Natalie Wood

by Gavin Lambert

  Chapter 3: Growing Pains

  Epigraph: Donfeld to author. Natalie at Esalen: Donfeld, Stanislav and Christina Grof to author. Jack the Jabber: Mart Crowley to author. Beverly Hills Halloween: Natalie Wood to author. Pride of the Family: Fay Wray, On the Other Hand (St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1989). Natalie’s Warner Bros. contract: Warner Bros. file, USC Special Collections. Rebel Without a Cause: Richard Beymer, Dennis Hopper, Stewart Stern to author; Natalie Wood at AFI Seminar. Natalie’s report card: Natalie Wood private archive; Natalie to author. Graduation: Olga Viripaeff to author. The Searchers: Natalie Wood at AFI Seminar. Jack Warner and 3331 Laurel Canyon Boulevard: Jack Warner file, USC. John Ford and Robert Wagner: Wagner to author. Nick Ray and Natalie’s urine sample: Wagner to author. Heidi and death of James Dean: Jeannie Carson to author. A Cry in the Night: Natalie Wood, AFI Seminar. The Burning Hills: Warner Bros. files, USC. Natalie’s wristband: Donfeld to author. Maria and Henry Willson, Natalie at parties: John Carlyle to author. Willson and “respectability”: Nan Morris Robinson to author. Tab Hunter and Natalie: Hunter to author. Natalie and Hugh O’Brian: Olga Viripaeff to author. Natalie and gay men: Robert Wagner to author. Natalie on Elvis Presley: Sarah Gregson to author. Norman Brokaw, Natalie and Maria: Brokaw to author. Karl Malden and Natalie: Malden to author. Natalie and Robert Wagner’s courtship: Wagner to author; Natalie Wood in American Weekly (5/19/58), confirmed by Wagner to author. Wagner on rumors of male lovers: Wagner to author. Natalie and Natasha Zepaloff: Natasha Lofft to author. Herman Wouk and Natalie: Wouk in American Weekly (5/11/58). Natalie and Claire Trevor on Marjorie Morningstar: Donfeld and the late Claire Trevor to author. Wagner on Morningstar location: Wagner to author. Natalie and Kings Go Forth: Norman Brokaw to author. Frank Sinatra: Tom Kuntz and Phil Kuntz, The Sinatra Files (Three Rivers Press, New York, 2000). Natalie as flirt: James B. Sikking to author. Natalie’s journal: Natalie Wood private archive.

  Chapter 4: Love and Marriage

  Epigraph quotes: Natasha Gregson Wagner and Robert Wagner to author. Bridal shower and train to Phoenix: Mary Sale to author. Jack Warner’s gift: Jack Warner file, USC. Honeymoon: Natalie Wood in American Weekly; Robert Wagner to author. Natalie on Sinatra show: Warner Bros. files, USC. All Steve Trilling memos: Warner Bros. files, USC. Natalie and The Devil’s Disciple: Steve Trilling memo. Suspension: Warner Bros. files. Robert Wagner on Nick Gurdin’s drunken driving, and Maria’s reaction to leaving 3331 Laurel Canyon Boulevard: Wagner to author. Natalie’s new contract: Warner Bros. files, USC. Natalie on negotiations with Warner: Roy Plomley, Plomley’s Pick (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1982). Hated Cash McCall: Mart Crowley to author. Natalie’s letter to Warner on return to work: Jack Warner files, USC. Tab Hunter buys out contract: Hunter to author. 714 North Beverly Drive: Mart Crowley and Asa Maynor to author. Natalie on bathtub and marriage: Arnold Schulman to author. FBI surveillance at Atlantic City party: The Sinatra Files. Barbara Gould and Nick Adams: Robert Wagner to author. Natalie and Mrs. Wagner: Mart Crowley to author. Lana pushed into background: Robert Banas and Gigi Perreau to author. Olga disagrees: Olga Viripaeff to author. Natalie on Lana: Peggy Griffin to author. Bob Hope Show: Warner Bros. files, USC. Inge and Natalie: Robert Wagner to author. Kazan-Jack Warner correspondence: Warner Bros. files, USC. Natalie’s “game” with Warner Bros.: Natalie Wood, AFI Seminar. Splendor in the Grass, Natalie and RJ’s marriage, Natalie and Warren Beatty, “everybody on the emotional edge,” suicide scene: Mart Crowley to author. Beatty’s proposal: Joan Collins, Past Imperfect (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1984). Bathtub scene: Natalie Wood, AFI Seminar. Kazan’s version of suicide scene: Elia Kazan, A Life (Knopf, New York, 1988). Natalie on Kazan as “trickster”: Robert Wagner to author. Casting of West Side Story: Donfeld to author; United Artists files, USC. Jerry Robbins and Robert Wise view Splendor footage: Robbins in Starring Natalie Wood. West Side Story: Robert Banas, Richard Beymer, Mart Crowley, Donfeld, Rita Stone to author. Natalie on Robbins: AFI Seminar. Natalie and Rome Adventure: Mart Crowley to author. Natalie granted indefinite leave: Warner Bros. files, USC. Marriage breakup: Robert Wagner and Mart Crowley to author. The “nucleus”: Asa Maynor to author.

