Natalie Wood #1
- Thread starter kragirl
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I love it too
It was the first Natalie movie I watched......
I love everything in that movie, from the way she acted to the way she looked.....just an amazing film.
It cemented me as a huge Natalie fan....
But the movie that I LOOOOOVE is West Side Story........not only because Natalie is in it, but also because I think it's a great movie
Oh and the songs
......
It was the first Natalie movie I watched......
I love everything in that movie, from the way she acted to the way she looked.....just an amazing film.
It cemented me as a huge Natalie fan....
But the movie that I LOOOOOVE is West Side Story........not only because Natalie is in it, but also because I think it's a great movie
Oh and the songs
......I think she became more beautiful with age, love her clothes in 'Rebel without a cause.'
source; http://members.shaw.ca
source;moviemail-online.co.uk
source; google images
source; livefastdieyoungbook.com
source; http://members.shaw.ca
source;moviemail-online.co.uk
source; google images
source; livefastdieyoungbook.com
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marqueemoon
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are her eyes slightly off center? somehow i always thought that added to her beauty, strange as it sounds.
yet another post...
here's a really sweet article from nataliewoodonline
it's by a woman called paula powell:
he first time I met Natalie was during the filming of “Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.” Most of it was filmed in L.A. but there were some exteriors shot at the Riviera and also inside the casino.
Well, my family has been going to Vegas two or three times a year since long before I was born! We always stay at the Riviera. My parent’s spend the day gambling at Circus Circus and they deposit me upstairs at one particular game that I’m very good at. It’s called ‘Fascination.’ Each person has their own little alley where they roll a ball and try to get it in the little holes at the end of the alley. Well, I started playing it when I was 2 ½ so by this time I had about 2 ½ years’ experience and was very good. In fact, even at that age I won at least ¾ of the time against 24 other people!
So, my parents dropped me off with instructions to meet at our usual place downstairs in three hours. Although I was very young, I was also very independent. And from so many years spending six weeks a year at Circus Circus, I knew my way around better than most adults! They gave me $5 to add to my $15 I’d saved up from the past few months’ allowance. I was doing real well at the game. The process of trading up meant out of 80 games, I would have to WIN 54! To get the jumbo stuffed tiger after trading ‘smalls’ for ‘mediums’ for ‘larges’ and ‘larges’ for ‘Jumbo’!
But I kept winning and winning. Finally I ran out of money and all I needed was $1.00 so I went to the casino to find my parents carrying two larges, 3 mediums, and 3 small (stuffed animals). I kept dropping them all over. I was just a tiny kid. I was heading down the stairs, hardly seeing where I was going when someone stuck their foot out and tripped me. The next thing I knew, I had fallen down, about seven stairs, to the bottom. I bumped my head pretty bad. I looked up to see three boys about 10 or 12 years old, running off with their loot: my animals! I just started bawling! I was so amazed that someone just came and stole what I’d save months to get from earning the money from doing jobs for neighbors.
In this terrible state of anger and utter disbelief, I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard a gentle voice say, “Are you alright?” I looked up through my tears and saw a beautiful lady with long brown hair in two ponytails with big dark sunglasses. She was in a T-shirt that said something either foreign or beyond my advanced reading abilities.
“I… I think so,” I said
She helped me up. I got myself together and made sure I didn’t have any broken bones.
“You took a nasty fall, Sweetheart,” she said, and wiped my tears. “I saw the whole thing. People can be so cruel sometimes. I’m sorry.”
I started explaining how I just needed one more ‘small’ and I could trade up for a ‘jumbo.’ I guess I was just babbling because she didn’t understand. She asked me to show her what I meant. So I grabbed her hand and dragged her up the stairs to the game.
I said I had no more money and only and hour to play until my scheduled meeting with my parents. So she opened her purse and took out $20.00. She gave it to me. I was even more amazed by her generosity than the boys’ cruelty.
“The tiger you want? Go get it, honey!”
So, I started playing. She stood behind me apparently unrecognized and watched. A hour just wasn’t enough, and 15 minutes before I had to go downstairs to meet my parents I had to quit. She said, “Wait a minute.” And she went to talk to the person at the counter. A couple of seconds later I heard arguing going on. I turned around just in time to see her take off her sunglasses and say, “Do you know who I am?”
The guy just looked flabbergasted and handed her the tiger and kept apologizing profusely. I didn’t understand, because I, of course, didn’t know who she was.
