# Stalin's Daughter is Dead (and so is Lana Turner) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514 "2011-11-30T00:38:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/21 "2011-11-30T15:48:21Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I love that Svetlana Stalin was renamed by Louis B. Mayer. Unfortunately, she still didn’t score well with test audiences even under her new name of ‘Tammy Jo Stalin’. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/22 "2011-11-30T16:26:03Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Unfortunately, she still didn’t score well with test audiences even under her new name of ‘Tammy Jo Stalin’. Not even when they put her in that beach party movie with Patty Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/23 "2011-11-30T16:33:38Z")
My favorite 1940s Paramount starlet name was **Vivian Blake** , who both romanced Don Ameche and ran a Jamaican drug ring: [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/world/americas/26blake.html?scp=10&sq=drug+crime+obituary&st=nyt](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/world/americas/26blake.html?scp=10&sq=drug+crime+obituary&st=nyt) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/24 "2011-11-30T16:33:49Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Not even when they put her in that beach party movie with Patty Hitler. She could never do a take quick enough; she was always stalin. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/25 "2011-11-30T17:22:20Z")
One of the local columnists grew to know her well in the last couple of years, and wrote a [column](http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/doug_moe/doug-moe-lana-peters-stalin-s-daughter-a-political-prisoner/article_a9d88b74-1a26-11e1-9268-001cc4c03286.html) about their last conversation. (Disclaimer: I work for the paper.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/26 "2011-11-30T17:22:23Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > So Stalin not only sucked as a dad, his tits never looked half as good in a sweater as Lana Turner’s. Sure, you’re brave enough to say this openly now. But back in 1950 you’d have followed the party line just like everyone else and have completed Stalin on his shapely figure. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/27 "2011-11-30T18:56:32Z")
Trailer for documentary [Svetlana About Svetlana](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8wZzCcM9Js). [QUOTE=Derleth] Also, Sean Connery beat on Stompanato for a while after relieving the mook of the firearm he’d pulled on the set of Another Time, Another Place; the fact Sean Connery is still alive proves either the mob didn’t like Stompanato much, either, or that they’re afraid of Sean Connery. [/QUOTE] That is one of the most badass stories about any movie star ever. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/28 "2011-11-30T19:00:19Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Is Hitler’s nephew OK?!!? Bucky’s fine. His career as a Catskills comic never panned out, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/29 "2011-11-30T19:44:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Sure, you’re brave enough to say this openly now. But back in 1950 you’d have followed the party line just like everyone else and have completed Stalin on his shapely figure. Until he died and you’d have to fawn over the KGB (Kruschev’s Great Bod). ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/30 "2011-11-30T20:12:19Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > My sister called me today and it’s something like “Three’s Company Meets 1950s Icons”. While speaking of other things she mentions “According to the news Lana Turner died”. Which reminds (true story) me of a call I got ages ago from my mother, telling me that someone found Joan Bennett strangled in her cellar. Turned out to be Jon-Benet. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/31 "2011-11-30T20:21:07Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Which reminds (true story) me of a call I got ages ago from my mother, telling me that someone found Joan Bennett strangled in her cellar. Turned out to be Jon-Benet. Though you never saw Joan Bennett and Jon-Benet _together_. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/32 "2011-11-30T21:07:30Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > So Stalin not only sucked as a dad, his tits never looked half as good in a sweater as Lana Turner’s. Or out. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/33 "2011-11-30T23:22:07Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > My favorite 1940s Paramount starlet name was **Vivian Blake** , who both romanced Don Ameche and ran a Jamaican drug ring: [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/world/americas/26blake.html?scp=10&sq=drug+crime+obituary&st=nyt](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/world/americas/26blake.html?scp=10&sq=drug+crime+obituary&st=nyt) I’m an MGM man, because of [Hedy Lamarr](http://www.inventions.org/culture/female/lamarr.html) > [@](#): > > In 1942, at the height of her Hollywood career, she patented a frequency-switching system for torpedo guidance that was two decades ahead of its time. Rawr! Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/34 "2011-11-30T23:41:31Z")
