Natasha
Page 57
The day Davern was trying to reach Lana, he blurted out the same confession to Cheryl Quarmyne, a receptionist at the office where Lana worked in 1992. Quarmyne recalls taking a message from an apparently intoxicated Davern, who was desperate to speak to Lana from what sounded like a bar. When Quarmyne told him to phone Lana at home, Davern said, “‘Look, look, look. Let me just tell you what she needs to know’… and then he just started talking.” The skipper’s account to Quarmyne was virtually identical to what he told Lana when he phoned her a few minutes later. “I think his conscience was just bothering him,” observes Quarmyne, “and he just decided to call, just to get it off his chest.”
According to Rulli, Davern did confess to Lana in 1992: “not the specifics, but in general.” Rulli claims there is still more to that night than Davern revealed even to Lana, describing it as “an incredible, unbelievable story, and people with sense immediately know it’s the only story that makes sense.”
Davern’s scenario to Lana might tie together the argument between the Wagners that Warren Archer said he heard around eleven P.M., R.J. telling Paul Wintler he had a “fight” with Natalie before she disappeared, the woman heard crying for help and a drunken man “mocking” or arguing with her, the long passage of time before R.J. radioed for help, his odd explanations for her disappearance from the boat.
In Rulli’s opinion, the police “overlooked everything… it was a really botched investigation.”
Lana believes Davern’s confession to her. “It makes sense to me. It’s the only thing that makes sense… because otherwise, what the heck was R.J. waiting for?”
Davern’s tale is clouded by his secretive behavior, tainted by his profit motive and riddled with his own inconsistencies and piecemeal revelations. Nevertheless, Davern is the only witness who has spoken at length, and his media accounts of the evening have never been publicly denied by Wagner.
Rulli claims she encouraged Davern to tell authorities, “and it’s just something, for his reasons, he would never do. Maybe [out of] fear, loyalty, your whole lifestyle. Your whole life is turned upside down within a few hours, and you’re as drunk as you ever were in your entire life while this is all happening, you’re looking for a leader. And as close as he was to Robert Wagner, he chose Robert Wagner as that leader.”
Davern’s and Rulli’s credibility is further compromised by a joint appearance they made on a Geraldo Rivera special in 1992 called Now It Can Be Told. Davern balked at telling Rivera how Natalie went overboard, asking to consult with Rulli privately, unaware they were being filmed. As they were being recorded on a hidden camera, Rulli said to Davern, “This needs to be cleared up. We have to say how she got in the water, Den.” Then Rulli changed her mind, telling the skipper, “We put that in the book and we’ll make billions from it.”
Rulli claims her statement has been misconstrued.
What really happened on that awful, aberrant night may never be known. In the end, one is left with a sense of overwhelming loss, of tragedy, and of mystery; a feeling that Natalie should not have drowned during that strange, alcoholic, incoherent night on the Splendour, made even more heartbreaking and harrowing by her recurring dream she would die in water that was dark, her deepest fear.
The second tragedy is that Natalie, who lived to please, who always wanted things to turn out well in the end—a “good soul,” as her friend Redford said in simple eloquence—has been shadowed by the irresolution of the events from a night that was so unlike her.
As Christopher Walken would say of the movie they had not quite completed together, “Things that are left hanging are difficult.” Natalie’s older sister, Olga, would view her disappearance from the Splendour as a mystery, which it remains. “The guys were all up there getting loaded… who knows what happened?”
What is important, finally, is to remember Natalie’s life, and the characters she created on-screen—the poignant Austrian waif in Tomorrow Is Forever… precocious Susan in Miracle on 34th Street… tender, luminous Maria in West Side Story… Judy, the sensitive teenager in Rebel Without a Cause… brave, plucky Angie in Love with the Proper Stranger… vulnerable Deanie in Splendor in the Grass—the gifts Natalie gave her fans at the expense of her own identity.
“Natalie Wood,” her actress alter ego, lives on in the movies. What has been lost is Natasha.
“Ootra Vechereem Moodreunaya,” as Natalie said at the end of her eulogy for her Fahd. “Now we feel so sad about losing you, as one sometimes feels sad at nightfall. But we will have our morning when our spirits will lift, our sadness will lighten and we will realize we haven’t really lost you, because your uniqueness to us all will always live in our hearts.”
Spakoynee noch, Natasha.
