In the picture on the left, you see Kathleen Turner (65) in the new Netflix series “Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings.” The change in appearance is due to the mask the role requires, but the actress in real life is not much different from the woman in the photo.
Once one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, the Missouri star, who announced her big career in the 1981 film “The Passion of the Stars”, has been battling rheumatoid arthritis for years. Due to the pain she experienced from this disease, the actress found solace in alcohol for a while, which is why it was written that alcoholism was the trigger for her visual transformation
“I was bloated like a balloon from the medication. It was pretty ugly,” said Kathleen, who pointed out that the disease, and then alcohol, ruined her career.
Fortunately, she found a solution in a new therapy, but also in an unusual method – copper shoe inserts that cost about $30.
“They were recommended to me by my colleague actress Maureen Lipman. After three weeks of wearing the pads, I noticed a huge difference. I could walk for a long time without pain,” added Kathleen.
The sex symbol of the 80s publicly advocates for the fight against chronic disease (arthritis causes swelling of the legs, arms and joints and affects women more often than men).
She has also spoken publicly about the connection between her appearance and the harsh sexism on the world’s acting scene.
“I get angry about everything and anything, about injustice in the world. Rheumatoid arthritis appeared in my late thirties – when Hollywood last considered one of its leading, sexually attractive ladies. The hardest part for me was that I built my self-confidence on my physical appearance. If I didn’t have that, then who was I?”, the actress said.
In her career, Kathleen has also encountered the attitude that “women are property that should be used as much as possible”, but also with colleagues who do not respect women, that is, treat their colleagues with disdain. As Kathleen said, Burt Reynolds and Nicolas Cage were like that towards her.
The star of “War of the Roses” and “The Jewel of the Nile”, in which she starred alongside Michael Douglas, is fighting the disease, but she is not giving up acting.
“Dumb and Dumber To be”, “Beautiful”, “Marley and me”, are some of her recent acting engagements.
