Turman was born in Los Angeles, California on November 28, 1926, into a Jewish family.

[4][5] He also produced other films such as Pretty Poison (1968), The Great White Hope (1970), The Thing (1982),[6] Mass Appeal (1984), Short Circuit (1986), The River Wild (1994), and American History X (1998).

[9] He served as the director of The Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California.

[10] In 2014, he appeared as a guest critic on the fourth season of the web series On Cinema.

[11] Turman died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles on July 1, 2023, at the age of 96.