Filmography
1944
Happy Land (Twentieth Century Fox). Director: Irving Pichel; Producer: Kenneth MacGowan; Screenwriters: Julian Josephson & Kathryn Scola; Novel: MacKinlay Kantor
1946
Tomorrow Is Forever (RKO). Director: Irving Pichel; Producer: David Lewis; Screenwriters: Gwen Bristow & Lenore J. Coffee
The Bride Wore Boots (Paramount). Director: Irving Pichel; Producer: Seton I. Miller; Screenwriter: Dwight Mitchell Wiley
1947
Miracle on 34th Street (Twentieth Century Fox). Director: George Seaton; Producer: William Perlberg; Screenwriter: George Seaton
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Twentieth Century Fox). Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz; Producer: Fred Kohlmar; Screenwriter: Philip Dunne
Driftwood (Republic). Director: Allan Dwan; Producer: Allan Dwan; Screenwriters: Mary Loos & Richard Sale
1948
Scudda Hoo Scudda Hay (Twentieth Century Fox). Director: F. Hugh Herbert; Producer: Walter Morosco; Screenwriter: F. Hugh Herbert
1949
Chicken Every Sunday (Twentieth Century Fox). Director: George Seaton; Producer: William Perlberg; Screenwriters: George Seaton & Valentine Davies
The Green Promise (RKO). Director: William D. Russell; Producers: Glenn McCarthy, Robert Paige; Screenwriter: Monty Collins
Father Was a Fullback (Twentieth Century Fox). Director: John M. Stahl; Producer: Fred Kohlmar; Screenwriters: Aleen Leslie, Casey Robinson, Mary Loos, Richard Sale
1950
No Sad Songs for Me (Columbia). Director: Rudolph Mate; Producer: Buddy Adler; Screenwriter: Howard Koch
Our Very Own (Goldwyn). Director: David Miller; Producer: Sam Goldwyn; Screenwriter: F. Hugh Herbert
Jackpot (Twentieth Century Fox). Director: Walter Lang; Producer: Samuel G. Engel; Screenwriters: Phoebe & Henry Ephron
1951
Never a Dull Moment (RKO). Director: George Marshall; Producer: Harriet Parsons; Screenwriters: Lou Breslow & Doris Anderson; Novel: Kay Swift
Dear Brat (Paramount). Director: William Seiter; Producer: Mel Epstein; Screenwriter: Devery Freeman
The Blue Veil (RKO). Director: Curtis Bernhardt; Producers: Jerry Wald & Norman Krasna; Screenwriter: Norman Corwin
1952
Just for You (Paramount). Director: Elliott Nugent; Producer: Pat Duggan; Screenwriter: Robert Carson
The Rose Bowl Story (Monogram/Republic). Director: William Beaudine; Producers: Richard Heermance & Walter Mirisch; Screenwriter: Charles R. Marion
The Star (Twentieth Century Fox). Director: Stuart Heisler; Producer: Bert E. Friedlob; Screenwriters: Katherine Albert & Dale Eunson
1954
The Silver Chalice (Warner Brothers). Director/Producer: Victor Saville; Screenwriter: Lesser Samuels; Novel: Thomas Costain
1955
One Desire (Universal/International). Director: Jerry Hopper; Producer: Ross Hunter; Screenwriters: Lawrence Roman & Robert Blees; Novel: Conrad Richter
Rebel Without a Cause (Warner Brothers). Director: Nicholas Ray; Producer: David Weisbart; Screenwriter: Stewart Stern, Adapted by Irving Schulman, Story by Nicholas Ray
1956
The Searchers (Warner Brothers). Director: John Ford; Executive Producer: Merian C. Cooper; Ass
ociate Producer: Patrick Ford; Screenwriter: Frank S. Nugent; Novel: Alan LeMay
A Cry in the Night (Warner Brothers). Director: Frank Tuttle; Producer: Alan Ladd; Screenwriter: David Dortort
The Burning Hills (Warner Brothers). Director: Stuart Heisler; Producer: Richard Whorf; Screenplay: Irving Wallace
The Girl He Left Behind (Warner Brothers). Director: David Butler; Producer: Frank Rosenberg; Screenwriter: Guy Trosper
1957
Bombers B-52 (Warner Brothers). Director: Gordon Douglas; Producer: Richard Whorf; Screenwriter: Irving Wallace; Story: Sam Rolfe
1958
Marjorie Morningstar (Warner Brothers). Director: Irving Rapper; Producer: Milton Sperling; Screenwriter: Everett Freeman; Novel: Herman Wouk
Kings Go Forth (United Artists). Director: Delmer Daves; Producer: Frank Ross; Screenwriter: Merle Miller
1960
Cash McCall (Warner Brothers). Director: Joseph Pevney; Producer: Henry Blanke; Screenwriters: Lenore Coffee & Marion Hargrove
All the Fine Young Cannibals (MGM). Director: Michael Anderson; Producer: Pandro S. Berman; Screenwriter: Robert Thom; Story: Rosamond Marshall
1961
Splendor in the Grass (Warner Brothers). Director: Elia Kazan; Producer: Elia Kazan; Screenwriter: William Inge
