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Kathleen Turner

Kathleen Turner has garnered critical acclaim for her performances in a wide variety of film and theater projects. Turner was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in Body Heat. She won a Golden Globe Award for her performances in Romancing the Stone and Prizzi's Honor. Turner's work in Peggy Sue Got Married brought her both an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination, and she earned yet another Golden Globe nomination for War of the Roses.

In 2008, Turner wrote of her many accomplishments and life experiences in her autobiography titled Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on my Life, Love, and Leading Roles. The book, co-authored by Gloria Feldt, secured a position on The New York Times Best-Seller List.

Turner's extensive film credits also include the critically acclaimed The Virgin Suicides directed by Sofia Coppola, The Man with Two Brains with Steve Martin, Jewel of the Nile with Michael Douglas, Crimes of Passion, The Accidental Tourist, V.I. Warshawski, John Waters' Serial Mom, Naked in New York and Moonlight and Valentino. It is also impossible to forget Turner's standout performance as the sultry voice of Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

In addition to her thriving film career, Turner frequently returns to live theater. In 2008 she directed the Roundabout Theatre Company's off Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize winning play Crimes of the Heart. In 2007, she received London's coveted Evening Standard and London Critics Circle awards and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for the West End production of Edward Albee's modern classic Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? having been nominated for the 2005 Tony Award for Best Actress during the play's acclaimed run on Broadway. In the fall of 2000, Turner broke box-office records starring in the stage version of the classic film The Graduate in London's West End, playing the role of Mrs. Robinson. In 2002 she took The Graduate to Broadway.

In 1998, she made her British stage debut at the Chichester Festival Theater, which was founded by Sir Laurence Olivier. Recently, Turner worked with Michael Lessac, who directed Turner as Tallulah Bankhead in Sandra Ryan Heyward's one-woman show Tallulah, which she toured in across the U.S.

Turner starred on Broadway in Jean Cocteau's Indiscretions. Other stage works include her portrayal of Maggie the Cat, in the 1989 Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the Broadway production of Gemini, and Camille at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Connecticut. Turner also starred in Travesties, The Seagull, Toyer, and A Midsummer's Night Dream at the prestigious Arena Stage in Washington D.C.

Turner is an ambassador for Planned Parenthood and also sits on the boards for City Meals on Wheels, People for the American Way, Childhelp and the Ms. Foundation. She speaks across the country on behalf of these various causes.

Turner is a Missouri native, but was raised in Canada, Cuba and England, where her father was a diplomat.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2009.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Kathleen Turner Facts

Birth NameMary Kathleen Turner
OccupationActress
BirthdayJune 19, 1954 (69)
SignGemini
BirthplaceSpringfield, Missouri, USA
Height5' 10" (1m78)  How tall is Kathleen Turner compared to you?
Awards1986 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (for Prizzi's Honor)
1985 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (for Romancing the Stone)

Selected Filmography

Monster House
Prince of Central Park
Romancing the Stone
Dumb And Dumber To
The Virgin Suicides
Who Framed Roger Rabbit: 25th Anniversary Edition
The Jewel Of The Nile
Serial Mom
Family Favorites: 10-Movie Collection
The Accidental Tourist
Continue » Find more details on the Kathleen Turner Movies page