He had built up a record of 19-1-1 when personal troubles raised their head and affected his career for the first, but not the last, time. In 1945, he had tried to commit suicide by swallowing liniment following an argument with his then-girlfriend, Mary Stack; because suicide and the attempt thereof was, bizarrely, against the law, he was investigated but was not charged when he argued persuasively that the ingestion had been accidental. Two years later Turpin and Stack were married, but the union was unhappy, largely as a result of Turpin’s drunkenness, philandering, and short temper.
