The bold television innovator, who passed away on May 6 at the age of 87, left a lasting impact on the news industry by founding CNN nearly 50 years ago, pioneering the 24-hour cable news cycle which transformed the media landscape.
His media empire expanded to include CNN International, the Cartoon Network, TNT, and Turner Classic Movies.
With his wealth, Turner became one of the largest landowners in the United States, dedicating his later years to conserving natural habitats, protecting endangered species, and advocating for nuclear disarmament.
Known for his outspoken wit, this Southern native was affectionately called ‘‘Captain Outrageous’’ and ‘‘The Mouth of the South’’ in his youth.
‘‘If only I had a little humility, I’d be perfect,’’ he once remarked.
Turner gained celebrity status when he married actress Jane Fonda in 1991, shortly before being named Time magazine’s Man of the Year.
As he aged, Turner, though hindered by illness and having exited the television business, focused on philanthropy, donating $1 billion to United Nations charities and managing over 800,000 hectares of land, including the nation’s largest bison herd.
Born Robert Edward Turner III in 1938 in Cincinnati, he moved to Savannah, Georgia, with his family at age 9. After being expelled from university for sneaking a female student into his room, Turner joined his father’s billboard company in Atlanta.
His early ambitions were vast, as he recalled: ‘‘I used to tell people I wanted to become the world’s greatest sailor, businessman and lover all at the same time’’.
Following his father’s suicide in 1963, Turner took over the business. In 1970, he acquired an independent UHF station with a limited signal that barely reached Atlanta.
On December 17, 1976, he began broadcasting the station to cable systems nationwide via satellite, creating TBS Superstation. ‘‘It was the start of something bigger than we ever imagined,’’ Turner noted.
TBS’ offering of classic movies and The Andy Griffith Show reruns was enhanced by Turner’s purchase of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, which gradually attracted a national fan base and became known as ‘‘America’s team.’’
After steering his yacht, Courageous, to victory in the 1977 America’s Cup, Turner was caught by TV cameras lying on the floor at the celebration, visibly intoxicated.
His candid style often offended others. An atheist since the death of his sister from lupus at age 17, he once called Christians ‘‘losers’’ and ‘‘Jesus freaks,’’ later offering an apology.
In the 1980s, Turner took on considerable debt to acquire MGM, a decision met with skepticism.
However, the acquisition provided access to a vast library of classic films, eventually leading to the creation of the TNT and Turner Classic Movies networks. Turner’s passion for classic films earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004.
He faced criticism for colorizing classic films like Casablanca, which he justified as a strategy to attract younger audiences.
TBS also obtained the Hanna-Barbera animation library, paving the way for the Cartoon Network.
Turner’s crowning achievement was the launch of CNN, the first 24-hour news channel, in 1980. Frustrated by the lack of late-night news, he took a bold step in the early days of cable television, residing above the office during its inception.
‘‘I was going to have to hit hard and move incredibly fast and that’s what we did — move so fast that the [broadcast] networks wouldn’t have the time to respond, because they should have done this, not me,’’ Turner reflected in a 2016 interview with The American Academy of Achievement. ‘‘But they didn’t have the imagination.’’
CNN gained prominence during the Gulf War with Iraq in 1991, as it was one of the few networks to remain in Baghdad, capturing pivotal moments of the conflict.
Turner was assured a position at CNN following the sale of his company to Time Warner for $7.3 billion in stock, but he was gradually sidelined, which he deeply regretted.
‘‘I made a mistake,’’ he later admitted. ‘‘The mistake I made was losing control of the company.’’
In a 1996 speech, Turner stated that he sold Turner Broadcasting System to Time Warner partly to prevent Rupert Murdoch, whom he once likened to Adolf Hitler, from taking over. The fierce competitors later reconciled over environmental issues.
Turner, married three times and father to five children, charmed women with his distinctive style. He was married to Fonda from 1991 to 2001; she stopped acting during their marriage but ended it due to his infidelity, remaining friends afterward.
Forbes estimated his net worth at $2.8 billion at the time of his passing. Turner had both the time and resources to pursue ambitious aims such as global peace and environmental protection.
‘‘See, my life is more an adventure than a quest to make money. Adventure is going out and doing something for the pure hell of it,’’ Turner once remarked.
‘‘You just want to see if you can do it, period. There’s no thought of gain other than your own satisfaction.’’ — Agencies
