Natasha
Page 64
NOT AN OPTION: “Whatever: Natasha Gregson Wagner,” Steve Hochman, Los Angeles Times, 1/3/99
SNIFFED BRANCHES; GUEST COTTAGE WITH SIGNS: Rex Reed, “Remembering Natalie,” “Ovation,” USA, a Cerberns Production
CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE: 10/77 Bon Appetit; Peggy Griffin to SF; Lana Wood to SF; Gil Cates to SF
HOLLYWOOD COUPLE: Karl Malden to SF
PUT NATALIE ON STAGE: Roderick Mann to SF; Lana Wood to SF
NORMALCY HAS MYSTIQUE: 10/26/76 San Francisco Chronicle
GREGSON’S LIFE CHANGED; IRON BUTTERFLY: Leslie Bricusse to SF
FOUND SPLENDOUR: 9/27/81 San Antonio Light
WHY DID THEY: Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn
THIS LITTLE THING: Mart Crowley, “Intimate Portrait: Natalie Wood”
MOORING AT EMERALD BAY: Doug Bombard to SF, 10/10/99
REMEMBERS MOMMY AS SOLID: 12/12/98 Daily Telegraph
DON’T MAKE IT SOUND: 8/75 Cosmopolitan
CHAPTER 23
GRIFFIN COMMENTS: Peggy Griffin to SF
LANA COMMENTS: Lana Wood to SF
INSTABILITY NEVER FAR; USED KNIFE AS MIRROR: Leslie Bricusse to SF
GIFT THAT FELL: “Raising the Curtain on ‘Cat,’ ” Cecil Smith, TV Times; 12/5/76
SPENT TIME WITH WILLIAMS: unsourced 7/76 U.K. interview, BFI file on Natalie Wood
LISTENED TO FRIENDS: Natalie Wood, 12/76 Donahue
COMPARED OLIVIER TO DEAN: 10/26/76 San Francisco Chronicle
STAPLETON COMMENTS: Maureen Stapleton to SF, 2/7/00
TINY LITTLE THING: 3/77 Photoplay
MIXED REVIEWS: “This Tribute Smacks of Exploitation,” John J. O’Connor, The New York Times, 12/5/76
MIDDLE-AGED SQUARES: 10/77 Los Angeles Times Home Magazine
PARTIES: 10/77 Bon Appetit; Lana Wood to SF
NEAME COMMENTS: Ronald Neame to SF, 1/9/99
CHOSE IT FOR RUSSIAN ACCENT: 10/79 Orange Coast
TAPED MUD’S VOICE: 2/79 New York Daily News; 12/77 Motion Picture
CHARACTERIZATION: Natalie Wood interview, Meteor magazine, Warren Publishing, 1979
BATES COMMENTS: Sugar Bates to SF
NEAME COMPLAINED ABOUT MAKEUP: “Film Casting,” Jerry Cohen and Ronald L. Soble, Los Angeles Times, 7/4/78
LOOKED HARD: Robert Werden to SF, 9/20/99
MASON COMMENTS; EVIL-LOOKING: Ginger Mason to SF, 8/24/99
SYLBERTS’ COMMENTS: Richard and Sharmagne Sylbert to SF, 6/17/99
ADORED EACH OTHER; ALWAYS DOING THINGS: Roselle Gordon to SF
MALDEN COMMENTS: Karl Malden to SF
INTERVIEW DURING METEOR: 10/78 Preview
REQUESTED TRAIN: 10/21/79 Washington Post
I’M AN ACTRESS; NEEDS BALANCE: Natalie Wood interview, “Remembering Natalie;” Natalie to Sue Russell, July 1978
I SELL SOAP: Tom Mankiewicz, A&E biography of Robert Wagner
BROTHER AND SISTER: Faye Nuell Mayo to SF
BURDITT COMMENTS: Joyce Burditt to SF, 12/10/99
GO ON INSTINCT; IN LOVE WITH CRACKER: Natalie Wood, “Remembering Natalie”
MARTINELLI COMMENTS: John Martinelli to SF
SHAPIRO COMMENTS: Richard Shapiro to SF
LEDDING COMMENTS: Ed Ledding to SF
MCNALLY COMMENTS: Lola McNally to SF, fall 1999
THERE WERE DEMONS: Robert Wagner, “Intimate Portrait: Natalie Wood”
CATES COMMENTS: Gilbert Cates to SF
RELATED TO MARRIED: 2/80 Tomorrow show; “My life with the Greatest,” Victor Dais, London Daily Express, 4/23/80; 3/79 Saturday Evening Post
RUSSIA TRIP: Peggy Griffin to SF; 2/15/79 Los Angeles Times; 4/2/79 Look; “Natalie Wood’s Sentimental Journey,” Thomas Thompson, TV Guide, 1/23/82; 7/80 Biarritz; 8/79 McCall’s; 11/26/79 WWD; 12/2/81 Orange County Register
LOOK COVER: 4/2/79 Look
ACT FIVE
