Mary
Kathleen Turner is an Academy Award-nominated American actress best known for
her roles in the Hollywood films, Body Heat, Romancing the Stone
and Peggy Sue Got Married and her stage performances in The Graduate
and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. In the early 1990s she suffered from
severe rheumatoid arthritis which hindered her career for a decade before newly-available
treatments brought the disease under control. Offscreen, Kathleen Turner has been
actively involved in numerous causes for a better world. She is the Chairperson
for Planned Parenthood of America's Board of Advocates and strongly advocates
for the rights of women. She serves on the Board of People for the American Way
which works to protect the principles of the Constitution and promote full citizen
participation in our democracy. She also supports Amnesty International's work
to protect the human rights of people everywhere, and Childhelp USA's work to
serve abused and neglected children through their National Child Abuse Hotline,
1-800-4-A-CHILD.