R.J.’S FIRST DISTRESS CALL WAS AT 1:30 TO WHITING: Wagner’s and Davern’s 11/30 statements to Det. Kroll (first call at 1:30); Wagner’s 2nd police statement (first search attempt was to radio Isthmus employees); Don Whiting’s police statement; Whiting’s personal notes
SLURRED VOICE; WAGNER SOUNDED DRUNK: Police statements of Whiting and Wintler; Whiting and Wintler to SF; Whiting’s personal notes
STRANGE: Whiting’s police statement
THOUGHT SHE TOOK DINGHY TO THE BAR: Whiting and Wintler’s statements; Wintler to SF; Whiting’s notes; Wagner and Davern’s statements to Kroll; Wagner’s and Davern’s 2nd police statements
WAGNER’S ODD, CONTRADICTORY EXPLANATIONS: Told Whiting at 1:30 A.M. Natalie took the dinghy to the bar; told Wintler at 2:00 A.M. they had a fight and she took the dinghy; told Oudin at 2:45 A.M. she would never take the dinghy alone, no reason she’d go to shore and she was in her nightgown; told Whiting at 3:00 A.M. she might have gone to the mainland; told Kroll at 6:30 A.M. she took the dinghy to the bar; told Rasure at 10 A.M. and on 12/4 Natalie often took the dinghy alone and he thought she went to the bar; told Lana 12/1 it was an accident and she must have fallen in; issued a press release 11/30 Natalie took the dinghy for a ride; told press 12/27 she was trying to retie the dinghy and fell in
WHITING’S ACCOUNT: Whiting’s private notes
WINTLER’S ACCOUNT: Paul Wintler’s police statement
FIGURED OUT WHICH WAY; R.J. AGITATED, NEVER TOLD HIM, WINTLER WANTED TO CALL FOR HELP: Paul Wintler to SF
NEEDED GUIDANCE, GOT OUDIN, WAGNER DID NOT WANT COAST GUARD: Whiting’s and Wintler’s police statements; Wintler to SF; Whiting’s personal notes
OUDIN’S ACCOUNT: Doug Oudin to SF [Note: Rasure never questioned Oudin]
DAZED, THOUGHT WENT TO MAINLAND: Whiting’s statement to police, from Hamilton’s notes
COAST GUARD CALLED AT 3:30: Oudin to SF; Sheriff’s records
CALL TO LIFEGUARDS: Det. Kroll’s report; Roger Smith to SF; Jean-Claude Stonier to SF
WAGNER’S STATEMENT TO KROLL: Kroll’s Complaint Report, Sheriff’s records
WHITING AND COLEMAN FOUND DINGHY: Whiting’s and Coleman’s police statements
SMITH TOOK DINGHY OUT; SMITH HELPED WITH BODY: Roger Smith to SF
BOMBARD’S ACCOUNT: Doug Bombard to SF [Note: Police never questioned Bombard]
LOCATION OF BODY: Avalon Sheriff’s Detective R.W. Kroll’s Complaint Report states that Natalie was found 250 yards north of Blue Cavern Point
CHAPTER 28
BOMBARD COMMENTS: Doug Bombard to SF
SMITH COMMENTS: Roger Smith to SF [Note: Smiths partner, Stonier, concurs]
RASURE COMMENTS AND POLICE STATEMENTS: Duane Rasure to SF, Rasure’s notes
R.J. ASKED DAVERN TO IDENTIFY THE BODY: Marti Rulli to SF;3/00 Vanity Fair
WHISPERS OF MURDER; RUMORS OF FOUL PLAY: Coroner, Thomas T. Noguchi, M.D., with Joseph DiMona, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1983
R.J.’S CALLS: Bombard to SF
MUD AND LANA HEARD: Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn; Lana Wood to SF
OLGA FLEW; R.J. TOTALLY BROKEN: Olga Viripaeff to SF
WAGNER’S PRESS RELEASE: Published, among other places, in “Natalie Wood Found Dead Off Catalina,” Ted Thackrey, Jr., Los Angeles Times, 11/30/81
PRESS CONFERENCE: As reported in “Some Drinks, a Fight, a Death,” Mark Schorr and Andy Furillo, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 12/1/81
EXTRAORDINARY INTEREST; NOGUCHI CONFERRED: Dr. Thomas Noguchi to SF, 11/16/99
TRYST: Robert Hyatt to SF
MILESKI COMMENTS: Michelle Mileski to SF
WHITING AND COLEMAN THOUGHT: Mileski to SF; Roger Smith to SF
R.J. SEQUESTERED: Olga Viripaeff to SF; Lana Wood to SF; Faye Nuell Mayo to SF; 3/00 Vanity Fair; Duane Rasure to SF
THERE’S HIS WIFE’S: Katie Wagner, A&E biography of Robert Wagner
MUD WENT TO SEE: Maria Gurdin to Phyllis Quinn; Lana Wood to SF
