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Natasha

Page 62

by Suzanne Finstad


  MARRIAGE RUMORS: 8/9/57 Daily Variety; 9/8/57 New York Daily News

  CALLS HER BUG; SAME HOTEL: 12/57 Motion Picture; Lana Wood to SF (same hotel)

  KISSING FOREHEAD; LOVE SEARCH ENDED: 12/57 Motion Picture; “Be Careful, Nat… It’s Your Heart,” Natalie Wood, Screen Stars, November 1957

  “MR. WOOD”: Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald- Examiner, 9/21/57

  SPEND LIFE IN CRAPPER; SINATRA GAVE HOBOKEN GUIDE: Faye Nuell Mayo to SF

  RUTA LEE COMMENTS: Ruta Lee to SF

  THE NATALIE; MY OTHER LADY: Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 10/1/57; 10/9/57 Hollywood Reporter

  NO DAY OFF: 11/57 Seventeen

  SINATRA FROM GREATSVILLE: “Natalie Wood on Love and Marriage,” Ruth Schandorff, Bride & Home, spring 1958

  PROPOSAL: 5/18/58 American Weekly; Sugar Bates to SF, 8/4/99; 8/57 Cosmopolitan; Lana Wood to SF

  FIRST CALL TO LOUELLA: Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 12/7/57

  SHOUP GOWN: 12/18/57 Daily Variety

  MARY ANN WAS CONCERNED: Maryann Marinkovich Brooks to SF

  TOPIC OF SAME STORIES: Jim Westmoreland/Rad Fulton to SF

  MARRIED TO GET AWAY: Olga Viripaeff to SF

  MEAL TICKET: Jeanne Hyatt to SF

  NO GOOD WILL COME: Robert Hyatt to SF

  PHOTOGRAPHER ALONG: “Photoplay Was There,” Photoplay, March 1958 [Note: Bill Avery was the photographer]

  CHAPTER 18

  HONEYMOON: “Natalie and Bob’s Hectic Honeymoon,” Louella Parsons, Modern Screen, April 1958; Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 1/1/58; “Natalie and Bob, Our Wedding,” Photoplay, April 1958; “Rice and Rings and Wedding Things,” Marcia Borie, Motion Picture, April 1958

  ADAMS ON HONEYMOON: James Bacon, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 12/3/70; “Their Biggest Problem Is,” Walter Crowley, Photoplay, June 1962

  ENTERTAINING GUY: Robert Conrad to SF, 9/7/99

  CORVETTE, RADIO STATIONS: “Wagner and Wood,” Barbara Wilkins, People, 12/13/76; “The Way They Were: Natalie Wood,” Rochelle Williams, Rona Barrett’s Hollywood, summer 1979

  BEST PART CATALINA: “A Famous Author Recalls His Friend Natalie Wood,” Thomas Thompson, People, 12/14/81; Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 2/14/58; 2/17/58 Sheilah Graham column

  WROTE 1000 THANK-YOUS: 2/60 Coronet; Jack Warner Collection, USC (NWW stationery)

  TOOK WIFE SERIOUSLY: Lana Wood to SF

  NATALIE FELT TORMENT: 8/75 Cosmopolitan

  MARIA IN CONTRACTS: contracts and correspondence, Steve Trilling Special Warner Brothers Collection, USC

  MOVED INTO RJ’S APARTMENT ON DURANT: Thank-you notes, Jack Warner Collection, USC; 1/14/58 Sheilah Graham column; 3/58 Hedda Hopper column; 2/19/58 Sheilah Graham column (no room for clothes)

  R.J.’S BUTLER: Robert Hyatt to SF; Jeanne Hyatt to SF

  NO ROOM FOR BUTLER: “Some Girls Will Do Anything For Publicity,” Jason Finchley, Motion Picture, August 1962; 8/58 Modern Screen (mentions butler); 10/26/58 Chicago Sunday Tribune Magazine (names butler, who once worked for Sinatra); Louella Parsons article, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 5/24/59 (Wagners have “manservant”); 10/60 Cosmopolitan (have butler)

