In 1978, the 16-year-old Turner left home to pursue a modeling career with the
Wilhelmina Modeling Agency in New York City. She began her acting career in 1980 in
Hollywood, appearing in several episodes of
Dallas. In October 1981 Turner could be seen in a television commercial for Buf-Puf body sponge. She continued to make guest appearances on television shows throughout the 1980s before landing the role of
Laura Templeton on
General Hospital. By 1986, Turner had become frustrated by the quality of the roles she was getting. As she told the
Chicago Tribune five years later, "I was always working, but I wanted to do more serious roles and knew that I had the talent. I had to get away from Hollywood." Disregarding her agent's advice, Turner moved to New York in order to hone her craft, studying in Manhattan with
Marcia Haufrecht of the
Actors Studio. I gained a new respect and appreciation for acting in New York. And I decided that I didn't want to lock myself into roles that portrayed women negatively. I turned a lot of (TV and film) opportunities down because of that. Everyone thought I was crazy. I was really going for broke. I only had eight dollars left and had become very depressed right before I got the part in
Northern Exposure. Cast as Maggie O'Connell in 1990, Turner's work on
Northern Exposure earned her an
Emmy nomination in 1993 and three consecutive
Golden Globe nominations from 1992 to 1994. Accolades aside, the role itself was a positive experience for Turner, following the "damsel in distress" roles that had all but driven her from Hollywood in the first place. "I've found my ideal character in Maggie," she told the
Tribune. "She's smarter and stronger than all the men she meets." Turner's own move from Hollywood to New York was mirrored by Maggie's, from her affluent
Grosse Pointe community to the remote fictional backwater of
Cicely, Alaska. Turner said about Maggie that "She went against the grain and challenged herself by moving to Alaska." with co-president Cathy Gillespie, aimed at educating American adults and students about the non-partisan relevancy of the
U.S. Constitution. On May 21, 2011, Turner began hosting a live two-hour talk show,
The Janine Turner Show, on talk radio station
KLIF (AM) in Dallas, and in Houston,
KPRC (AM), followed by
iHeart Radio until 2013. It was awarded "Best Radio Show in Dallas".
A Little Bit Vulnerable: On Hollywood, God, Sobriety, & Politics,
Wisdom For Each Day: Inherited From My Great Grandfather, and
Artificial Intelligentsia Vs. Primal Sense.
Holding Her Head High focuses on single mothers through history, such as Rachel Lavein Fawcett, the abandoned single mother of
Alexander Hamilton. ==Activism and advocacy==