She got back to me with the tiger and said, “Here, Darling, you did it!” But all I could do was stare. She had removed her dark glasses and I saw her eyes. I was speechless. She was so beautiful. Quickly, she put the glasses back on.
We talked for a few more minutes, about what happened and that I shouldn’t remember this day as a bad experience but that someone picked me up, dried my tears and made everything right. It was a beautiful conversation. I have never spoken with such a gentle and loving person as she was. She said I should always look for the light in everything bad. She used a quote from “Splendor,” – ‘We shall grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.’ Of course it went right over my head, and I didn’t even remember it until I caught the very ending of that movie about a year later.
She took my hand and walked me down the stairs. “You know, I collect stuffed tigers! I have for many years!”
I said, “Oh! What’s your name? I want to name this tiger after you!”
“Uh… well… Natasha,” she said.
“Natasha. What a pretty name. Where do you live?”
“L.A.” she said.
“Oh good, then I’ll see you sometime. And I’ll win you a tiger and you can name it Paula.”
“That’s your name? A pretty name for a pretty girl.”
“Where in L.A. do you live? Can you write down your address? I want to come see you.”
“Don’t worry. When the time is right, you’ll know how to find me.”
“Huh?” I didn’t understand. I said thank you to her and told her she was very nice. Just then I saw my parents. I ran to tell them what happened and I turned around – and she was gone. She disappeared into nowhere, just where she came from.
The next day I was walking with my parents out to our car outside the Riviera. We went through the casino area and I saw Natasha playing blackjack. “That’s Natasha!” I screamed and started running over, but some guy in a uniform grabbed me and told my parents that I was too young.
This time she looked totally different. Gone was the foreign T-shirt, holey, raggedy jeans, ponytails, and dark glasses. This time she had on a gorgeous, sparkly silver dress! She was even more beautiful.
“No, I’m sure you must be mistaken, Paula. That’s Natalie Wood!”
“Natasha,”… ‘Natalie’… I was confused but I knew it was her.
When we moved up to Seattle my mother and I went to the library almost every weekend. One time about 8, I asked information, “I want all the books you have on Natalie Wood.” I read on and on until I found a sentence ‘Born Natasha Gurdin.” There it was! The proof! It really was her. I had met a famous actress!
Ever since I saw that last clip of “Splendor” at 6 ½ I have been a fan. I wasn’t to see her again until 1974 when she came to Seattle. I called every hotel until I found her.
“Yes, she’s here but there’s no way you can talk to her.”
I called all day and finally they said, “Who may I say is calling?”
“Paula,” I said. “Just Paula.”
A few minutes later I heard – “Paula?” from the other line.
“Natasha!”
And so it goes.
We visited for a couple hours in her hotel room. She greeted me like I was her long lost daughter. R.J. was out for the day, but Courtney who was about 9 ½ months and Natasha, were there.
I met her several more times and spoke at length with her twice more. One time, filming “Meteor” at MGM soundstage 30, I spent a day on the set. She was very devoted to her work, but she was always very kind to me. (She embraced me every time we met and parted.) She was speaking Russian, and that’s where my fascination with Russian began. I now speak it semi-fluently.
I remember her saying she was using “Greta Garbo’s dressing room, and I don’t think anyone has used it since!” It was all dusty and empty. The only time she ever went in there was to wash her hair.
In 1979 I won an identical tiger for her, but never was able to give it to her, although I saw her briefly one more time.
I left it on her grave one year after she died.
here's a really sweet article from nataliewoodonline
it's by a woman called paula powell:
he first time I met Natalie was during the filming of “Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.” Most of it was filmed in L.A. but there were some exteriors shot at the Riviera and also inside the casino.
Well, my family has been going to Vegas two or three times a year since long before I was born! We always stay at the Riviera. My parent’s spend the day gambling at Circus Circus and they deposit me upstairs at one particular game that I’m very good at. It’s called ‘Fascination.’ Each person has their own little alley where they roll a ball and try to get it in the little holes at the end of the alley. Well, I started playing it when I was 2 ½ so by this time I had about 2 ½ years’ experience and was very good. In fact, even at that age I won at least ¾ of the time against 24 other people!
So, my parents dropped me off with instructions to meet at our usual place downstairs in three hours. Although I was very young, I was also very independent. And from so many years spending six weeks a year at Circus Circus, I knew my way around better than most adults! They gave me $5 to add to my $15 I’d saved up from the past few months’ allowance. I was doing real well at the game. The process of trading up meant out of 80 games, I would have to WIN 54! To get the jumbo stuffed tiger after trading ‘smalls’ for ‘mediums’ for ‘larges’ and ‘larges’ for ‘Jumbo’!