West Side Story (United Artists). Codirectors: Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins; Producer: Robert Wise; Associate Producer: Saul Chaplin; Screenwriter: Ernest Lehman; Book: Arthur Laurents
1962
Gypsy (Warner Brothers). Director: Mervyn LeRoy; Producer: Mervyn LeRoy; Screenwriter: Leonard Spigelgass
1963
Love with the Proper Stranger (Paramount). Director: Robert Mulligan; Producer: Alan J. Pakula; Screenwriter: Arnold Schulman
1964
Sex and the Single Girl (Warner Brothers). Director: Richard Quine; Producer: William T. Orr; Screenwriters: Joseph Heller & David R. Schwartz; Story: Joseph Hoffman; Book: Helen Gurley Brown
1965
The Great Race (Warner Brothers). Director: Blake Edwards; Producer: Martin Jurow; Screenwriter: Arthur Ross
1966
Inside Daisy Clover (Warner Brothers). Director: Robert Mulligan; Producer: Alan J. Pakula; Screenwriter: Gavin Lambert
This Property Is Condemned (Paramount). Director: Sydney Pollack; Producers: Ray Stark, John Houseman; Screenwriters: Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Coe & Edith Sommer; Play: Tennessee Williams
Penelope (MGM). Director: Arthur Hiller; Producer: Arthur Loew, Jr.; Screenwriter: George Wells; Novel: E. V. Cunningham
1969
Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice (Columbia). Director: Paul Mazursky; Executive Producer: Michael J. Frankovich; Producer: Larry Tucker; Screenwriters: Paul Mazursky & Larry Tucker
1972
The Candidate (Warner Brothers)-cameo as Natalie Wood. Director: Michael Ritchie; Producer: Walter Coblenz; Screenwriter: Jeremy Larner
1975
Peeper (Twentieth Century Fox). Director: Peter Hyams; Producers: Robert Chartoff & Irwin Winkler; Screenwriter: W. D. Richter; Novel: Keith Laumer
1979
Meteor (Universal/International). Director: Ronald Neame; Producers: Arnold Orgolini & Theodore Parvin; Screenwriters: Stanley Mann & Edmund H. North; Story: Edmund H. North
1980
The Last Married Couple in America (Universal). Director: Gilbert Cates; Producers: Edward S. Feldman & John Herman Shaner; Screenwriter: John Herman Shaner
1982
Brainstorm (MGM). Director/Producer: Douglas Trumbull; Executive Producer: Joel L. Freeman; Producer: John Foreman; Screenwriters: Robert Stitzel & Philip Frank Messina
Television Appearances
1952
Playmates, NBC, Schaefer Century Theater
Quite a Viking, NN, Hollywood Playhouse
1953
Pride of the Family, ABC series
1954
Pride of the Family, ABC series
“Return of the Dead,” CBS, Public Defender
The Plot Against Mrs. Pomeroy, NN, Studio ’57
I Am a Fool, CBS, General Electric Theater
Alice in Wonderland
Opening Night
Somebody I Know
Life with Luigi
1955
The Wild Bunch, CBS, Four Star Playhouse
Too Old for Dolls, NBC, Ford Theater
The Old Triangle, NN, Mayor of the Town
Heidi, NBC
Feathertop, CBS, General Electric Theater
Miracle at Potter’s Farm, CBS, Studio One
The Wedding Gift, ABC, King’s Row Theater
1956
The Deadly Riddle, ABC, Warner Brothers
Perry Como Show, guest appearance
Carnival, NBC, Kaiser Aluminum Hour
House Party with Art Linkletter
Ed Sullivan, CBS, Modern Screen Awards
1957
Girl on a Subway, ABC, Conflict
The Bob Hope Show (Special), NBC, guest appearance
1958
The Bob Hope Show (Special), NBC, guest appearance
Sinatra Show, ABC, guest appearance
1959
The Bob Hope Show (Special), NBC, guest appearance
1960
Jack Benny Show, CBS, guest appearance with Robert Wagner
1973
The Affair (telefilm), ABC
1975
“The Cruise Ship Murders,” CBS, Switch, guest appearance
1976
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (special telefilm), NBC
1977
A Salute to Bette Davis, CBS
1978
Stars Salute Israel at 80, ABC
1979
From Here to Eternity (miniseries), NBC
The Cracker Factory (telefilm), ABC
Hart to Hart (pilot), ABC (cameo as Natasha Gurdin)
Treasures of the Hermitage (special), NBC
1980
The Memory of Eva Ryker (telefilm), CBS
Notes
[SF=Suzanne Finstad]
ACT ONE
CHAPTER 1
NATALIE’S REAL NAME: Birth certificate #4866, County of San Francisco
MARIA WAS COLORFUL: Lois Tenney to SF, 6/13/99; Constantine Liuzunie et al. to SF, 7/10/99; Shirley Moore Mann to SF, 2/2/00; Phyllis Quinn to SF, 4/28/99; Randal Malone to SF, 1/25/00
DEVIOUS: Scott Marlowe to SF, 6/8/99; Maryann Marinkovich Brooks to SF, 11/4/99
PATHOLOGICAL LIAR: Lana Wood to SF, 8/19/99 & 8/24/99
OBSESSED W/NATALIE: Phyllis Quinn to SF; Lana Wood to SF; Shirley Mann to SF; etc.