  ECSTATIC OVER R.J.: Ann Doran to SF

  BALKED AT TOUR: 3/31/58, 7/15/58, 7/21/58 Daily Variety; “Which Kind of Marriage Do You Want?” Peer Oppenheimer, Modern Screen, July 1958

  VIRAL INFECTION: 2/60 Coronet

  TUG-OF-WAR WITH WARNERS, TURNED DOWN SUMMER PLACE AND MIRACLE: Steve Trilling Special Warners Collection, Natalie Wood contracts and correspondence, USC; reports in Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter

  AT HOME ON SOUNDSTAGE: 3/15/59 Hollywood Citizen-News

  LOVEBIRDS IN MONTEREY; GAVE HER PRODUCER’S CHAIR: Jerry Wald memo to Philip Dunne, Twentieth Century Fox archives; “Natalie & Bob: A Return to Paradise,” Screen Album, November 1958; Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 7/21/58

  QUEEN OF LOT: 7/14/56 Los Angeles Herald-Examiner

  TURNED DOWN FILM: Faye Nuell Mayo to SF; Scott Marlowe to SF; Steve Trilling Special Warners Collection, USC; trade reports spring/summer 1959

  DIDN’T SHOW UP FOR PHILADELPHIAN MEETING AND SUSPENDED: Steve Trilling Special Warners Collection, USC (memos from Trilling to Warner, telegram sent to Natalie, letter from Warners to Natalie 7/15/59); Mike Zimring to SF; 7/15/59 Daily Variety cover

  REASONS NATALIE GAVE LATER: Natalie Wood interviews, 12/28/69 London Times; 6/67 Pageant; 5/70 Premiere

  GURDINS OFFERED LAUREL HOUSE: Shirley Mann to SF

  LEARNED TO LIKE BOATS, WIVES STAYED ABOARD: Prudence Maree to SF, 1/10/00; Andrew Maree III to SF, 1/11/00

  WAGNERS DISCUSSED THEIR BOAT: “Can They Stay Happy? They Say YES!” Hedda Hopper, Chicago Sunday Tribune Magazine, 10/26/58

  NOT AFRAID BECAUSE HE’D SAVE HER: “The Very Private Lives of Natalie and Bob Wagner,” Leonard Lewis, Movie World, March 1959

  FRINGE CLAN MEMBERS, PLAYED CARDS: 10/6/58 Hollywood Reporter; “What Marriage to Natalie Wood Has Taught Robert Wagner,” Young People’s Digest, September 1958

  SOCIALIZED WITH SINATRA: Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 10/6/58; Sidney Skolsky column, Hollywood Citizen-News, 12/31/59

  SKOLSKY INTERVIEWED WAGNERS: Steffi Skolsky Splaver to SF [see also “Mr. and Mrs. R.J.,” Steffi Sidney, Datebook, May 1959]

  NATALIE FIRST CHOICE FOR SPLENDOR; PROBLEMS EASING WITH WARNERS LATE ’58: see contracts and correspondence, Steve Trilling Special Warners Collection, USC; 12/12/58 Hollywood Reporter; 1/26/59 letter from Kazan to Trilling mentions Natalie as first Deanie; Richard Sylbert to SF, 6/17/99; 1/28/59 Hollywood Reporter (Natalie for Splendor); 5/70 Premiere (she went back to Warners for Splendor); Billy Rose Theater Collection, Lincoln Center, William Inge Collection (Kazan’s notes); 3/79 Saturday Evening Post (Kazan kept in mind since Rebel)

  7-MONTH SUSPENSION; NEW TERMS WITH WARNERS: 2/16/59 Hollywood Reporter; Trilling Special Warners Collection, Natalie Wood 2/17/59 contract; 2/25/59 Hollywood Citizen-News

  LIVED LIKE STARS, RECKLESS WITH MONEY: 6/59 Modern Screen; 11/68 Cosmopolitan (ran through her savings in a few months); “Natalie Wood & Bob Wagner to Marry Again!” Alice Random, Modern Screen; Warner Brothers press for Cash McCall, Warners Special Collections, USC (matching Jaguars; hired Art Director); Judi Meredith Nelson to SF; Sidney Skolsky column, Citizen-News, 12/31/59

  NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT FURNITURE: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

  PSYCHOANALYST: Lana Wood to SF; “Intimate Portrait: Natalie Wood” (“just be”: Natalie 1980 TV excerpt); 10/79 After Dark (“didn’t know who the hell”)

  RJ AGAINST THERAPY: 8/75 Cosmopolitan; Robert Wagner, “Intimate Portrait: Natalie Wood”

  NATALIE AFRAID OF PREGNANCY: Robert Hyatt to SF; Scott Marlowe to SF

  LANA CALLED NATALIE TO MOVE IN, SAME BED: Lana Wood to SF

  NATALIE PROTECTED LANA: Mike Zimring to SF

  OBSESSED WITH KEANE; POSED FOR HOURS: Dennis Hopper to SF; Margaret Keane to SF

  PRESCRIPTION PILLS: Faye Nuell Mayo to SF; Robert Hyatt to SF; (used pills as poker chips) Pat Newcomb, interviewed by Donald Spoto, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences special collection

  POCKET FRIENDS: Robert Conrad to SF

  NAT UPSTAIRS WITH SINATRA; WORRIED WHETHER R.J. COULD HANDLE DRAMATIC ROLE: Robert Hyatt to SF

  21ST BIRTHDAY WITH SINATRA: Judi Meredith Nelson to SF; 7/20/59 Daily Variety

  CRUSH ON SINATRA: Judi Meredith Nelson to SF

  PLAYING HOUSE WITH PLAY MONEY: 6/69 Screen Parade

  $150K FOR CANNIBALS; KAZAN DIDN’T THINK SHE VIRGINAL: Leonard Hirshan to SF, 5/4/99

  MOVED DIALECT COACH: Natalie Wood, Donahue, December 1976

  NOSE-PICKING: “Presenting a Happy ‘Act’: Wagner and Wood,” Thomas McDonald, New York Times, 6/14/59

  WANTED ENTERTAINER: Judi Meredith Nelson to SF (“desperately”); Warner Brothers Special Collection, Cash McCall (couldn’t do it b
ecause of Cash schedule)

  RESISTED DEANIE BECAUSE IT WOULD OPEN DOORS: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

  CAREER IN DANGER; LIKE A DOLL: 10/23/61 Newsweek

  DRESSED UP TO MEET KAZAN; NAKED AND GASPING: 2/26/62 Newsweek

  HAS-BEEN; TWINKLE, UNSATISFIED HUNGER; DO ANYTHING BUT WATER SCENE; BEATTY AFFAIR: Elia Kazan: A Life, Elia Kazan, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1988

  DISGUSTED WITH HER IMAGE: “What Hollywood Does to Women,” Elizabeth Pope, Good Housekeeping, June 1962

  KRANZE COMMENTS: Don Kranze to SF, 9/8/99

  SUPER CHIEF WITH TAYLOR: “The Fantastic Truth About Those Liz-Bob-Natalie Rumors!” Nell Blythe, Movie Life, September 1960; “Heart to Heart With Liz & R.J.,” David Wallace, People, 10/6/86

  SUTTON PLACE, R.J. PLAYED PIANO, GOING DOWNHILL: Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 4/23/60; 6/62 Photoplay; 11/85 Parade

  RETURN TO GOLDEN WORLD; BE BOLD: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

  MAKE FOOL; LOVED CRAMPED STAGES: 7/23/81 Los Angeles Times; 6/62 Vogue

  JIRAS COMMENTS: Robert Jiras to SF, 9/16/99

  INGE RECOMMENDED BEATTY: Inge letter to Trilling 6/9/59, Trilling Collection, USC