But I kept winning and winning. Finally I ran out of money and all I needed was $1.00 so I went to the casino to find my parents carrying two larges, 3 mediums, and 3 small (stuffed animals). I kept dropping them all over. I was just a tiny kid. I was heading down the stairs, hardly seeing where I was going when someone stuck their foot out and tripped me. The next thing I knew, I had fallen down, about seven stairs, to the bottom. I bumped my head pretty bad. I looked up to see three boys about 10 or 12 years old, running off with their loot: my animals! I just started bawling! I was so amazed that someone just came and stole what I’d save months to get from earning the money from doing jobs for neighbors.
In this terrible state of anger and utter disbelief, I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard a gentle voice say, “Are you alright?” I looked up through my tears and saw a beautiful lady with long brown hair in two ponytails with big dark sunglasses. She was in a T-shirt that said something either foreign or beyond my advanced reading abilities.
“I… I think so,” I said
She helped me up. I got myself together and made sure I didn’t have any broken bones.
“You took a nasty fall, Sweetheart,” she said, and wiped my tears. “I saw the whole thing. People can be so cruel sometimes. I’m sorry.”
I started explaining how I just needed one more ‘small’ and I could trade up for a ‘jumbo.’ I guess I was just babbling because she didn’t understand. She asked me to show her what I meant. So I grabbed her hand and dragged her up the stairs to the game.
I said I had no more money and only and hour to play until my scheduled meeting with my parents. So she opened her purse and took out $20.00. She gave it to me. I was even more amazed by her generosity than the boys’ cruelty.
“The tiger you want? Go get it, honey!”
So, I started playing. She stood behind me apparently unrecognized and watched. A hour just wasn’t enough, and 15 minutes before I had to go downstairs to meet my parents I had to quit. She said, “Wait a minute.” And she went to talk to the person at the counter. A couple of seconds later I heard arguing going on. I turned around just in time to see her take off her sunglasses and say, “Do you know who I am?”
The guy just looked flabbergasted and handed her the tiger and kept apologizing profusely. I didn’t understand, because I, of course, didn’t know who she was.
She got back to me with the tiger and said, “Here, Darling, you did it!” But all I could do was stare. She had removed her dark glasses and I saw her eyes. I was speechless. She was so beautiful. Quickly, she put the glasses back on.
We talked for a few more minutes, about what happened and that I shouldn’t remember this day as a bad experience but that someone picked me up, dried my tears and made everything right. It was a beautiful conversation. I have never spoken with such a gentle and loving person as she was. She said I should always look for the light in everything bad. She used a quote from “Splendor,” – ‘We shall grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.’ Of course it went right over my head, and I didn’t even remember it until I caught the very ending of that movie about a year later.
She took my hand and walked me down the stairs. “You know, I collect stuffed tigers! I have for many years!”
I said, “Oh! What’s your name? I want to name this tiger after you!”
“Uh… well… Natasha,” she said.
“Natasha. What a pretty name. Where do you live?”
“L.A.” she said.
“Oh good, then I’ll see you sometime. And I’ll win you a tiger and you can name it Paula.”
“That’s your name? A pretty name for a pretty girl.”
“Where in L.A. do you live? Can you write down your address? I want to come see you.”
“Don’t worry. When the time is right, you’ll know how to find me.”
“Huh?” I didn’t understand. I said thank you to her and told her she was very nice. Just then I saw my parents. I ran to tell them what happened and I turned around – and she was gone. She disappeared into nowhere, just where she came from.
The next day I was walking with my parents out to our car outside the Riviera. We went through the casino area and I saw Natasha playing blackjack. “That’s Natasha!” I screamed and started running over, but some guy in a uniform grabbed me and told my parents that I was too young.
This time she looked totally different. Gone was the foreign T-shirt, holey, raggedy jeans, ponytails, and dark glasses. This time she had on a gorgeous, sparkly silver dress! She was even more beautiful.
“No, I’m sure you must be mistaken, Paula. That’s Natalie Wood!”
“Natasha,”… ‘Natalie’… I was confused but I knew it was her.
When we moved up to Seattle my mother and I went to the library almost every weekend. One time about 8, I asked information, “I want all the books you have on Natalie Wood.” I read on and on until I found a sentence ‘Born Natasha Gurdin.” There it was! The proof! It really was her. I had met a famous actress!