TOLD LANA AN ACCIDENT: Lana Wood to SF; Natalie, by Lana Wood
OUT FOR A SWIM: “The Final Laughter-Filled Night When Natalie Died,” Douglas Thompson, London Daily News, 12/1/81
ARCHERD’S COLUMN: “Just for Variety,” Army Archerd, Daily Variety, 12/1/81
WAGNER WAS NOT ALARMED: “‘I’m Terrified of Deep, Dark, Water,’ ” Paul Connew, London Daily News, 12/1/81
WE’LL HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS: “Dispute Before Wood’s Death Now in Doubt,” Jack Jones and Ron Harris, Los Angeles Times, 12/2/81
PALLBEARERS: 12/3/81 Daily Variety
MANULIS COMMENTS: Martin Manulis to SF, 6/10/99
NATASHA WAS HYSTERICAL, THEN CALM; WROTE NOTE; COURTNEY IN DENIAL: Peggy Griffin to SF; Evan Smedley Maldonado to SF, 3/2/01
WEREN’T WE LUCKY: 9/30/83 Los Angeles Times
IMPOSTOR NATASHA: Robert Hyatt to SF; George Liuzunie to SF; Lana Wood to SF
CARRIED ON CONVERSATIONS: Randal Malone to SF
RASURE COMMENTS: Duane Rasure to SF
WAYNE COMMENTS: Marilyn Wayne to SF
WAYNE TOLD A FEW REPORTERS THEN: e.g., “Heard Cries for Help Near Wagner Boat, Woman Says,” Keith Love and Jan Klunder, Los Angeles Times, 12/3/81
WAYNE CONTACTED NOGUCHI: Marilyn Wayne to SF; Dr. Noguchi to SF
SMITH DISHEARTENED: Roger Smith to SF; “Lifeguards Join Search - Too Late,” Ann Japenga, Los Angeles Times, 12/31/81
JUST TOOK STATEMENTS: Christina Quinn to SF
SALERNO COMMENTS: Frank Salerno to SF, 10/26/99
DROWNING AND HYPOTHERMIA: Dr. Noguchi to SF; Dr. Joseph Choi to SF, 11/21/99; autopsy report
CHOI’S COMMENTS: Dr. Choi to SF
NOGUCHI’S COMMENTS: Dr. Noguchi to SF
ISAACS’ COMMENTS: Godfrey Isaacs to SF, 11/16/99
FRIENDS OF WAGNER: Coroner, by Noguchi
HAMILTON’S AND WILSON’S DENIALS: As reported in “Dispute Before Wood’s Death Now In Doubt,” Los Angeles Times, 12/2/81
SINATRA INSTIGATED REMOVAL: Dr. Noguchi and Godfrey Isaacs to SF
CASE CLOSED: As reported in “Natalie Died by Accident,” London Daily Mirror, 12/5/81
DAMBACHER COMMENT: Robert Dambacher to SF, 11/13/99
R.J.’S 2ND PRESS STATEMENT: e.g., “Wife Fell Trying to Secure Dinghy, Speculates Wagner,” Daily Variety, 12/28/81, reporting from a New York Daily News copyrighted story
NOGUCHI’S MEMOIR VERSION: From Coroner, by Noguchi
MILLER’S COMMENTS: Paul Miller to SF, 2/2/00
GRIFFIN’S COMMENTS: Peggy Griffin to SF
WOULD HAVE CALLED OUT: Robert Jiras to SF
CANEVARI COMMENTS: Ed Canevari to SF
BLAKE’S COMMENT: Robert Blake outtakes
DON’T UNDERSTAND: Lana Wood to SF
TERRY-CLOTH ROBE: Walken’s 2nd statement to police, notes by Hamilton
LOW-KEY: Whiting’s and Wintler’s police statements; Wintler to SF; Whiting’s personal notes; Davern’s media interviews
TOO WHACKED OUT: John Ryan to SF
TOLD HOWAR: Christopher Walken to Barbara Howar, Entertainment Tonight, 3/2/83
PLAYBOY VERSION: “Playboy Interview: Christopher Walken,” Playboy, September 1997
RASURE COMMENTS: Duane Rasure to SF
VIRTUAL PRISONER; WARNED HIM FBI: 3/00 Vanity Fair
ASKED TO SIGN A STATEMENT; WAGNER GOT HIM PARTS: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99, 2/28/01
SURFACED PUBLICLY: “At Last, Skipper of Wagner’s Yacht Breaks His Silence,” Star, 7/23/85 443, 445 WOULD GO BETWEEN; HELD BACK: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99
STEP FURTHER: 3/00 Vanity Fair
DAVERN CALLED LANA: Lana Wood to SF, 2/15/01; Cheryl Quarmyne to SF, 3/1/01; Evan Smedley Maldonado to SF, 2/28/01; Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99 & 2/28/01; Davern to Lana Wood, 2/24/01
QUARMYNE’S ACCOUNT: Cheryl Quarmyne to SF, 3/1/01
MORE TO STORY: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99, 2/28/01
POLICE OVERLOOKED EVERYTHING; WOULDN’T TELL POLICE: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99
GOO
D SOUL: Robert Redford to SF
