An evening with Kathleen Turner

During the final weekend of the Montreal World Film Festival, attendees got a treat on August 30 at the Imperial Theatre, when actress Kathleen Turner received the festivals Grand Prix of the Americas for lifetime achievement from festival founder Serge Losique.

In a special live tribute to Turner and her career, clips were shown from some of her best known film performances, including “Romancing the Stone”, “Body Heat”, “Prizzi’s Honor” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”. This was followed by a live interview with Turner, in which she related several interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes, including how because of an actors’ strike in the summer of 1980, the shooting of “Body Heat” was done during the winter months, and she and co-star William Hurt had to chew ice cubes in between takes, so that their breath didn’t cloud when they spoke their lines; and when she was filming “Prizzi’s Honor”, director John Huston told her that “no woman is sexy and funny at the same time.” Turner also mentioned she will be making her singing debut at the beginning of 2014 when she appears in the stage production of “Mother Courage” in Washington, D.C.

The evening also included video tributes to Turner from co-stars Danny Devito and Michael Douglas, as well as a lively 96-year-old Kirk Douglas, who related the time when they “dated” during the filming of “Romancing the Stone” on location in Mexico. And Turner’s daughter Rachel sang a song in honour of her mother that she written and composed herself especially for the occasion.