Biography

Joseph Stephenson Crane was born on February 7, 1916, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, to William E. and Katheryn Stephenson Crane. The Cranes were well known in the community due to their family cigar store, the Stephenson Crane Cigar Store, located at 107 S. Washington Street in downtown Crawfordsville. As a boy, Crane preferred to be called Joe. He attended the local Crawfordsville High School and was voted "Most Attractive" senior year. A 1937 graduate of Wabash College, a liberal arts college for men located in Crawfordsville, Crane gained a Bachelor's degree in Business before traveling to Hollywood in 1939.

Leaving an estranged wife and his family's business behind him, Stephen Crane (the name he preferred as an adult) met and married actress Lana Turner in 1942. A hasty annulment followed due to Crane's previous and still legal marriage to Carol Ann Kurtz. After Crane's divorce was finalized, Crane and Turner remarried and welcomed a child, Cheryl Christina Crane, in 1943. As Lana Turner sued for divorce a second time in 1944, Crane starred in three films, Cry of the Werewolf, The Crime Doctor's Courage, and Tonight and Every Night. Following his brief acting career, Crane entered the restaurant business by purchasing Lucy's, a popular hangout for celebrities. Moving abroad in the late 1940s, Crane married French sex symbol Martine Carol.

In 1953, Crane's marriage to Carol ended in divorce. That same year Crane catapulted himself into a restaurant legend and entrepreneur by creating The Luau, a Polynesian themed restaurant frequented by celebrities and located at 421 N. Rodeo Drive. In 1958, Crane started his chain of Kon Tiki restaurants which were located in Sheraton hotels across the United States and Canada. The late 1960s brought about other restaurant ventures, such as SCAM and Stephanino's, and restaurants owned by Stephen Crane Associates remained popular until the late 1970s.

After a successful life as a restaurateur, Stephen Crane died one day before his 69th birthday on February 6, 1985. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Crawfordsville, Indiana.