Cheryl Crane

Golly Ned! Am I lunching at Hollywood’s Schwab’s drugstore?! Is that gal at the counter the original sweater girl, Lana Turner? Alas, no, my darlings. It’s just your ditzy reporter daydreaming. Actually, I’m grazing on an ethereal chicken walnut salad at the Sunshine Café in Cathedral City, just down the pike from Palm Springs, and the attractive gal at the counter is Lana Turner’s daughter, Cheryl Crane.

Cheryl Crane grew up with Hollywood royalty. Her friends included Liza Minnelli and Christina (Mommie Dearest) Crawford. Judy Garland, Art Linkletter, and Bing Crosby were her neighbors. But her life was not all roses, as she relates in her 1988 bio, Detour. At age ten, she was molested by her stepfather, actor Lex Barker, who played Tarzan. And at fifteen, while defending her mother, she stabbed and killed a mobster whom her mother was dating. As you can imagine, this personal tragedy became an international tabloid circus.

Cheryl eventually joined her dad in the restaurant business, but after a time, she drifted into real estate. She now works in Palm Springs with her partner of thirty-five years, Josh LeRoy. (They met at a party thrown by Wally Cox and Josh was jivin’ with Marlon Brando under a pool table.) Cheryl has been actively involved with the AIDS community since the early days. Presently, she is on the board of the Palm Springs AIDS Assistance Program (AAP). Cheryl is also a breast cancer survivor.

I introduce myself and ask Cheryl if we might share a cup of java. Because of a pressing appointment, Cheryl asks me to meet her later that afternoon at one of the houses she has listed (last year, she sold Lily Tomlin’s old residence).

Ruby Comer: What a striking home! [We sit on the shaded patio while the hot winds rustle the palm fronds.] Cheryl, what comes to mind when you hear the word AIDS?
Cheryl Crane: Our friend, Carey Edwards. Josh and I always played cards with him when we lived in Hawaii. They named him Patient 13, and he was a friend of [Patient Zero] Gaetan Dugas. One day we were with him, then three days later we got a call saying he was in a hospital at Stanford! They had
flown him in from Hawaii. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him and they termed it a gay disease. Carey died within two weeks. If I could show you the phone books that I’ve had in the last thirty years where names have just been crossed out, crossed out….I can’t even count the people we’ve lost anymore.

I know. It’s been that way with me too, girl. It’s distressing. When did you first get involved with the AIDS community?
It was in San Francisco with PAWS [Pets Are Wonderful Support]. We judged one of their dog beauty pageant events, and Sylvester [the outrageous disco diva and AIDS fighter who is described as “Mighty Real” in his biography by Joshua Gamson, The Fabulous Sylvester] was also on the panel. We became close friends with him, as we did with Randy Shilts [And The Band Played On].
We then found out that he knew Gaetan. It’s become such a small
world, and it hasn’t gotten any bigger! [She laughs.]

Life can truly be a jigsaw puzzle. How’d ya come to attach yourself with AAP?
Here goes the small world again. I knew two of the founders, Janette Rockefeller and Gloria Greene [along with Earl Lazenby]. Plus, a guy I knew from San Francisco, who was a neighbor of Sylvester, is also a part of AAP. [She shakes her head in amazement.] We also met Janette in San Francisco, and Gloria, who I knew from Los Angeles. For years, Gloria owned a restaurant in Palm Springs called Gloria’s.

Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle! I rang in several spirited and lusty New Year’s Eve’s there. One time I disco-danced in my hot pink panties on the bar! Gloria was always a hoot.
Oh, yes! She started feeding those infected out of the back door of her restaurant. Gloria’s philosophy was that yes, you can live better with the medicines, but, if you don’t have proper nutrition and healthy food, you’re not going to have quality of life. AAP provides food vouchers for anyone who is living with HIV. The vouchers look like a credit card, so when they’re presented at a grocery store it doesn’t look like the person is on food stamps. Presently, we have 400 clients—men and women—twenty-nine are
children. It’s all by donation and volunteer-driven. For every dollar we take in, seventy-eight percent goes directly to the feeding program.

Grand! I know AAP does annual events like Under The Stars. Last year I attended and it was with Lily Tomlin. This year I understand Barry Manilow was featured.
He was [she nods and beams those pearly whites]. He put on his whole Las Vegas show! You know, Ruby, besides our mission to feed others, it also includes generating information into the community. My fear is that people are getting complacent. This epidemic needs to be addressed in the schools. I mean, we can’t even get them to talk about birth control, so I don’t know how we can do this. It’s so frustrating. I see it more and more everyday. People don’t realize how serious this is.

No truer words have ever been spoken. Your mom died in 1995. What do you remember about her?
Definitely her beauty, and how much I miss her [she says, swallowing hard]. She was so incredibly kind. Unfortunately, you can’t say that about too many people.

Out of all the people you were exposed to growing up, who did you like being around the most?
One of the most fun people was J.R. Wagner [Robert Wagner]. My mother was close friends with him. Clark Gable—I was totally in awe of him. The person who had the most influence on me was Russell Hayden [Lucky in the Hopalong Cassidy films]. Lucky for me was like God! For my sixth birthday Mom asked what I wanted. I said, to meet Lucky. So she threw a surprise party, and out walks Lucky. I literally fainted! I was madly into horses, and he walks out with a horse. It was a gift from my mom, but in my mind it was Lucky who gave it to me.

How precious. [I turn my chin skyward, like a true star and recite] “Well, I’m going up and up and up, and nobody’s going to pull me down!” [impersonating Lana Turner’s sensuous voice as I recite a line from Imitation of Life]. I adore that film, Cheryl! Name your favorite Lana Turner movie.
Ziegfeld Girl, with Judy Garland and Hedy Lamarr. I appreciate greatly Imitation of Life. I can’t watch it myself anymore because I just cry so hard. And The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Will you set the record straight, my dear? What is the true story about your mother being discovered at Schwab’s?
It wasn’t Schwab’s. It was a little café called the Top Hat, which was situated across the street from Hollywood High School. It was torn down years ago. It was also a block away from the [old] Hollywood Reporter offices. Billy Wilkerson, the publisher, would often go to the Top Hat for lunch. He’s the one who actually spotted her and took her to director Mervyn LeRoy.

The person who came up with the Schwab’s story was a PR guy named Sidney Skolsky who hung out at Schwab’s, and was probably on the Schwab’s payroll. There are so many stories like this in the Hollywood lore, and, even though people try to correct them over time, the stories don’t change. Though I’ve told you the truth, people will still insist on believing that my mother was discovered at Schwab’s!

For more information about AAP, log on to www.aidsassistance.org.

Ruby Comer is an independent journalist from the Midwest who is happy to call Hollywood her home away from home. Reach her by e-mail at MsRubyComer@aol.com.

September 2006