CHAPTER 24
MEMOIRS: Olga Viripaeff to SF; Peggy Griffin to SF; 2/10/80 New York Times (chapters in fur closet); 2/11/79 New York Daily News; Mart Crowley, “Intimate Portrait: Natalie Wood”
TWO TRAGEDIES: from the play Lady Windermere’s Fan, Oscar Wilde
THEME OF WATER FEAR: told to Bob Lardine, as reported 12/2/81 New York Daily News
WANTED ORDINARY PEOPLE: Robert Redford to SF
CRITICISM HURTFUL: 11/26/79 WWD
GRIFFIN COMMENTS: Peggy Griffin to SF
ALT COMMENTS: Duane Alt to SF, 10/5/99
HYPNOTIZED FOR SCENE; ENACTED DEATH SCENE: “Natalie Wood In ‘Eva Ryker,’ ” Jerry Buck, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 5/4/80
FIRST DEATH SCENE: 12/2/81 Orange County Register
GRAUMAN COMMENTS: Walter Grauman for SF, 8/10/99
HUNT COMMENTS: Grady Hunt for SF, 8/5/99
DILLMAN COMMENTS: Bradford Dillman for SF, fall 1999
FOXWORTH COMMENTS: Robert Foxworth for SF
BATES COMMENTS: Sugar Bates to SF
NOT HEALTHY: “Natalie Wood on Marriage and Movies,” Judy Klemesrud, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 2/18/80
SURPRISE PARTY: 2/7/80 Daily Variety; 9/85 Ladies Home Journal
PRESTIGE PARTNERSHIP; MUSK, LONELY: Roderick Mann to SF
LIKE VENTRILOQUISTS: Sue Russell to SF, 4/30/99
SECOND RATE: “Reassurances of ‘Last Married Couple,’ ” Vincent Canby, New York Times, 2/8/80
ONE TYPED ROLE: “Banjo Pickin’ with George Segal,” Clifford Terry, Chicago Tribune, 4/2/98
KEPT PROMISE TO FAHD: Shirley Mann to SF
EULOGY: written by Natalie and Lana Wood
WAGNER PARTY: Gilbert Cates to SF
R.J. TOAST: 12/14/81 People
CHAPTER 25
THE FITS; BEREFT: Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn; Shirley Mann to SF; Lana Wood to SF; Olga Viripaeff to SF
MUD STRAINED WAGNER MARRIAGE: Lana Wood to SF; Robert Hyatt to SF; Natalie: A Memoir by Her Sister
CREATIVE STIRRING: Peggy Griffin to SF; Lana Wood to SF
READ ANASTASIA IN ’80; MORE WONDERFUL: “Natalie Wood Speaks of Her Theater Debut,” Music Center News, November 1981
WANTED TO DO PLAY WITH REDFORD: Robert Redford to SF
MUD GAVE HER PHOTOS: Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn
FAHD HER INSPIRATION; DON’T BE AFRAID: “‘Anastasia’: A Big Steppe For Wood,” Roderick Mann, Los Angeles Times, 7/23/81
LANA COMMENTS; NOT “OVERLY THRILLED”: Lana Wood to SF
PRODUCTION COMPANY; BUSINESS SIDE; GOOD TO BE AMBITIOUS: “Natalie!” Harper’s Bazaar, September 1981
GRIFFIN COMMENTS: Peggy Griffin to SF
MILFORD COMMENTS: Nancy Milford to SF, 10/15/99
MUD PROVOKED ARGUMENTS: Sugar Bates to SF; Lana Wood to SF; Robert Hyatt to SF
CALL FROM FOREMAN; INTRIGUED: 7/23/81 Los Angeles Times
SCREENWRITER’S IDEA: Robert Stitzel to SF, 10/6/98
POSED WITH FAN: Diane Wells to SF
CHAPTER 26
HAD INPUT; WALKEN WAS FOREMAN’S CHOICE: Robert Stitzel to SF
STITZEL COMMENTS: Robert Stitzel to SF
FLETCHER COMMENTS: Louise Fletcher to SF, 11/2/99
STARTED DIET: 9/30/83 Los Angeles Times; Lana Wood to SF; Louise Fletcher to SF
GRIFFIN COMMENTS: Peggy Griffin to SF
LANA COMMENTS: Lana Wood to SF
OLGA COMMENTS: Olga Viripaeff to SF
SOMETHING BOTHERING: Betty Batausa to SF
CORDIAL: Stitzel to SF
FINALIZED ZELDA: Nancy Milford to SF
ANNE SEXTON PROJECT: Allan Folsom, quoted in “The Plot That Made a Wallet Thicken,” Bob Sipchen, Los Angeles Times, 2/25/93
TOOK A LATER FLIGHT: 9/30/83 Los Angeles Times
MCGIFFERT COMMENTS: David McGiffert to SF, 10/28/99