  Chapter 5: Love and Marriage (Encore)

  Epigraph quotes: to author. Warren Beatty: Leslie Caron and Guy McElwaine to author. Natalie at Chalon Road, All Fall Down location, St. Ives Drive after Bel-Air fire: Mart Crowley to author. RJ’s note: Natalie Wood private archive. Leonard Spigelgass, Delmer Daves and Jule Styne on Gypsy: Warner Bros. files, USC. Karl Malden on LeRoy and Rosalind Russell: Malden to author. Natalie on LeRoy: AFI Seminar. Natalie’s confrontation scene with Mama Rose: Mart Crowley to author. Nick Gurdin loses driver’s license: Robert Wagner to author. Natalie and Dr. Lindon: Asa Maynor to author. Natalie’s daybooks: Natalie Wood private archive. Start of Natalie’s dependence on sleeping pills: Guy McElwaine to author. Natalie and President Kennedy: Robert Wagner to author. Wagner on The Longest Day: George Segal to author. RJ, David Niven, Marion Donen and Mart Crowley in Rome: Robert Wagner, Mart Crowley and Kate Wagner to author. Donen’s detective: Robert Wagner, Mart Crowley to author. McElwaine and Schoenfeld: McElwaine to author. Love with the Proper Stranger: Robert Mulligan and Arnold Schulman to author. Robbins proposes marriage: Robert Wagner and Mart Crowley to author. Arthur Loew and Natalie: Stewart Stern to author. Edith Piaf project: Donfeld to author. Cassandra at the Wedding: Mart Crowley and Martin Manulis to author. RJ and Natalie at Arthur Loew’s house: Robert Wagner to author. Maria and Natasha Zepaloff visit Natalie: Natasha Lofft to author. Natalie and Paul Ziffren: Micky Ziffren to author. Russian Easter lunch: Stewart Stern to author. Natalie on Arthur Loew: Natalie Wood to author. Natalie and RJ at La Scala: Mart Crowley to author. Natalie at Hollywood parties: Donfeld, Dominick Dunne, Asa Maynor and Richard Gregson to author. Natalie as friend: Tom Mankiewicz and Mart Crowley to author. Frances Klampt: RJ and Maureen O’Hara to author; Shirley Temple, Child Star (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1988). The Great Race: Donfeld and Jack Lemmon to author; Natalie Wood at AFI Seminar; Warner Bros. files, USC. Natalie’s dislike of Tony Curtis: Robert Wagner to author. David Lange and Natalie: Lange to author. Paris nightclub tour: Donfeld to author. Natalie’s suicide attempt: Mart Crowley and David Lange to author. Warren Beatty at house: Beatty, Mart Crowley to author. Inside Daisy Clover contract: Warner Bros. files, USC. Daisy Clover in production: Natalie Wood, AFI Seminar. Encounter on set with RJ: Robert Wagner to author; William Goldman, Adventures in the Screen Trade (Warner Books, New York, 1973). Ladislow Blatnik and Natalie: Asa Maynor and Mart Crowley to author. Natalie and This Property Is Condemned: Sydney Pollack to author. John Houseman and This Property: Houseman, Final Dress (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1983). Ralph Roberts letter to Natalie: Natalie Wood private archive. Richard Gregson and Natalie: Gregson to author. Henry Jaglom and Natalie: Jaglom to author. Harvard Lampoon: Natalie Wood in Starring Natalie Wood. Natalie and Gregson in London: Gregson and Delphine Mann to author. Return to Los Angeles and episode with Nicky Hilton: Richard Gregson to author. Natalie and Eugene McCarthy: Micky Ziffren to author. Natalie and Gregson back in London: Gregson to author. Natalie, Paul Mazursky and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice: Mazursky to author. Marriage and honeymoon of Natalie and Gregson, Natalie pregnant, start of problems: Gregson to author.