LEFT HANGING: “Walken’s On-and-Off Career in the Movies,” New York Times, 11/4/83
WHO KNOWS: Olga Viripaeff to SF
OOTRA VECHEREEM: Natalie’s eulogy for Nick Gurdin
Natalie’s mother, Maria Zudilova, with her family in Siberia, 1919. Maria claimed they were Romanovs. Seated from left: Maria’s father, Stepan Zudilov, 42; Maria, 11; her “aristocrat” mother, also named Maria, 36; sister Zoia, 12; brothers Gleb, 4, and Boris, 6. Back row from left: half-sister Kallisfenia (Kalia), 13; half-brother Mikhael, 20; half-sister Apollinaria (Lilia), 17; half-brother Semen, 18.
Musia as Queen of the Russian Invalids Ball in San Francisco in 1936, assuming a pose like the Russian royalty she claimed to be.
Musia with her trophies as Queen of the White Russian Veterans Balls in San Francisco, a glory she would relive while channeling her dreams through Natasha.
Natasha’s first publicity photo, a few weeks after producers changed her name to “Natalie Wood.” She mailed it to her only friend, Edwin, on May 2, 1945, signing her real name, Natasha, in parentheses, signifying the beginning of the split in her persona.
Natasha at the christening of baby sister, Svetlana, in 1946, when “Natalie Wood” first appeared on-screen in Tomorrow Is Forever.
The three sisters-Natasha, Olga, and Svetlana-with their mother, the formidable Maria/Musia/Mud.
Natalie in 1948 with the cast of The Green Promise, the movie where she injured her left wrist and nearly drowned. The wrist healed improperly and she wore a bracelet over it for the rest of her life. From left: Marguerite Chapman, Natalie, Walter Brennan, Connie Marshall, unidentified man, Ted Donaldson.
Michael Panieff’s ballet class reads Christmas cards. At left is Natalie; at right “Taffy” Paul; second from right is Jill Oppenheimer. Natalie would marry actor Robert Wagner twice; Taffy would change her name to Stefanie Powers and play Wagner’s wife on TV; Jill would become Jill St. John, Wagner’s third wife.
Natalie, 11, before she began to wear a bracelet over her disfigured left wrist.
Natalie and her first love, Jimmy Williams. Their tragic romance would be mirrored by her role as Deanie opposite Beatty in Splendor in the Grass. Williams would become her personal prototype for Jimmy Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.
Jimmy Williams’ favorite photo of Natalie, smiling for him at Fulton Jr. High.
An enigmatic Natalie at 16, before Rebel Without a Cause. She gave this picture to her beau Rad Fulton, signed “Squirt,” his nickname for her.
The historic first read-through of Rebel Without a Cause in Nick Ray’s bungalow at the Chateau Marmont, March 1955. Clockwise from lower left corner: Ray, Jim Backus, Natalie, Nick Adams, Mitzi McCall, Leonard Rosenman (on sofa at right), Bev Long (in ponytail).
Sixteen-year-old Natalie and her 43-year-old lover, Nick Ray, with Clifford Odets and actress Steffi Skolsky in Ray’s bungalow.
For fan magazines, 16-year-old Natalie was photographed on set-up dates with wholesome actor Ben Cooper. Here they share a hot fudge sundae.
Maria enthusiastically posed with Natalie.
Natalie, Jimmy Dean, and actor Perry Lopez in a Warner Brothers dressing room during Rebel Without a Cause. Lopez still thinks of Natalie every day.
Natalie at the height of teen stardom in fall 1956, arriving with costar Tab Hunter for the New York premiere of The Burning Hills.
Behind the scenes at Natalie’s first wedding to Robert Wagner, December 28, 1957. Faye Nuell congratulates them as Lana, barely visible, stands beside Nuell and Maria lurks behind Natalie, her ever-present shadow.
Natalie and R.J. go over photos with Steffi Skolsky for their profile in Datebook. This photograph was taken in R.J.’s dressing room at Fox circa November 1958.