  HINGLE COMMENTS: Pat Hingle to SF, 9/7/99

  NATALIE SAID SHE FOUND BEATTY DIFFICULT: 10/78 Interview; 11/68 Cosmopolitan (called affair nonsense); 3/9/69 New York Times; 2/62 Screen Stories

  TOLD REDFORD: Robert Redford to SF

  COLLINS DENIES AFFAIR: Joan Collins to SF, by letter

  NATALIE WAS SERIOUS: Lana Wood to SF

  PANICKY ABOUT BATHTUB SCENE: Henry Jaglom to SF, 6/23/99; Lana Wood to SF

  KAZAN COULD CUT AWAY: “Natalie Wouldn’t, Necessarily,” John Hartl, San Francisco Times

  HAD AUDREY SAY A LINE: “Natalie Wood: Mother, Men, and the Muse,” Murray Kempton, Show, March 1962

  LIED ABOUT LEDGE: 12/28/69 London Times

  KAZAN TRICKED NATALIE ABOUT DOUBLE: 2/79 New York Daily News

  KAZAN DENIED: Elia Kazan, AMC’s Hollywood Real to Reel

  INTERVIEW ABOUT DOUBLE: “Natalie’s Double Couldn’t Swim,” Frank Quinn, New York Sunday Mirror, 6/12/60

  DOUBLE THREATENED TO SUE: Correspondence file, 8/15/60 letter from attorney Melvin Block to Warner Brothers, Warners Special Collections, USC [states the double could swim]

  MAGUIRE’S COMMENTS: Charles Maguire to SF, 6/16/99

  HANCHETT’S COMMENTS: Willis Hanchett to SF, 6/9/99

  NATALIE ECSTATIC BUT UPSET HOODWINKED: Mart Crowley, AMC’s Hollywood Real to Reel

  TALKED ABOUT KAZAN’S MANIPULATION: Dennis Hopper to SF

  LOCKWOOD’S COMMENTS: Gary Lockwood to SF, 10/7/99

  KAZAN’S FAVORITE SCENE; BROUGHT HER OWN PAIN TO IT: Elia Kazan, AMC’s Hollywood Real to Reel

  GOT CALL DURING SPLENDOR, ODD SITUATION: Natalie Wood, Donahue, December 1976

  FIRST APPROACHED ABOUT MARIA: 7/22/59 Daily Variety (Natalie and Elvis Presley for West Side); 1/24/60 Hedda Hopper column (offer to Natalie); 12/4/61 Los Angeles Times (Natalie said she was considered from the start [Wise confirmed to Army Archerd, 1981])

  LAWRENCE TOO OLD; WANTED UNKNOWN: Walter Mirisch to SF, January 2001; also Hirshan to SF (wanted unknown who could sing)

  FAWN IN FOREST: Robert Relyea to SF, 8/16/99; Robert Relyea, West Side Stories, MGM-UA Entertainment, produced by Peter Fitzgerald, 1995

  RELYEA COMMENTS; PANIC SET IN: Robert Relyea to SF, 8/16/99

  TESTED ALBERGHETTI, ETC.: Warner Brothers Special Collections, West Side Story file, USC, handwritten notes of possible Marias

  NEEDED “NAME”: Robert Wise to SF, 7/30/97

  SAW SPLENDOR TEST: Robert Wise, “E True Hollywood Story: Natalie Wood,” (“That’s our Maria”); Wise, “West Side Stories” documentary

  IMPRESSED BY DEPTH: Jerome Robbins, AMC’s Hollywood Real to Reel

  NOT EAGER TO PLAY INGÉNUE: 6/30/61 Daily Variety

  SURPRISE 22ND BIRTHDAY: Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn; Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 7/20/61; “Lunch Date With Natalie Wood and Bob Wagner,” Lyn Tornabene, Cosmopolitan, October 1960 (on-set party, Sinatra at 500 Club)

  ATTENDED SINATRA’S OPENING: Louella Parsons, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 8/1/61