  Chapter 6: First and Last Things

  Natalie epigraph on first pregnancy: Starring Natalie Wood. Mankiewicz and Wagner epigraphs: to author. Foreman party: Linda Foreman and Robert Wagner to author. Natalie, “I’ve fallen in love”: John Irvin to author. Natalie and motherhood: Leslie Caron, David Lange to author. The Headshrinker’s Test: Richard Gregson to author. Ann Watson: Guy McElwaine and Sarah Gregson to author. Poolside barbecue, phone call and consequences: Richard Gregson and George Rondo to author. Natalie forgetting keys: Robert Wagner to author. Trip to Europe: Mart Crowley, Olga Viripaeff to author. Property settlement: Natalie Wood private archive. RJ and Rosemary’s Baby: Mart Crowley to author. Steve McQueen call: Robert Wagner to aut
hor. Smedley’s letter: Natalie Wood private archive. Lana Wood loans, visits to Wagner house: Elizabeth Applegate and Wagner to author. Maria and Natasha in Palm Springs: Robert and Natasha Gregson Wagner to author. Norma Crane and radiation treatment: Sue Barton and Mart Crowley to author. Natalie’s remarks at funeral: Natalie Wood private archive. 603 North Canon Drive as “family house”: Robert and Kate Wagner, Asa Maynor to author. Studio raids: Mart Crowley to author. Natalie as mother: Natasha Gregson Wagner and Richard Gregson to author. Natalie’s letters to RJ: courtesy of Robert Wagner. Splendour: Guy McElwaine, Delphine Mann. Natalie at San Francisco Film Festival: Arnold Stiefel, Mart Crowley to author. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Natalie Wood at AFI Seminar; Derek Granger and Robert Wagner to author; Anthony Holden, Laurence Olivier (Atheneum, New York, 1988). Natalie and RJ in Hawaii: Tom Mankiewicz, James B. Sikking, Mart Crowley, and Robert Wagner to author. From Here to Eternity: Natalie Wood, AFI Seminar. The Cracker Factory: Burt Brinckerhoff to author; Natalie Wood, AFI Seminar. Natalie in Moscow: Peter Ustinov and RJ to author; Natalie Wood, AFI Seminar. Nick Gurdin’s heart attack: Peggy Griffin to author. Natalie’s directives to physicians: Natalie Wood private archive. The Mirror Crack’d: Barry Sandler to author. Natalie’s hospital visit to Nick Gurdin: Mart Crowley to author. Eulogy: Natalie Wood private archive. Nick and burial in Serbian cemetery: Olga Viripaeff to author. Vladimir Zacharenko’s letter to Wagners: Natalie Wood private archive. Natalie and Zelda: John Irvin to author. Natalie at Rochford Clinic: Jeffery Rochford to author. “Never told RJ”: Robert Wagner to author. Natalie’s first impressions of Walken: John Irvin, Donfeld to author. Edith Head to Good Samaritan: Donfeld to author. Natalie on Brainstorm location: Robert Wagner, Michael Childers, Donfeld, Stan and Christina Grof to author. Olivier cable and Viveca Lindfors letter: Natalie Wood private archive. Natalie’s conditions for Life feature: Donfeld to author. Natalie and Walken at Roddy McDowall’s: Dennis Osborne to author. Memo to Stan Kamen: Natalie Wood private archive. Natalie on Edith Head: Mike Steen, Hollywood Speaks (Putnam, New York, 1974). Thanksgiving dinner: Delphine Mann to author. Natalie to Sophie Irvin about the ocean: John Irvin to author. Dennis Davern and boat: Robert Wagner to author. Last weekend on boat and Catalina: Robert Wagner to author. Natalie’s phone calls from Catalina: Mart Crowley and Josh Donen to author. Kurt Craig, Dennis Davern, Ann Laughton, Robert Wagner, Christopher Walken, Linda Winkler statements: L.A. police records. The search: Robert Wagner and Douglas Bombard to author; Thomas T. Noguchi, with Joseph de Mana, Coroner (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1984). 603 North Canon before the funeral: Elizabeth Applegate, Josh Donen, Tom Mankiewicz, Guy McElwaine, Robert Wagner to author. Preparing Natalie’s body: Mart Crowley to author. Telegrams: Elizabeth Applegate to author. Richard Gregson, Natasha, Courtney, and Liz Applegate at mortuary: Gregson, Natasha Gregson Wagner, and Applegate to author. Elizabeth Taylor arrival: Liz Applegate and Arnold Stiefel to author. Rock Hudson and Fred Astaire: Donfeld to author. List of pallbearers at funeral: Natalie Wood private archive. Natasha and Courtney at funeral: Richard Gregson to author. RJ’s interview with Rasure: Robert Wagner to author. RJ “tried … to make sense of what happened”: Mart Crowley to author. RJ’s discussion with Doug Bombard: Bombard to author. Blatnik in Gstaad: Robert Wagner to author. Lana Wood and Natalie’s clothes: Liz Applegate, Natasha Gregson Wagner and Robert Wagner to author. Maria colorful again: Natasha Lofft to author. Lana at Maria’s condo, her constant requests for loans: Liz Applegate and Robert Wagner to author. RJ moves Maria to Barrington Plaza: Liz Applegate and Robert Wagner to author. Maria and Alzheimer’s: Natasha Gregson Wagner, Natasha Lofft and Robert Wagner to author. Zepaloff and dementia: Natasha Lofft to author.

  Chapter 7: Something Extra

  Kazan epigraph: Starring Natalie Wood. Natalie epigraph: AFI Seminar. Mary Astor on Elizabeth Taylor: Mary Astor, A Life on Film (Delacorte Press, New York, 1971). Margaret O’Brien and Natalie’s monkey imitation: Suzanne Finstad, Natasha. Kazan and Peggy Ann Garner: Kazan, A Life. Natalie on Actors Studio: AFI Seminar. George Seaton and Edmund Gwenn discussing comedy: Natalie Wood, AFI Seminar. Allan Dwan on Republic: Peter Bogdanovich, Who the Devil Made It. Kazan and Splendor in the Grass, “one good moment” in Gypsy, “body movement is very important”: Natalie Wood, AFI Seminar. All quotes from George Segal: Segal to author. Natalie’s list of actor-friendly directors: AFI Seminar. Natalie in This Property: Sydney Pollack to author. “Orgy” scene in Bob & Carol: Paul Mazursky to author. Natalie in The Cracker Factory: Burt Brinckerhoff to author. Bette Davis quote: Robert I. Fitzhenry: Barnes & Noble Book of Quotations (Barnes & Noble Books, New York, 1987).

