Playwright, screenwriter and author of biographies and historical novels. She started her writing career while at the Pasadena Playhouse. Her play "Bitter Harvest" was performed in London to good critical reviews. She had another hit with "My Dear Children" (1939) on Broadway. Turney later worked under contract at Warner Brothers, 1945-47, writing vehicles for the studio's strong female stars,
Bette Davis and
Joan Crawford. She was active as a writer of teleplays from 1953 and retired ten years later to Sierra Madre, California.