  NEGOTIATED IN ASBURY PARK: Leonard Hirshan to SF; 7/26/61 Daily Variety; Natalie Wood, Donahue, 12/76 (dance scenes had been shot); Paramount production notes: shooting began in NY on 8/10/61

  NATALIE TURNED DOWN PERCENTAGE: 3/62 Show

  HARDLY THOUGHT OF MUSICAL ASPECTS: Natalie Wood interview, Los Angeles Times, 12/4/60

  SINGING INTRIGUED HER: Robert Blake outtakes; Olga Viripaeff to SF; Robert Wise to SF; Walter Mirisch to SF

  AGREEMENT ABOUT HER VOICE: Walter Mirisch to SF; Robert Wise to SF; Saul Chaplin, West Side Stories documentary

  VOICE LESSONS, BELIEVED SHE’D SING: Robert Blake outtakes; Marni Nixon to SF, 10/11/99; Marni Nixon, West Side Stories; 12/4/61 Los Angeles Times (taking voice lessons and to do own singing)

  CROWLEY HER BEST GIRLFRIEND: Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn

  CROWLEY A CARETAKER; HOUSE BEAUTIFUL: Faye Nuell Mayo to SF

  HOUSE IN DISREPAIR: Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald- Examiner, 8/24/61 (on boat); 12/4/61 Los Angeles Times; 2/22/62 Hollywood Reporter (roof fell in); 9/22/61 Time

  PHONE NOT RINGING: Wagner to Sunday Express, 8/5/62

  MISS HAVISHAM’S MANSION: 11/68 Cosmopolitan

  BEVERLY HOUSE ORNATE: 1/3/60 Los Angeles Examiner; 2/60 Modern Screen; “Endsville,” Louella Parsons, Modern Screen, June 1960 (mad young millionaires)

  BUTLER: 10/60 Cosmopolitan; 2/60 Modern Screen; Robert Hyatt to SF; Jeanne Hyatt to SF

  12-HOUR DAYS; WISE THOUGHT INJURED: “Natalie Wood: Beauty and Violence,” Stanley Gordon and Jack Hamilton, Look, 4/11/61; 12/4/60 Los Angeles Times

  MORENO COMMENTS: Rita Moreno to SF, 9/14/99

  RESENTED NATALIE: Rita Moreno to SF; Tony Mordente to SF

  EXHAUSTED: Louella Parsons, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 8/22/61; 9/22/61 Time

  THREATENED NOT TO SHOW UP: Saul Chaplin, “West Side Stories”

  MORDENTE COMMENTS: Tony Mordente to SF, 9/8/99

  INSECURE: Lana Wood to SF; Tony Mordente to SF

  BEATTY NOT AROUND: Bob Jiras to SF

  NATALIE TOLD HIGH NOTES DUBBED: Marni Nixon, West Side Stories; 12/7/61 Daily Variety (Wise says Natalie’s voice on “borderline”); Marni Nixon to SF

  NATALIE WAS DECEIVED ABOUT VOICE: Marni Nixon to Boston Herald, 9/20/94 (a “conspiracy”); Marni Nixon, West Side Stories; Saul Chaplin, West Side Stories

  NATALIE UPSET ABOUT VOICE: Tony Mordente to SF; Olga Viripaeff to SF; Robert Wise to SF; Relyea to SF; Marni Nixon to SF; Morgan Brittany to SF, 8/19/99

  TONSILLECTOMY: Daily Variety 3/23/61, 4/6/61 (scheduled tomorrow), 4/11/61 (complications), 4/13/61 (missed Oscars); 4/6/61 Hollywood Reporter; 4/14/61 Louella Parsons (R.J. says “terrible” tonsillectomy); “Why Natalie and Bob Split!” Peter Forbes, Motion Picture, September 1961; “The Night Liz Prayed for Natalie,” Naomi Katz, Movie Life, September 1961 (bled 4 hours); 3/62 Photoplay (Maria says Natalie almost died in surgery); “The Story Behind The Split,” No. 16, 1961 Hollywood Romances (R.J. took adjoining hospital room)

