Cheryl Christina Crane (born July 25, 1943) is an American former model, real estate broker, author, and the only child of actress Lana Turner. 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.
In the years following Stompanato's death, Crane's rebellious behavior was well-documented in the press. 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
thumb|Stephen Crane, Lana Turner, and Cheryl Crane, eight weeks old
Cheryl Crane was born July 25, 1943, at Hollywood Hospital in Los Angeles to actress Lana Turner 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, 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 in Ojai, California.
Killing of Johnny Stompanato and aftermath
thumb|upright=.8|right|Crane with mother Lana Turner at her juvenile court hearing, April 1958
On April 4, 1958, at age 14, Crane stabbed her mother's boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato, to death. The killing was ruled a justifiable homicide: she was deemed to have been protecting her mother during a domestic altercation. after which "Scotland Yard had him deported."
Following Stompanato's death, Crane was made a ward of the State of California and was placed in the El Retiro School for Girls in Sylmar, Los Angeles, 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, 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 in Hartford, Connecticut.
Later life and career
Standing at , Crane initially decided to pursue a career as a model 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.
In April 1970, Crane was detained by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) when three half-grown marijuana plants were discovered in the back seat of her car. to whom she was introduced by Marlon Brando at a party held by Wally Cox. Around 1986, the couple relocated to San Francisco. 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 to her parents: