995) Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars" in
film history (#73).
- Education: Southwest Missouri State University (SKSU), Springfield,
Missouri; transferred after two years University of Maryland, Baltimore
County, Maryland; B.F.A., 1977. She was involved in SMSU's Tent Theatre
in the same summer as Tess Harper.
- Suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.
- Was immortalized in the 1980s song, "The Kiss of Kathleen Turner," by
techno-pop singer Falco.
- She performed some of her own stunts in
Romancing the Stone, Undercover Blues and
V.I. Warshawski. Her nose was broken while filming
V.I. Warshawski.
- Spoke the voice (uncredited) of sexy Jessica Rabbit in the toon-noir
Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
- Was considered for the lead in Basic Instinct.
- Also attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.
- Sister-in-law of fashion designer Donna Karan.
- Somewhat resembles Lauren Bacall (looks and voice).
- Her father, Richard, was a foreign service diplomat who was imprisoned
by the Japanese during WWII.
- Upon meeting the legendary Lauren Bacall, to whom she has often
been compared, she reportedly introduced herself by saying, "Hi, I'm
the young you."
- Daughter Rachel Ann Weiss born October 14, 1987 with ex-husband
Jay Weiss.
- (3 December 1999) Checked herself into Marworth in Waverly,
Pennsylvania, for alcohol abuse.
- Fluent in Spanish.
- She recieved a lifetime achievement award from the Savannah College of
Art and Design at the Savannah Film Festival in October 2004.
- Was nominated for Broadway's 1990 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for
portraying Maggie the Cat in a revival of Tennessee Williams'
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
- Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004
- Was nominated for Broadway's 2005 Tony Award as Best Actress in a Play
for portraying Martha in the 2005 revival of Edward Albee's
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
- Has one eye that's blue and one eye that's hazel.
- London Evening Standard Theatre Award 2006 for her performance in Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
- Ranked #1 in Fotogramas magazine's "Favourite Foreign Actress." poll
[1988].
- Ranked #1 in Fotogramas magazine's "Favourite Foreign Actress." poll
[1987].
- Referenced by Jack Black (I) in High Fidelity. He
says that his band's name is very close to being called "Kathleen
Turner Overdrive".
- She discovered she had developed rheumatoid arthritis during shooting
Serial Mom.
- Companion of David Guc [1977 - 1982].
- Was raised in Canada, Cuba and England where her father was a diplomat.
- Her former assistant was Polly Brown (I).
Kathleen (I) Turner quotes
- A woman my age is not supposed to be attractive or sexually appealing. I
just get kinda tired of that.
- I feel I get recognized for my voice more than for my face.
- I know there are nights when I have that power, when I could put on
something and walk in somewhere, and if there's a man there who doesn't
look at me, it's because he's gay.
- I learned years ago, I adore acting and I think it's the most alive I
know how to be -- almost -- but I really want a good life. I've been
married for 17 years -- I know, they call us the last couple. I have a
13-year-old daughter. I have a lovely home life with good friends who
aren't in the business . . . and I have no desire to cost my whole life
in pursuit of the career alone.
- When I was 20, I had so many more insecurities and looked for
approbation from everyone. But by the time I was 40 and now at 50, you
wake up and think, "Fuck you, I don't have to prove myself any more",
and that makes you sexy."
- I often play women who are not essentially good or likable, and I often
go through a stage where I hate them. And then I find the reasons why
they are that way, and end up loving and defending them.
- It's always been my first love, I never feel more alive than when I'm on
stage. On film you feel chopped up, you can be acting from the neck up,
or the hand, there is a lot of close up.
- Then [when I was] about 40, the roles started slowing down. I started
getting offers to play mothers and grandmothers. I'd say the cut-off
point for leading ladies today is 35/40, whereas half the men in
Hollywood get their start then. It's a terrible double standard.
- I find the idea of today's icons being teenagers incredibly uninspiring.
I think the Europeans have enough tradition and respect for the
experience and body of work of an actress that they don't sell out to
the new ones.
- I'm not a naturalistic actor. I believe acting is a planned process of
communication. I don't see anything naturalistic about it.
- The studios are no longer creative institutions. Their job is to raise a
great deal of money for their shareholders, to hedge their bets about
risk. All this does not spell creativity. You might as well be talking
real estate. Thank goodness for the independents. Except that
distribution is still controlled by the studios. So they take the first
week's profit and, after that, they don't give a damn. They take their
money and they leave. It sucks.