  PRESSURED TO DO INSPECTOR: Correspondence, Warner Brothers Steve Trilling Special Collection, USC; trade reports

  NATALIE VISITED R.J. ON SET: 5/4/61 Hollywood Reporter; Irving Brecher to SF, 5/29/99; Mother Dolores Hart to SF, 9/23/99

  WAGNERS TO GO TO EUROPE FOR R.J. TO MEET ZANUCK AND NATALIE TO MAKE LOVERS: Louella Parsons column, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 6/9/61

  NATALIE SIGNED FOR LOVERS: Contracts and correspondence, Trilling Collection, USC; 6/2/61 Hollywood Reporter (Natalie signed); Troy Donahue to SF

  WAGNERS’ JUNE SOCIAL SCHEDULE: reports of their attendance in 6/61 trades and Parsons columns (see Parsons: Beatty and Collins just returned from Europe); see also 10/61 Movie Life (Wagners and Beatty/Collins foursome); 6/22/61 Los Angeles Mirror (h
and-in-hand at Jubilee)

  AFTER SAIL WRAPPED: 1961 Hollywood Romances; 10/61 Screen Stories; 2/62 Screen Stories

  NATALIE’S ACCOUNT OF MARRIAGE ENDING: Robert Hyatt to SF (from Natalie and Maria); Jeanne Hyatt to SF (from Maria); Lana Wood to SF (from Maria and Natalie); Maryann Marinkovich Brooks to SF (from Natalie)

  CHAPTER 19

  IN HIDING: Robert Hyatt to SF; Jeanne Hyatt to SF; Maryann Marinkovich Brooks to SF (lost 10 pounds: see also Louella Parsons 6/29/61); 6/61 trade reports and Hollywood columnists; memos and correspondence, Trilling Collection, USC (studio trying to find Natalie); 6/27/61 Hollywood Reporter

  SAW ANALYST EVERY DAY AFTERWARD: Robert Hyatt to SF; Jeanne Hyatt to SF; 2/62 Motion Picture; Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; 8/75 Cosmopolitan; 10/79 After Dark; 11/68 Cosmopolitan

  KEPT SECRET: Maryann Marinkovich Brooks to SF; Robert Hyatt to SF; Jeanne Hyatt to SF; Lana Wood to SF; Roderick Mann to SF, 1/20/00; Faye Nuell Mayo to SF

  NATALIE DIDN’T WANT DIVORCE: 3/86 GQ

  R.J. WAS DESTROYED: Prudence Maree to SF

  SHOULD HAVE HUNG: 11/85 Parade

  STATEMENT: Quoted in newspapers and columns on 6/21/61 across the U.S.; 6/21 Daily Variety (“fooled everyone”); 4/62 Ciné (“like a bomb”); 6/22 Los Angeles Mirror (“baffled”); 8/75 Cosmopolitan (Taylor under sedation); 6/27 Hollywood Reporter (“come out of hiding”)

  CHECKED IN WITH STUDIO, WHEREABOUTS SECRET, FLU: 6/23 & 6/26 & 6/29/61 Louella Parsons columns, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner; William Orr to SF, 5/29/99

  BEATTY IN NY: 6/29/61 New York Telegram (doing retakes and photo shoot); 6/30/61 Daily Variety; 10/61 Movie Life

  MIGHT CRACK UP; ALMOST OVER EDGE: 10/79 After Dark; “Natalie Wood: Hollywood’s Number One Survivor,” Thomas Thompson, Look, April 1979

  NEEDED COMPANY AT NIGHT: 10/79 After Dark; 11/30/81 London Sun; numerous other sources

  CROWLEY TOOK CARE OF NATALIE: Robert Jiras to SF

  NATALIE REQUESTED LEAVE FOR EMOTIONAL REASONS: 7/3/61 letter from Warners to Natalie, Correspondence and Contracts, Warners Collection, USC; 2/62 Screen Stories (dropped out of Lovers because unfit emotionally)

  TOO MANY MEMORIES: 12/61 Modern Screen

 

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