Kathleen Turner was first seen on-screen in the American daytime soap opera television series ‘The Doctors,’ in 1978. She played the role of ‘Nola Dancy Aldrich’ and remained a part of the series till 1979. In 1981, she made her big-screen debut in the neo-noir erotic thriller film ‘Body Heat’ directed by Lawrence Kasdan. The film garnered positive reviews upon release with critics praising the performance of Turner. Empire magazine made a reference to ‘Body Heat’ when they named Turner as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History" in 1995.Â
She was next seen in ‘The Man with Two Brains’ (1983), ‘Romancing the Stone’ (1984), ‘Crimes of Passion’ (1984), and ‘The Jewel of the Nile’ (1985). In 1986, she starred as ‘Peggy Sue Bodell’ in the American fantasy comedy-drama film ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’ directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Turner’s performance in the film earned her ‘Academy Award’ and ‘Golden Globe Award’ nominations. After appearing in films like ‘Julia and Julia’ (1987), ‘Switching Channels’ (1988), ‘The Accidental Tourist’ (1988), she joined the cast of the 1989 Black Comedy film ‘The War of the Roses’ as ‘Barbara Rose.’ The film opened to critical acclaim and was a massive box office success, grossing over $160.2 million against a budget of $26 million.
Turner next appeared in ‘V.I. Warshawski’ (1991), ‘Naked in New York’ (1993), ‘House of Cards’ (1993), ‘Serial Mom’ (1994), ‘Moonlight and Valentino’ (1995), ‘The Real Blonde’ (1997), ‘Love and Action in Chicago’ (1999), ‘Beautiful’ (2000), ‘Monster House’ (2006), ‘The Perfect Family’ (2011), and ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ (2014). In 2017, she starred in the the role of ‘Barbara Haines’ in the comedy-drama film ‘Another Kind of Wedding’ directed by Pat Kiely.Â
Apart from films, Turner has also starred in several TV series and shows, such as ‘The Simpsons’ (1994), ‘Cinderella’ (2000), ‘Friends’ (2001), ‘Nip/Tuck’ (2006), ‘The Path’ (2016-2017), ‘Heartstrings’ (2019), and ‘Summer Camp Island’ (2020). In the 2020 computer-animated fantasy limited series Wizards: Tales of Arcadia, she voiced ‘Lady of the Lake.’ She is all set to appear in the political drama television miniseries ‘The White House Plumbers.’