Stomping on Myths

Johnny Stompanato always has been surrounded by a sort of magic la-la land mystique in his romantic ties with the Hollywood Goddess Lana Turner.

Through the years no one ever admitted that Johnny had a job on a decorating swing-gang crew at 20th Century Fox Studios schleping furniture from the prop house to the movie sets.

His fellow swing-gang members had a daily morning assignment to drive by the Turner mansion in Beverly Hills and pick him up and bring him into the studio in spite of his condition. The crew was admitted into the house, where they dressed him and sometimes had to carry him out to the waiting truck.

On that eventful day when the pals drove up to the Turner mansion for their daily pick-up, they were greeted by “studio police security” and barred entry by being informed that the Stompanato-Turner romance had been wrapped !

H. BRADEN

Los Angeles