In early 1972, the actress wasted no time when it came to rekindling her earlier romance with ex-husband Robert Wagner. Natalie Wood is an iconic name in Hollywood, having starred films like Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story with the likes of James Dean and other A-listers. In the investigative memoir, Lana alleges Natalie's husband Robert was responsible for her untimely death. All Rights Reserved. When Wood was unable to cry on cue, her mother tore a butterfly to pieces in front of her to ensure she would sob for a scene. Natalie Wood in 'The Cracker Factory' When Natalie Wood's death investigation was reopened, her cause of death was changed to "undetermined." Wood's body was found dressed in her sleeping attire a plaid, flannel nightgown, argyle socks, and a red down jacket. Accessed November 17, 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Natalie_Wood&oldid=1139854755, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 06:30. As reported by the Daily Mail, Wood's blood alcohol content was 0.14%, which was higher than the legal driving limit. Natalie's relationship status is married. [62], Wood's two marriages to actor Robert Wagner were highly publicized. [64], Following this starter marriage, Wood dated Warren Beatty, Michael Caine and David Niven Jr. She also had a broken engagement in 1965 with Venezuelan shoe manufacturer Ladislav Blatnik. [22] After that, his widow and three sons fled to Shanghai, subsequently relocating to Vancouver at the time of Wood's paternal grandmother's remarriage in 1927. What was Natalie Wood's love life like, after all? 192w Reply samadanesh_swimwear Beauty! Here's everything you need to know about Natalie Wood's husbands and the story behind each. Another friend said he was 'creepy', describing an elderly, t h i n m a n w i t h grey hair and a habit of pulling up his trousers so high that one could see the shape of his testicles. Gregson Wagner says she and St. John talked about it in therapy and it was definitely a process, but they are all one big family now. Natalie Wood's marriage to film producer Richard Gregson was fruitful but incredibly short-lived. [80][88][89][90] Walken hired a lawyer, cooperated with the investigation, and was not considered a suspect by authorities. The police stated that they know that Wagner was the last person to be with Wood before she disappeared. [86] Olivier flew in from London in order to attend the service. "I don't believe it was premeditated," the 75-year-old said to The New York Post. She made a 'romantic pact' with Wagner possibly driven by her terror of being alone never to be separated. She reportedly had an affair with 38-year-old Frank Sinatra when she was 15; and, a year older, was 'forced' into a sexual relationship with the 43-year-old director Nicholas Ray to prove she could play a 'bad girl' in Rebel Without A Cause. [13][18] They had a daughter named Olga (19282015)[19] and moved to the U.S. by ship in 1930 before divorcing six years later.[20]. How Natalie Wood found her husband in flagrante with their English butler: Her death sparked a 40-year mystery after a drunken night with husband Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken ended. "[28], Wood, then seven years old, got the part. [b] Authorities recovered her body at 8a.m. on November29, one mile (1.6km) away from the boat, with a small Valiant-brand inflatable dinghy beached nearby. Filming The Great Rae took its toll on her and she attempted suicide after filming wrapped, her daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner reveals in the documentary. [85], Wood was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. [47][48] Her appearance in that film led critic Pauline Kael to comment "clever little Natalie Wood [the] most machine-tooled of Hollywood ingnues."[49][2]. However, by June 1961, the pair had separated after just a few years into their relationship. "One affair that, unlike the others, was conducted in top secret was with Natalie . She continued to guest star on anthology TV shows like Studio One in Hollywood, Camera Three, Kings Row, Studio 57, Warner Brothers Presents, and The Kaiser Aluminum Hour. In between these she made Peeper (1975) with Michael Caine. He also co-owns a gun range and some other businesses IIRC. [6] In 2018, Wagner was named as a person of interest in the ongoing investigation into her death. The actress had something of an interesting history and we'll certainly get to all of that soon enough. In an interview, Natalie's sister, Lana Wood, told Insider that she doesn't hold Walken responsible. And yet, says Finstad, his decision to have a live-in butler struck observers at the time as odd. A friend of Wood would homophobically complain, even in her presence, about the 'f*****' keeping house for them. That said, one might ask who was jealous of whom, given what happened at a restaurant on Santa Cantalina island earlier in the evening of Wood's last fateful night in 1981 and later the same evening on their 60ft yacht, the Splendour. She and Beatty would go on to date for two years, but Woods friend, playwright Mart Crowley, says in the documentary that she didnt cheat on Wagner and that Wood and Beatty didnt get together until long after Splendor had wrapped.. Natalie Woods is known for The Fanglys (2004) and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team (2006). Graveside Service: March 18th at 9 A.M. Must be at the cemetery at 9 A.M. for the funeral procession to begin. "[40] "Her roles raised the possibility that one's sensitivity could mark a person as a kind of victim," noted Tibbetts.