The speaker
The poem's speaker is an active, first-person character who connects Lana Turner's collapse to a revelation about the difference between life in New York and life and Hollywood.
you
A specific, unnamed figure, presumably well-acquainted with the speaker, whose meeting with the speaker was further delayed by the headline announcing Turner's collapse.
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American model and actress, known for her roles in films such as The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and her pin-up campaigns. Though Lana Turner is not physically present in the scene of the poem, the headline announcing her collapse instigates the poem. She is the driving force behind the speaker's realization at the end.
