Janine Turner

Early life

Turner was born Janine Loraine Gauntt in Lincoln, Nebraska, the daughter of Janice Loraine (née Agee), a real estate agent, and Turner Maurice Gauntt, Jr., a United States Military Academy at West Point graduate. (57), veteran of the United States Air Force and a pilot for Braniff International. Her father is from Athens,Texas, while her mother is from San Antonio, Texas. She has a brother, Tim, and was raised in Euless and Fort Worth, Texas.

Career

In 1978, the fifteen-year-old Turner left home to pursue a modeling career with the Wilhelmina Modeling Agency in New York City. She began her acting career in 1980 in Hollywood, appearing in several episodes of Dallas. She continued to make guest appearances on television shows throughout the 1980s before landing the role of Laura Templeton on General Hospital.

By 1986, Turner had become frustrated with the quality of the roles she was getting; as she told the Chicago Tribune five years later, "I was always working, but I wanted to do more serious roles and knew that I had the talent. I had to get away from Hollywood." Disregarding her agent's advice, Turner moved to New York in order to hone her craft, studying there with Marcia Haufrecht of the Actors Studio.

I gained a new respect and appreciation for acting in New York. And I decided that I didn't want to lock myself into roles that portrayed women negatively. I turned a lot of (TV and film) opportunities down because of that. Everyone thought I was crazy. I was really going for broke. I only had eight dollars left and had become very depressed right before I got the part in "Northern Exposure."

Cast as Maggie O'Connell in 1990, Turner's work on Northern Exposure would earn her an Emmy nomination in 1993 and consecutive Golden Globe nominations from 1992 to 1994. Accolades aside, the role itself was a positive experience for Turner, following the "damsel in distress" roles that had all but driven her from Hollywood in the first place. "I've found my ideal character in Maggie", she told the Tribune. "She's smarter and stronger than all the men she meets." Turner's own move from Hollywood to New York was mirrored by Maggie's, from her affluent Grosse Pointe community to the remote fictional backwater of Cicely, Alaska. Turner said about Maggie that "She went against the grain and challenged herself by moving to Alaska."

After her breakthrough in Northern Exposure, Turner appeared in the action film Cliffhanger opposite Sylvester Stallone. She next appeared as June Cleaver in a Leave It to Beaver film adaptation of television's original Leave it to Beaver, and Dr. T & The Women with Richard Gere, and Stolen Women, Captured Hearts and also did No Regret's and numerous Movies of the Week.

In 2004, Turner wrote, produced, and directed the award-winning Trip in a Summer Dress a film about a strong-willed mother and her children. In 2006, she appeared in a low budget movie filmed in Dallas, The Night of the White Pants, with Tom Wilkinson. In 2007, she co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in 'Christoga,' a Christian Yoga DVD, Turner also co-wrote and produced an album, Mockingbird Hill, in which both she and her daughter, Juliette sang.

In 2008, Turner's book, Holding Her Head High: Inspiration from 12 Single Mothers Who Championed Their Children and Changed History, was released. The book focuses on single mothers through history, such as Rachel Lavein Fawcett, the abandoned single mother of Alexander Hamilton.

That same year, Turner began a twelve-episode run on the NBC television series Friday Night Lights. She portrayed Katie McCoy, mother of a talented high school football quarterback.

She most recently portrayed Anthony Hopkins wife in "Solace," 2016.

On May 21, 2011, Turner began hosting a live two-hour talk show. It was awarded "Best Radio Show in Dallas", The Janine Turner Show, on conservative-oriented talk radio station KLIF (AM) in Dallas, and in Houston, KTRC, followed by iHeart Radio until 2013.

In 2010 Turner founded and currently co-chairs organization called Constituting America with Cathy Gillespie aimed at educating American adults and students about the non-partisan relevancy of the U.S. Constitution.

Activism and advocacy

In 2006, she was appointed a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. She expressed her concern for what she perceived as a decidedly liberal bias in the media as a guest on the Fox News Channel show Huckabee on October 25, 2008, and on the CNN show Larry King Live on October 28, 2008. Turner is a frequent contributor to Republican Party candidates and organizations, donating at least $7,000 over the past decade. In 2010, Turner launched her public speaking career on the national circuit, and became a sought after public inspirational speaker on a plethora of topics, including heart health, sobriety, faith, the Constitution and politics. Janine speaks at corporate events, civic events and Turner speaks to schools and universities, and churches, and she spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention. She has described herself as "socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I'm almost more libertarian". She debated a Democrat on The O'Reilly Factor every Friday from 2011–2012. Janine is now a regular on Varney and Co. on Fox Business. She has written 85 essays on the 85 Federalist Papers, and numerous Op-eds for the Washington Examiner, Washington Times, and FoxNews.com. Turner has written a Petition, "The Truth Act" - and corresponding white paper, "Long and Little Known: How Incoherent Statutes Harm Liberty & the Rule of Law."

Personal life

Turner has never married. Her daughter, Juliette Turner-Jones, was born in 1997. Turner's daughter Juliette legally hyphenated her surname in 2006 to include the name of her father, Jerry Jones, Jr., son of the Dallas Cowboys' owner. Janine Turner was once engaged to Alec Baldwin and also dated Troy Aikman, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Sylvester Stallone. She currently lives on a longhorn cattle ranch outside Dallas with her daughter and 21 Longhorns, including Revolution, Liberty, TigerBud, Prairie Don Juan, and four Angus named Henry Lee, Martha Washington, Hamilton, and Abigail Adams.

Awards and nominations

Emmy Award

Golden Globe Award

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Young Artist Award