NOT SURE WHERE BORN: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 7/11/99; Phyllis Quinn to SF
BORN BARNAUL: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99; Kalia’s birth certificate; ship’s log
BORN TOMSK: Maria Gurdin to Sue Russell, 1/10/87, for Star Mothers, Georgia Holt and Phyllis Quinn with Sue Russell, Simon and Schuster, 1988; Natalie: A Memoir by Her Sister, Lana Wood and Jake Enterprises Ltd., G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1984
PALATIAL ESTATE: Shirley Mann to SF; Olga Viripaeff to SF; Randal Malone to SF, 1/25/00
YOUNG ACTOR: Randal Malone to SF
MARIA’S GENEALOGY: Constantine Liuzunie to SF; Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn; etc.
“CLOSE RELATIONS” TO: Maria Gurdin to Sue Russell, 1/10/87, for Star Mothers
BORN MARIA KULEVA: Constantine Liuzunie to SF; Marriage and death certificates of Maria Gurdin
SOMEONE A COUNTESS: Constantine Liuzunie to SF
RUSSIAN SCHOLAR: Professor Stefan Frank, UCLA Russian History Department, to SF, 2/8/00
PARENTS TOOK HER TO CHINA: Robert Hyatt to SF, 5/10/99
KNEW HOW TO SPEAK FRENCH: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99
KALIA COULDN’T: Constantine Liuzunie to SF
NAT TRIBUTE: A Tribute to a Very Special Lady, KCOP-TV, written and directed by Gary Davis, produced by Peter Schlesinger and Harry Kooperstein
FOUND ON HILLSIDE: Lana Wood to SF, 8/19/99
MARIA LAUGHE
D: Shirley Mann to SF
HOGWASH: Constantine Liuzunie to SF
LANA DIDN’T BELIEVE: Lana Wood to SF, 8/19/99
BORN IN DACHA: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99
FAMILY PHOTO: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99; Phyllis Quinn to SF; Constantine Liuzunie to SF
TWINS: Maria Gurdin to Sue Russell for Star Mothers
SHE BELIEVED IT: Randal Malone to SF
WEIGHED 2 POUNDS: Phyllis Quinn to SF; Maria Gurdin to Sue Russell, 1/10/87
EYES LIKE FATHER’S: Maria Gurdin to Sue Russell, 1/10/87
GRAY-BLUE: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99
BLACK AND BEADY: Sue Russell to SF, 4/30/99
SWORE/JEWELRY: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99
KEPT BOOKS, WORSHIPPED: Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn, 11/85
KALIA SUPPORTED: Constantine and George Liuzunie et al. to SF
FOOTNOTE: RUSSIAN SCHOLAR: Professor Stefan Frank to SF
TOWN NAMED: Maria Gurdin to Sue Russell, 1/10/87
ARRANGED MARRIAGE: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99
DIDN’T COOK: Constantine Liuzunie to SF
FAMILY HISTORY: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99; Constantine Liuzunie to SF; Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn
SCHOLAR: Professor Frank to SF
PROMISE: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99
DEMENTED: Nina Arrabit to SF, 1/27/00
QIQIHAR ANGELS: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99; Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn; Shirley Mann to SF
HARBIN LIKE RUSSIA, “NICE” STREET: Professor Olga Yokoyama to SF
YOUNG BOYS, GREAT DANCER: Randal Malone to SF
CHURCH TO EYE BOYS: Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn
BALLET: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99; Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn
LOOKING IN MIRROR: Olga Viripaeff to SF, 5/7/99