Ever since I saw that last clip of “Splendor” at 6 ½ I have been a fan. I wasn’t to see her again until 1974 when she came to Seattle. I called every hotel until I found her.
“Yes, she’s here but there’s no way you can talk to her.”
I called all day and finally they said, “Who may I say is calling?”
“Paula,” I said. “Just Paula.”
A few minutes later I heard – “Paula?” from the other line.
“Natasha!”
And so it goes.
We visited for a couple hours in her hotel room. She greeted me like I was her long lost daughter. R.J. was out for the day, but Courtney who was about 9 ½ months and Natasha, were there.
I met her several more times and spoke at length with her twice more. One time, filming “Meteor” at MGM soundstage 30, I spent a day on the set. She was very devoted to her work, but she was always very kind to me. (She embraced me every time we met and parted.) She was speaking Russian, and that’s where my fascination with Russian began. I now speak it semi-fluently.
I remember her saying she was using “Greta Garbo’s dressing room, and I don’t think anyone has used it since!” It was all dusty and empty. The only time she ever went in there was to wash her hair.
In 1979 I won an identical tiger for her, but never was able to give it to her, although I saw her briefly one more time.
I left it on her grave one year after she died.
here's another sweet one by ann jillian who worked with natalie in gypsy
Natalie Wood: Soft and professional. When I say
"soft," by no stretch of the imagination do I mean
"weak." Her carriage was that of a princess. Her
beauty, haunting. Talent? Pure. Mervyn LeRoy once said
of her ability to convey emotion, "She's the only
actress I know that can make a single tear feel a
hundred different ways." Her generosity, particularly
to me, both onstage and off, touched me forever.
She knew the tender concerns my heart held, having
been a child actress herself. It was easy to say the
lines,"you never worry about yourself, only for me."
She did. She made me feel comfortable in what was not
yet my arena; always gently leading and helping.
On my final day of shooting, she delighted me with a
surprise visit to my school room. I was dismissed for
a moment to receive a most beautiful gift from her. A
gold charm bracelet with a heart that read, "Ann,
Love, Natalie" on one side and the name "Dainty June"
inscribed on the other. I love you too, Natalie. I
miss you, as so many others do.
Natalie Wood: Soft and professional. When I say
"soft," by no stretch of the imagination do I mean
"weak." Her carriage was that of a princess. Her
beauty, haunting. Talent? Pure. Mervyn LeRoy once said
of her ability to convey emotion, "She's the only
actress I know that can make a single tear feel a
hundred different ways." Her generosity, particularly
to me, both onstage and off, touched me forever.
She knew the tender concerns my heart held, having
been a child actress herself. It was easy to say the
lines,"you never worry about yourself, only for me."
She did. She made me feel comfortable in what was not
yet my arena; always gently leading and helping.
On my final day of shooting, she delighted me with a
surprise visit to my school room. I was dismissed for
a moment to receive a most beautiful gift from her. A
gold charm bracelet with a heart that read, "Ann,
Love, Natalie" on one side and the name "Dainty June"
inscribed on the other. I love you too, Natalie. I
miss you, as so many others do.
3 more...
Remembering Natalie Wood
Off screen, the real Natalie Wood was all those things you'd image she'd be: adorable, vivacious, bright, spirited. She was also extremely kind to neophytes. I found that out first-hand when Natalie had the misfortune to be the first celebrity I was ever assigned to interview for a magazine article. It was in 1965, just after she'd filmed Inside Daisy Clover, a movie everyone assumed (incorrectly as it turned out) would be Natalie's piece de resistance, a film that was supposed to win her, after three previous nominations, an Academy Award® at last. Hopes were so high the Warner Bros. press department was wooing every magazine, big and small, to do articles about "Daisy." I was with a small magazine and had little experience as a writer and zilch in doing an interview, yet I got the assignment. (It was the Peter Principal at its most flagrant.)
Natalie, by contrast, was an old pro at the PR game; age 27, she had been a working actress for some 22 years; much written-about, much interviewed. Savvy. I was invited to her home on Bentley Avenue in Brentwood, a lovely, rambling house, which was set down several steps off the main roadway. She couldn't have been more gracious. Coffee was served and the interview began, Natalie curled up in a chair near a fireplace where, I also remember, above the mantle hung an imposing painting of Vivien Leigh, her idol. I sat on the floor, notes in hand, and tape recorder ready. So far, so good. But it took only a couple of questions to flag the fact I was in Serious Trouble. I couldn't read my notes, much less understand those I could decipher. Further, my questions were haphazard, following no line of logic. I was clearly a rank amateur, wasting the time of a busy lady. Did the lady have a tizzy or storm off in a huff? Quite the contrary. This beautiful girl couldn't have been sweeter, more patient, or more helpful. Very soon she was sitting on the floor with me, organizing my notes, suggesting ways to restructure my questions so they'd get more interesting answers. She became my teacher. Also my savior and friend. I've been grateful to her ever since for the many things I learned that day. Number One, of course, was the old Boy Scout's motto: be prepared. Another: whoever crossed Natalie's path was lucky indeed. She was one in a million. Every bit as rare and special, and kind as you hoped she might be.