> [@](#): > > In 1942, at the height of her Hollywood career, she patented a frequency-switching system for torpedo guidance that was two decades ahead of its time. I has me doubts about that tale . . . ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/35 "2011-12-01T00:33:33Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Bucky’s fine. His career as a Catskills comic never panned out, though. Bucky is Hitler’s nephew? Does Captain America know this? ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/36 "2011-12-01T00:50:36Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I has me doubts about that tale . . . Here’s the actual [patent](http://www.google.com/patents?id=R4BYAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false). Hedy Keisler Markey was her name when she was married to [Gene Markey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Markey) at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/37 "2011-12-01T02:29:06Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > I’m an MGM man, because of [Hedy Lamarr](http://www.inventions.org/culture/female/lamarr.html) It’s Hedle… Oh, my bad. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/38 "2011-12-01T13:41:30Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Here’s the actual [patent](http://www.google.com/patents?id=R4BYAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false). Hedy Keisler Markey was her name when she was married to [Gene Markey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Markey) at the time. Oh, I know her name is on the patent: but my theory is the inventor met her at a party one night, they chatted, he decided it would be totally super-cool to have a big movie star on the patent with him . . . mostly because of the fact that neither before nor after the patent did Hedy Lamarr ever exhibit any scientific interest or knowledge at all. Call me cynical. Now, Justine Johnstone–\*there’s \*an actress with scientific cred! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/39 "2011-12-01T14:51:28Z")
I’d once considered posting a thread on the topic of Hedy Lammar, inventor, with the same skepticism as Eve’s. Her co-invenor was neighbor [George Antheil](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Antheil), who composed avante-garde operas, then switched to lucrative but dull, nondescript move scores. The concept wasn’t that brainy: why not adjust the path of a launched torpedo with radio instructions? Because the enemy could jam the instructions, just like a bigger radio station can drown out the signal from a smaller station. Answer: have the torpedo and the launcher switch radio frequencies faster than the defender can find and jam them. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514/40 "2011-12-01T16:25:31Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Oh, I know her name is on the patent: but my theory is the inventor met her at a party one night, they chatted, he decided it would be totally super-cool to have a big movie star on the patent with him . . . mostly because of the fact that neither before nor after the patent did Hedy Lamarr ever exhibit any scientific interest or knowledge at all. Call me cynical. There’s a new book out called [Hedy’s Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, The Most Beautiful Woman in the World](http://www.npr.org/2011/11/27/142664182/most-beautiful-woman-by-day-inventor-by-night). I heard an interview with the author on NPR and he said her interest was much deeper the one patent. I’m not sure what evidence he has, but the book may be interesting. > [@](#): > > Rhodes says Lamarr was most often cast based on her looks and had few lines. She quickly grew bored in Hollywood. > > “Hedy didn’t drink. She didn’t like to party,” he says. “Her idea of a good evening was a quiet dinner party with some intelligent friends where they could discuss ideas — which sounds so un-Hollywood, but Hedy had to find something else to do to occupy her time.” > > Rhodes says she had a drafting table installed in her house and started inventing. Among her projects was an improved stoplight and a tablet that, when dissolved in water, created a soda similar to Coca-Cola. > > “She laughed later and said, ‘Well, it never really worked.’ It probably tasted like an Alka-Seltzer tablet, which is basically what it was,” he laughs. “But she was constantly looking at the world and thinking, ‘Well, how could that be fixed? How could that be improved?’” It seems most of her inventions didn’t make it off the prototype stage, but it increases the likelihood that her involvement in the frequency hopping technique which was patented was more than just nominal. Enjoy, Steven [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalins-daughter-is-dead-and-so-is-lana-turner/604514.md?page=3)