ICAN STILL remember the perspiration dripping into my eyes even though the air conditioning was going full blast.

It was 1981. I was emerging from a screening room in Washington where I had just previewed the steamy cinematic thriller "Body Heat," starring Kathleen Turner.

Everybody in the movie seemed to be sweating in the Florida heat. So would a lot of members of the audience, at least the male ones, after watching what one reviewer called Turner's "jaw-dropping debut" as the ruthless, over-the-top villainess Matty Walker. Her provocative physicality knew no bounds.

As my eyes adjusted to the lighting of the lobby, I looked down a hallway and there she was: Kathleen Turner, wearing the same white dress she wore in the movie.

Thus began the luncheon interview with this brand-new film star that I and a handful of other film critics would long remember.

I recall feeling a bit uncomfortable during the discussion at lunch. It was as if some of the questioners couldn't distinguish between the actress and the character. More than a few questions were frank and explicit to the point of being invasive, I thought.

But Turner had no problem fielding them, swatting them this way and that and appearing to thoroughly enjoy her time with "the boys." It was a persona we would see a lot of in the years to come.

Those are some of the memories that were going through my head a couple of weeks ago while spending another 90 minutes with this anything-but-boring actress. I was in the audience for "Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins," the one-woman show starring Turner at Arena Stage in Washington through Oct. 28.

Almost a third of a century after that "Body Heat" lunch, Turner still has the charisma of a star, if not the looks. Years of battling rheumatoid arthritis and dealing with a drinking problem have taken their toll.

It doesn't surprise me that Turner hasn't let those problems stop her. From those exhilarating romps with Michael Douglas in "Romancing the Stone" and two other films, Turner has graduated into more mature parts and lots of stage work.

Though I can't say I was bowled over by her performance at Arena, she's still got that husky voice reminiscent of Lauren Bacall and that Mae West ability to be provocative in a way that dares anybody to resist her.

As Molly Ivins, the liberal columnist and commentator from Texas who delighted in ripping apart the Bushes, Turner has latched on to a role that blends well with her real-life political viewpoint.

Her career demonstrates how an actress who got her start based in part on her beauty can still find ways to rise above the wear and tear of age and malady.

She has soldiered on, as provocatively as she can. And that's something to salute.

Ed Jones: 540/374-5401
Email: edjones@freelancestar.com