From the collection of Steffi Sidney, courtesy of Steffi Sidney
Natalie and R.J. congratulate publicist Warren Cowan and actress Barbara Rush at their wedding in Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis’ home.
Natalie at her twenty-first birthday party at Romanoff’s, cohosted by R.J. and her secret crush, Frank Sinatra.
A glamour shot of “Natalie Wood,” Natalie’s movie star persona, from the early 1960s. She signed this one for her sister Olga’s sons Alexis and Dmitri.
Olga Viripaeff Collection, courtesy of Olga Viripaeff
Dancer Tony Mordente goes over Natalie’s steps for a number in West Side Story. The other dancers thought she was aloof; she was actually deeply insecure about her singing and dancing.
Natalie with Warren Beatty at the Academy Awards in 1962. Contrary to gossip, he was not the reason she left Robert Wagner.
Natalie, 23, fulfills the vow she made at 16: to put her handprints in the cement at Grauman’s. Behind her smile, she was devastated by her recent breakup with R.J.
Natalie with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in Paris during The Great Race, her least favorite shoot. She made a suicide attempt at the end of filming, November 1964.
Natalie with beau Henry Jaglom, spring 1966. Later that year, Frank Sinatra would hire someone to follow them.
Natalie, boating off Catalina with her date, lawyer David Gorton, one of her “boys of ’66.” The couple to their left are Edd Byrnes and Asa Maynor, Natalie’s good friends.
Natalie attends the fall ’66 London premiere of This Property Is Condemned with director Sydney Pollack, who credits her with his big break.
Natalie, touched by her ovation during a tribute at the San Francisco Film Festival in October 1976. She thought no one would remember her.
Natalie and fiancé, Gregson, on the set of Downhill Racer with director Michael Ritchie (far left) and Gregson’s producing partner and Natalie’s close friend Robert Redford (far right). Taken in Idaho Springs, Colorado, April 1969.
Three generations: Maria, Natalie, and Natasha, whose birth gave Natalie another chance at childhood.
Natalie holds daughter Courtney at a backyard birthday party with best friend, Peggy Griffin, circa 1975. Nanny and cook Willie Mae Northen is in the background at left.
Probably the only photo taken of Natalie cooking: aboard the Splendour in 1977, making her famous huevos rancheros. She was at the peak of her happiness.
Natalie’s last visit to San Francisco, June 1981, the summer before she drowned. At left is her daughter Courtney; on the other side, daughter Natasha.
One of Olga’s favorite pictures: Natalie talks to Frank Sinatra’s pianist while Olga and her son Michael look on.
Fahd’s last days. Taken in the backyard at Canon with Mud, R.J., and Natalie, who held his hand at the end.
The Valiant, the Wagners’ dinghy, in the cove at Blue Cavern Point where it was found tangled in kelp at 5:30 A.M. on Sunday, November 29, 1981.
The Spendour–“the boat that took her away,” Mud described it.
Natalie’s final glamour shot and one of her last autographs as “Natalie Wood,” signed with her usual warmth to two-time screen daughter Tonya Crowe.
Tonya Crowe Collection, courtesy of Tonya Crowe
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:
Criterion Music Corporation: Lyrics from “When the World Was Young,” English lyrics by Johnny Mercer, French lyrics by Angele Vannier. Music by M. Philippe-Gerard. Copyright © 1950–1951. Copyright renewed 1978 by Enoch et Cie. Used by permission of Criterion Music Corporation.
Hobby-Catto Properties, L.L.C.: excerpt from “Natalie Wood: Hollywood’s Number One Survivor” by Thomas Thompson, Look magazine, April 2, 1979. Used with permission from Hobby-Catto Properties, L.L.C.
Copyright © 2001 by Suzanne Finstad
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York.
Membe
r of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
www.randomhouse.com
THREE RIVERS PRESS and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover by Harmony Books in 2001.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Finstad, Suzanne
Natasha : the biography of Natalie Wood / by Suzanne Finstad.
Filmography: p.
1. Wood, Natalie. 2. Motion picture actors and actresses—
United State—Biography. 1. Title.
PN2287. W59 F56 2001
791.43′028′092—dc21
[B] 2001039126
eISBN: 978-0-307-42866-0
FRONTISPIECE: At the Sherry-Netherland in New York, spring 1963, during the filming of Love with the Proper Stranger. This was Natalie’s favorite movie experience. Privately, her romance with Warren Beatty was unraveling and she was lonely. Photo used by permission of William Claxton.
OPPOSITE PAGE: Natasha at four, shortly after her parents changed the family name from Zakharenko to Gurdin and moved to Santa Rosa. Photo courtesy of Ed Canevari.
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