by Robert Osborne
________________________________
Robert Redford on Natalie Wood:
I knew Natalie Wood long before she knew me. Let
me explain.
One day at Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, me
and some other guys, athletes, were in charge of
admitting students into the assembly. Now I was kind
of a punk in high school, and completely unimpressed
with celebrities and the movie business. Well, this
one girl was late, and she runs up to me and I won't
let her in the auditorium. She begs but I won't
budge, and then she storms off. So my friend says
Don't you know who that is? and I said No,
I had no idea. It was Natalie Wood, the movie
star. Our lives would cross paths again many years
later.
Natalie Wood worked her way through the ranks in
Hollywood, first as a child star, then as a teen
celebrity. Finally she had huge success with
roles in movies like Splendor in the Grass and
the musical West Side Story. But Natalie later
told me that she desperately wanted to be taken
seriously as an actor. She wanted to pursue
character roles instead of relying on her star image
to carry her in a picture. And that's what brought
us together the second time.
I had become an actor myself, and by the early
sixties I had had a few successes on Broadway, but I
was pretty much an unknown. When Natalie decided to
make a dramatic stretch in the films This Property
Is Condemned and Inside Daisy Clover, she
chose me, the Unknown, to be her leading man. Because
I was from the Theater, where character and craft are
important, we clicked while shooting Daisy
Clover. I like to improvise. Natalie didn't
have much experience with that, but instead of
behaving like some big movie star saying I can't
do that or I won't do that, Natalie went
along with it. We were shooting a scene when our
studio boss tells us he doesn't want us to get
married. On one take, during one of those totally
improvised moments, I suddenly picked up Natalie and
just dove right into the pool. My way of saying to
the studio boss we're gonna do what we want.
It wasn't in the script, and I didn't know that
Natalie was afraid of water. But she was courageous,
and she hung in there with me.
I had a wonderful time working with Natalie. Not
only because of her innate talent, but she also loved
to laugh and joke around on the set. We would tease
each other a lot. Natalie had this mannerism when she
acted where she would swish her head to one side and
give a puzzled look. She adopted this as part of her
screen trademark, I guess. So I would do it back to
her, exaggerated, and there we'd be, two cocked
heads looking at each other.
I think it's wonderful when actors working
together can find areas of connection when they can
touch the soul of that other person. And I think that
happened for Natalie and me.
I'll always be thankful to Natalie for the things
that she taught me. I could talk with her about the
nonsense and the distortion and what it is to be a
movie star. She said that no matter how silly it may
seem, fans do have this feeling about you that you
have to respect. But never let it overwhelm you. So
when we'd go out in public, Natalie and I would be
mobbed an aspect of the business I had little
patience for. Natalie would tell me Just smile,
keep moving, and don't ever stop.
I adored Natalie Wood. She was incredibly
generous, which not many people in our industry are.
She was extremely driven and in charge when it came to
her career. Yet Natalie had a vulnerability about
her, I guess the part of her that longed to be taken
care of. She didn't have a husband or a family when
I first worked with her, and I think it was hard for
her to be alone.
Over the years we enjoyed a wonderful friendship.
I was best man at her second wedding. A couple of
years later Natalie even made a cameo appearance in
the movie The Candidate as a favor to me.
We eventually lost touch, but our admiration for
each other never really ended. I only wish our paths
could have crossed again.
Oh, and at one point, I told her the story about
how I had picked on her that day in high school. She
got a big kick out of that.
For Turner Classic Movies, I'm Robert Redford
_________________________________________
Maureen O'Hara remembers Natalie Wood:
"I have been the mother to almost forty children in
movies, but I have always had a special place in my
heart for Natalie.
She always called me Momma Maureen and I called her
Natasha, the name her parents had given her. She loved
making little ceramics on the weekends and used to
bring me gifts of lovely painted animals and people.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Hugo in St.Croix stole them
all and I can't find even one. They're up there
somewhere in the jet stream watching over me.