NUELL COMMENTS: Faye Nuell Mayo to SF
WASN’T MUCH OF A DRINKER: Christopher Walken’s second statement to L.A. Sheriff’s Investigators, December 1981
R.J. WAS IRRITATED: Margaret (Marti) Rulli to SF, 10/4/99
BODY MIKES: David Dukes to SF, 1/4/00
MORE EXCITED ABOUT ANASTASIA: 11/81 Music Center News
CROWE COMMENTS: Tonya Crowe for SF
INVITED WALKEN TO DEMONSTRATE NO AFFAIR: “Natalie Wood’s Fatal Voyage,” Sam Kashner, Vanity Fair, March 2000
TYPICAL TO BRING COSTARS: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99
CHAPTER 27
NOTE: The police statements paraphrased or quoted are from Detectives Duane Rasure and Roy Hamilton’s official notes and/or the Natalie Wood file in the L.A. Sheriff’s Department Archives
DAVERN CLAIMS HE KNOWS: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99; 3/00 Vanity Fair (something “more sinister” occurred); Davern to Lana Wood, 1992, 2/24/01; Davern to Cheryl Quarmyne, 1992; Duane Rasure to SF (Davern “insinuating it might have been murder”)
DISCLOSE IN A BOOK: Dennis Davern to SF, 2/28/01; Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99; 3/00 Vanity Fair
DAY TO REVEAL; NATALIE BOUGHT HIM A GIFT: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99
NOON FRIDAY: police statements of Wagner, Walken and Davern
GO A DIFFERENT TIME; CATALINA THEIR FAVORITE; FEELING OF JEALOUSY; R.J. IRRITATED: Dennis Davern, “The Final Days”
WONDERFUL WEEKEND; WORSHIPPED WAGNERS; HELPED RAISE: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99
ROUGH CROSSING, WALKEN SEASICK; MOORED NEAR CASINO: police statements of Wagner, Walken and Davern
BLOODY MARYS: Walken’s 2nd police statement (Detective Roy Hamilton’s notes)
DRANK AT 2 RESTAURANTS ON AVALON: statements of Walken and Wagner (anniversary at El Galleon); Sharon Milandra and Lee Mead, “The Final Days”; Paul Reynolds’ police statement
R.J. BOUGHT A NECKLACE: David Stein, “The Final Days”; Wagner’s 2nd police statement
MANAGER SAW THEM LEAVE AT 10: Paul Reynolds’ statement to police
NATALIE DIDN’T WANT TO GET INTO DINGHY: Wagner’s and Walken’s 2nd statements to police
MORE DRINKING ON THE BOAT, WENT TO STATEROOM: Walken’s 2nd police statement
R.J. SAID NOTHING ABOUT FRIDAY: Wagner’s 1st police statement
CROSSING TO MAINLAND: Wagner’s 2nd police statement
NO MENTION OF A NIGHT CROSSING: Davern’s and Walken’s police statements
NATALIE DIDN’T WANT TO GO IN THE DARK; DISAGREEMENT ABOUT MOVING THE BOAT: Duane Rasure to SF, 10/27/99; Wagner’s 2nd police statement
LAWYERS HIRED BY R.J.: 3/00 Vanity Fair; Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99
GRUMPY SEA, NATALIE’S IDEA: Davern’s 2nd police statement
HUBBUB; NEVER GET INVOLVED; BOAT MOVED; STAYED ABOARD SEASICK AND APPARENTLY ASLEEP: Walken’s 2nd police statement
UNBEARABLE TENSION; R.J. ON BOAT AGITATED: 3/00 Vanity Fair
THOUGHT THE BEST: Davern, “The Final Days”
DAVERN TOOK NATALIE ASHORE: Wagner’s and Davern’s 2nd police statements
DISTRESSED, INTOXICATED, WITH DUFFEL BAG AND DAVERN: Police statements of Paul Reynolds, Davern, Ann Laughton
REYNOLDS ACCOUNT: Paul Reynolds’ police statement
NATALIE AND DAVERN CHECKED IN, INTOXICATED; MAID’S RECORDS: Police statement of Ann Laughton; Davern’s media accounts
WALKEN IMPLIED ALL ON BOAT: Walken’s 1st police statement; Rasure to SF
WALKEN AND WAGNER NOT ASKED ABOUT FRIDAY: Rasure to SF
