Turner Has Knee Op For Dream Role

Movie star Kathleen Turner has had her right knee replaced so she can perform her dream role on Broadway, New York, pain free.

The BODY HEAT star admits she has been hankering to play MARTHA - the role that DAME Elizabeth Taylor made her own on film - in Edward Albee's play WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLFF for 40 years.

But she knew she wouldn't be able to give the part her all if she was hobbling around the stage in agony or drugged up on medication.

Turner says, "I knew that this was going to be very demanding and unless I got myself a healthy knee it just wasn't gonna happen."

The actress admits she has been dogged by rheumatoid arthritis for much of her life, and spent years guzzling steroids in a bid to hide her condition from studio executives.

She adds, "In this industry many many people will hire someone they know to be a drunk or to be not very dependable but, if someone's sick, it's a different thing. It scares them."