[2]. I have two fathers, my biological father is Richard Gregson. "[44] Actor Gary Lockwood, who also performed in the film, felt that "Kazan and Natalie were a terrific marriage, because you had this beautiful girl, and you had somebody that could get things out of her." Just like her mother, Natashia is an actress. The famous gossip columnist Hedda Hopper wrote that Cavendish 'brings them breakfast in bed'. Wood had a brief relationship with Elvis Presley, but Wagner stole her heart and they were married in December 1957, despite her mother's reservations. The ball really started rolling with her standout role as the feisty, street-savvy Lou in the improvisation-styled romantic triangle Two Girls and a Guy (1997). At Wood's funeral, her coffin, decorated with a thousand gardenias, was carried by Rock Hudson, Frank Sinatra, Laurence Olivier, Gregory Peck, David Niven, Fred Astaire and the director Elia Kazan. Poor R.J. [Wagner], I said to myself. Kazan wrote in his 1997 memoir that the "sages" of the film community declared her "washed up" as an actress, but he still wanted to interview her for his next film: When I saw her, I detected behind the well-mannered 'young wife' front a desperate twinkle in her eyes I talked with her more quietly then and more personally. Her Husband Betrayed Her. [17] Her mother was previously married to Armenian mechanic Alexander Tatuloff from 1925 to 1936. They married on Dec. 28, 1957, much to her mother's chagrin. The tragic Catalina Island drowning of her mother in 1981, when Natasha was only 11, left deep emotional scars that would ultimately carry into the dark-edged roles she would play in Hollywood.The naturally beautiful dark-eyed and dark-haired actress certainly bears more than a passing resemblance to her famous mom. In his memoir Pieces of My Heart, Wagner admitted that he had an argument with Wood before she disappeared. After a string of relationships with various actors, Wood met producer Richard Gregson through their mutual friend, actor Robert Redford; Gregson was Redfords agent at the time and Redford was best man at their wedding. Lana recalled that his name was David Cavendish. Her career continued with films such as Sex and the Single Girl (1964), Inside Daisy Clover (1965), and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). And I said OK and I hung up the phone and that was it., Woods relationship with Beatty was notoriously tumultuous. Their studio, Warner Bros, obligingly pushed them together by arranging a first date on her 18th birthday. [87], The case was reopened in November 2011 after Davern publicly stated that he had lied to police during the initial investigation and that Wood and Wagner had an argument that evening. Friends told Finstad that Wood never got over it, and it 'came close to destroying her'. Their divorce was finalized in 1972. [7], Wood was born Natalie Zacharenko[n 1] in San Francisco, California, on July 20, 1938,[12] the daughter of Russian parents Maria Zudilova (19081998)[a] and Nicholas Zacharenko (19121980). Wood sang when she starred in the film Gypsy (1962) alongside Rosalind Russell. Wood and Wagner reconnected just as they were both coming off splits from their respective spouses and they remarried in July 1972. The Wood-Wagner household also sometimes hosted Wagners daughter Katie from his marriage to Marshall and Marshalls two sons to whom Wagner was a stepfather, Peter and Joshua, from Marshalls marriage to Stanley Donel. Wood who had been lookingforward to an imminent holiday in Italy with Wagner, her first ever trip abroad became hysterical, smashing a crystal glass in her hand and fleeing in her nightgown to a neighbour's house, from where she phoned her mother. 2. California law required that until age 18, child actors had to spend at least three hours per day in the classroom, notes Harris. She earned three Oscar nominations by 25 before a tragic accident claimed her life at 43. Natalie Wood (ne Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 - November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles.. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring role at age 8 in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). The discovery of her body only yielded more questions than answers. She was with her husband Wagner and Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken. He married actress Natalie Wood on 30th May 1969, the relationship ended with a divorce two years later in 1971, the couple had a daughter named Natasha Gregson Wagner in 1970. [60] The ending of Brainstorm had to be re-written and Wood's character written out of at least three scenes, while a stand-in and sound-alikes were used to replace Wood for some of her crucial shots. Wagner's fierce jealousy over Beatty would be repeated 20 years later, says Finstad, over another younger and more acclaimed Hollywood star, Christopher Walken. She drowned during a drunken and chaotic cruise off the Californian coast. [2] Her former "childlike sweetness" was now being combined with a noticeable "restlessness that was characteristic of the youth of the 1950s. Interview with Natalie Woods daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner. Wood played Maria, a restless Puerto Rican girl on the West Side of Manhattan, in West Side Story, Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise's 1961 film of the stage musical, which was a critical and box-office success. This record was later broken by Jennifer Lawrence in 2013 and Saoirse Ronan in 2017, both of whom scored their third nominations at the age of 23. 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