DAVERN SAID STAYED ON BOAT, RATHER TALK TO R.J.: Davern’s 1st police statement; Rasure to SF
WAGNER AND DAVERN LATER ADMITTED NATALIE ASHORE ON FRIDAY: Wagner’s and Davern’s 2nd police statements; Rasure to SF
NATALIE ASKED DAVERN TO STAY: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99; Vanity Fair 3/00; Davern’s tabloid accounts; Davern requestioned by police per Natalie Wood file
NATALIE WANTED TO CALL LANA; SHE AND DAVERN WANTED TO RETURN TO L.A.: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99 & 2/28/01
WINKLER ACCOUNT: Police statement of Linda Winkler
NATALIE ALONE BY THE PIER, CHANGED HER MIND: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99; 3/00 Vanity Fair; Diana Magrann to SF, 6/23/99 (Magrann saw Natalie alone, looking “tragically sad”)
NATALIE WOKE WALKEN TO SAY TAKING SEAPLANE; MOOD SHIFTED AND LEFT FOR ISTHMUS: Walken’s 2nd police statement
EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL AGAIN: 3/00 Vanity Fair
FISHING, NICE RIDE, READ SCREENPLAYS, DINGHY RIDE: 2nd police statements of Wagner, Walken, Davern
LEFT AVALON AT 11:30: Police statement of Allen Trapp, harbor patrolman
#N1: Douglas Oudin to SF, 10/10/99
100 YARDS FROM SHORE; 50–75 BOATS: Doug Bombard to SF
BLUSTERY; TURNED DRIZZLY: Bombard to SF; Marilyn Wayne to SF, 11/17/99; Walken’s 2nd police statement; Laurel Page Bowen to SF, 11/10/99; Marilyn Bowen to SF, 11/1/99; Christina Quinn to SF, 11/1/99
NATALIE AND WALKEN LEFT NOTE THEY’D GONE TO SHORE: Wagner’s and Davern’s 2nd police statements
NATALIE’S OUTFIT: Police statements of Christina Quinn, Michelle Mileski, bartender Ted Bauer
DOUG’S A PARTY SPOT; ACTION MOVED INSIDE: Michelle Mileski to SF, 10/26/99; Christina Quinn to SF
NATALIE AND WALKEN DRANK AT BAR: Christina Quinn to SF; Michelle Mileski to SF [Mileski thought Wagner and Davern arrived first]; 3/00 Vanity Fair; police statement of Ted Bauer [Bauer said all four drank at the bar from 3:30 until 7:30 or 8:00]
WAGNER BECAME AGITATED: Davern’s tabloid accounts; Davern, “The Final Days”
R.J. AND DAVERN TOOK SHOREBOAT: Wagner’s and Davern’s 2nd police statements
HAVING GOOD TIME; OUT OF IT: Davern, “The Final Days”; 3/00 Vanity Fair
NATALIE WAS BUZZED: Michelle Mileski to SF
WAGNER MADE RESERVATION AND ALL 4 DRANK: 2nd police statements of Wagner, Davern; Mileski and Quinn to SF; police statement of Don Whiting
DAVERN NOTICED A JEALOUS RAGE: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99
WALKEN AND DAVERN SMOKED JOINT; HIGHER THAN KITE: 3/00 Vanity Fair
BROUGHT BACK 2 BOTTLES OF WINE FROM SPLENDOUR: Davern’s and Wagner’s 2nd police statement; Michelle Mileski to SF; Christina Quinn to SF; police statement of Don Whiting
ALL FOUR INEBRIATED, WAGNER IRRITATED WITH WIFE: Police statement of Don Whiting
SEATING ARRANGEMENTS: Michelle Mileski to SF
FROM LIGHT TO DARK, FUSSED ABOUT LIGHTING; NOT BEST MOOD: Christina Quinn to SF; Quinn’s police statement
SENT MEAL BACK; DRINK HER MEAL: Police statement of Michelle Mileski; Mileski to SF
PAIN IN BUTTS, STRANGE VIBRATION, HOLDING HANDS; EERIE; R.J. DETACHED, JEALOUS: Michelle Mileski to SF
FLIRTING: Personal notes made by Don Whiting
ALCOHOL CONSUMED: Michelle Mileski to SF; Christina Quinn to SF; police statements of Mileski and Quinn; police statement of Don Whiting