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  THIS BOOK owes its primary existence to Robert Wagner, who once said to me: “When you tell the truth about Natalie as you see it, I shall be at peace.”

  The cooperation that he offered was indispensable and in every sense unconditional. He never attempted to influence what I wrote or declared any topic off bounds; he talked very openly, and offered many valuable leads. I’m equally grateful for the same cooperation and openness to a few others who were particularly close to Natalie: Elizabeth Applegate, Mart Crowley, Donfeld, Richard Gregson, Olga Viripaeff, Courtney Wagner, Kate Wagner and Natasha Gregson Wagner.

  Equal thanks, also, to others who agreed to talk about Natalie, Maria Gurdin and/or the Russian connection, in person, by phone or by e-mail: Irene Agnew, Elizabeth Ashley, Robert Banas, Sue Barton, Warren Beatty, Richard Benson, Charles Berliner, Richard Beymer, Douglas Bombard, Burt Brinckerhoff, Norman Brokaw, the late John Carlyle, Leslie Caron, Carlton Carpenter, Jeannie Carson, Michael Childers, Dick Clayton, Tom Courtenay, Trent Dolan, Josh Donen, Dominick Dunne, Linda Foreman, Derek Granger, Sarah Gregson, Peggy Griffin, Christina and Stanislav Grof, Dennis Hopper, Tab Hunter, John Irvin, Henry Jaglom, Jim Janisch, Nina Jaure, David Lange, Hope Lange, Jack Larson, the late Jack Lemmon, Constantin Liuzunie, Natasha Lofft, Karl Malden, Tom Mankiewicz, Delphine Mann, Martin Manulis, Asa Maynor, Paul Mazursky, Lon McCallister, Guy McElwaine, Juliet Mills, Robert Mulligan, Ronald Neame, Connie Nichols, Maureen O’Hara, Dennis Osborne, Gigi Perreau, Jeffery Rochford, Sydney Pollack, Richard Polo, George Rondo, Mary Sale, Barry Sandler, Arnold Schulman, George Segal, James B. Sikking, Stewart Stern, Arnold Stiefel, Rita Stone, the late Claire Trevor, Sir Peter Ustinov, Dmitri Viripaeff, Jill St. John Wagner, Marion (Donen) Wagner, Dmitri Zacharenko, Micky Ziffren.

  Many thanks also to Sandra Archer and the staff of the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for their informed help and cooperation; Michael Childers for such beautiful prints of his photographs of Natalie; Dominick Dunne for his private photographs of Natalie; Peter Fitzgerald for a VHS of his documentary West Side Stories; Ron Levaco for a VHS of his documentary Round Eyes in the Middle Kingdom, about Russian refugees in China; Dennis Osborne for a VHS of Natalie among the guests at an all-star 1965 Roddy McDowall party; Richard Shapiro for a VHS of The Cracker Factory; Nan Morris Robinson, former Henry Willson associate, for background information on Willson; Miles Kreuger, historian of the American musical theater, for verifying the singers who dubbed Natalie’s vocals; Olga Viripaeff, Constantin Liuzunie and Natasha Lofft for invaluable family photographs and documentation; Linda Foreman for Natalie’s letter to John Foreman; Sarah Gregson for Natalie’s letters to her; Noelle Carter and Ned Comstock at University of Southern California Cinema and Television Library, Special Collections, for allowing me to consult the Warner Bros., Jack Warner, Natalie Wood and United Artists files; and the Museum of Television and Radio, Beverly Hills, for arranging viewings of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, From Here to Eternity, I’m a Fool, Heidi, Miracle at Potters Farm, and the AFI Tribute to Orson Welles.

  Finally, as always, many thanks to my always creative editor, Victoria Wilson.

 

 

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