RYAN OBSERVATIONS: John Ryan to SF, 11/15/99 & 2/13/01
LAUREL PAGE COMMENTS: Laurel Page Bowen to SF
NATALIE WAS MISSING HER DAUGHTERS: Michelle Mileski to SF; Laurel Page Bowen to SF; Christina Quinn to SF
NATALIE WITH LITTLE GIRL IN BATHROOM: Christina Quinn to SF; Laurel Page Bowen to SF, Dawn Powers Smith to SF, 9/28/01
BRAIDED HAIR AT TABLE: Michelle Mileski to SF; police statement of Susan Bernard
ACCORDION PLAYER: Susan Bernard’s police statement; Mileski to SF; “More Shock Waves from the Death of Natalie Wood,” James Bacon, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 12/1/81
FOOLING AROUND, A SPAT; HARD TIME WALKING, PUT HIS COAT AROUND HER: Mileski to SF
NATALIE THREW A GLASS: Police statements of Mileski, Quinn, Whiting, Bernard; Quinn and Mileski to SF, Dawn Smith to SF
MADE A TOAST: Walken’s 2nd police statement; statement of Ted Bauer
PROBLEM BETWEEN WAGNER AND WIFE, PRIVATE CONVERSATION; WAGNER WAS IRATE: Rasure’s notes of Whiting’s statement; Hamilton’s notes of Whiting’s statement
RELUCTANT TO GO BACK: 3/00 Vanity Fair
HIT TIKI POLE, CALLED AHEAD: Mileski to SF
CALLED AHEAD BECAUSE INTOXICATED: Whiting’s police statement
CALL FROM WHITING, ALL DRUNK, NATALIE UNHAPPY: Police statement of Kurt Craig; Duane Rasure to SF
NATALIE Y
ELLED AND STUMBLED: Police statement of William Peterson; Peterson to SF
GIGGLING AND R.J. HAD TO EXPLODE: Davern, “The Final Days”
ALL IN SALON: Police statements of Wagner, Walken, Davern
MORE WINE, SCOTCH, CANDLES: 3/00 Vanity Fair; Davern tabloid accounts; Davern to Lana Wood, 3/24/01 (scotch); Davern’s statement to R. W. Kroll at 8:30 A.M., 11/30/81 (continued to drink on boat)
SMALL BEEF: Walken’s 1st police statement
RATHER NOT SAY: Davern’s 1st police statement
DETAILS OF THE BEEF: Walken’s 2nd police statement, from Rasure’s notes
ASSHOLES: Walken’s 2nd police statement, from Hamilton’s notes
DISCUSSION OF NATALIE BEING GONE: Davern’s 2nd police statement, from Rasure’s notes
DISCUSSION OF NATALIE AWAY FROM KIDS: Wagner’s 2nd police statement, from Rasure’s notes
FUCK MY WIFE; I’M NOT STANDING: Davern, “The Final Days”; 3/00 Vanity Fair
KROLL’S REPORT: Kroll’s Complaint Report #81-15167, Sheriff’s Department archives
BACK ON SPLENDOUR BETWEEN 10 TO 10:30: statement of harbormaster Kurt Craig
WAGNER’S, WALKEN’S AND DAVERN’S 1ST AND 2ND STATEMENTS: from Rasure’s notes [NOTE: Wagner and Davern each told Avalon Det. R. W. Kroll they noticed Natalie missing before midnight and made their first search attempt at 1:30 A.M. by radio to “Isthmus employees”]
ARCHER RADIOED, HEARD NATALIE AND R.J. FIGHT: From handwritten telephone notepad and from Rasure’s notebook in the Natalie Wood file, Sheriff’s Department records
ARCHER SAW DINGHY: William Peterson’s police statement
PAYNE HEARD A WOMAN: Sheriff’s records of Payne’s call to police 11/30/81; Rasure’s interview with Payne; Marilyn Wayne to SF
WAYNE SLEPT WITH WINDOWS OPEN, HEARD WOMAN: Marilyn Wayne to SF
CALLED TO SON, 11:05: Marilyn Wayne to SF; Anthony Sakal to SF, 11/29/99
ALL 3 HEARD WOMAN CRY AND DRUNKEN MALE VOICE: Police report of John Payne; sheriff’s notes of Wayne’s calls, 11/30/81; Marilyn Wayne to SF; Anthony Sakal to SF
WAYNE’S ACCOUNT: Marilyn Wayne to SF
SAKAL’S ACCOUNT: Anthony Sakal to SF
PAYNE HAUNTED BY QUESTIONS: John Payne to SF, 11/18/99