When Natalie and I shot the scene in Macy's, we had to
do them at night because the store was full of people
doing their Christmas shopping during the day. Natalie
loved this because it meant she was allowed to stay up
late. I remembered all the tricks we pulled as kids in
our house, trying to stay up past bedtime, and so I
really enjoyed this time with Natalie.
We loved to walk through the quiet, closed store and
look at all the toys and girls' dresses and shoes. The
day she died, I cried shamelessly. It was such a
horrible way to go for such a lovely, lovely girl."
Remembering Natalie Wood
Off screen, the real Natalie Wood was all those things you'd image she'd be: adorable, vivacious, bright, spirited. She was also extremely kind to neophytes. I found that out first-hand when Natalie had the misfortune to be the first celebrity I was ever assigned to interview for a magazine article. It was in 1965, just after she'd filmed Inside Daisy Clover, a movie everyone assumed (incorrectly as it turned out) would be Natalie's piece de resistance, a film that was supposed to win her, after three previous nominations, an Academy Award® at last. Hopes were so high the Warner Bros. press department was wooing every magazine, big and small, to do articles about "Daisy." I was with a small magazine and had little experience as a writer and zilch in doing an interview, yet I got the assignment. (It was the Peter Principal at its most flagrant.)
Natalie, by contrast, was an old pro at the PR game; age 27, she had been a working actress for some 22 years; much written-about, much interviewed. Savvy. I was invited to her home on Bentley Avenue in Brentwood, a lovely, rambling house, which was set down several steps off the main roadway. She couldn't have been more gracious. Coffee was served and the interview began, Natalie curled up in a chair near a fireplace where, I also remember, above the mantle hung an imposing painting of Vivien Leigh, her idol. I sat on the floor, notes in hand, and tape recorder ready. So far, so good. But it took only a couple of questions to flag the fact I was in Serious Trouble. I couldn't read my notes, much less understand those I could decipher. Further, my questions were haphazard, following no line of logic. I was clearly a rank amateur, wasting the time of a busy lady. Did the lady have a tizzy or storm off in a huff? Quite the contrary. This beautiful girl couldn't have been sweeter, more patient, or more helpful. Very soon she was sitting on the floor with me, organizing my notes, suggesting ways to restructure my questions so they'd get more interesting answers. She became my teacher. Also my savior and friend. I've been grateful to her ever since for the many things I learned that day. Number One, of course, was the old Boy Scout's motto: be prepared. Another: whoever crossed Natalie's path was lucky indeed. She was one in a million. Every bit as rare and special, and kind as you hoped she might be.
by Robert Osborne
________________________________
Robert Redford on Natalie Wood:
I knew Natalie Wood long before she knew me. Let
me explain.
One day at Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, me
and some other guys, athletes, were in charge of
admitting students into the assembly. Now I was kind
of a punk in high school, and completely unimpressed
with celebrities and the movie business. Well, this
one girl was late, and she runs up to me and I won't
let her in the auditorium. She begs but I won't
budge, and then she storms off. So my friend says
Don't you know who that is? and I said No,
I had no idea. It was Natalie Wood, the movie
star. Our lives would cross paths again many years
later.
Natalie Wood worked her way through the ranks in
Hollywood, first as a child star, then as a teen
celebrity. Finally she had huge success with
roles in movies like Splendor in the Grass and
the musical West Side Story. But Natalie later
told me that she desperately wanted to be taken
seriously as an actor. She wanted to pursue
character roles instead of relying on her star image
to carry her in a picture. And that's what brought
us together the second time.
I had become an actor myself, and by the early
sixties I had had a few successes on Broadway, but I
was pretty much an unknown. When Natalie decided to
make a dramatic stretch in the films This Property
Is Condemned and Inside Daisy Clover, she
chose me, the Unknown, to be her leading man. Because
I was from the Theater, where character and craft are
important, we clicked while shooting Daisy
Clover. I like to improvise. Natalie didn't
have much experience with that, but instead of
behaving like some big movie star saying I can't
do that or I won't do that, Natalie went
along with it. We were shooting a scene when our
studio boss tells us he doesn't want us to get
married. On one take, during one of those totally
improvised moments, I suddenly picked up Natalie and
just dove right into the pool. My way of saying to
the studio boss we're gonna do what we want.
It wasn't in the script, and I didn't know that
Natalie was afraid of water. But she was courageous,
and she hung in there with me.
I had a wonderful time working with Natalie. Not
only because of her innate talent, but she also loved
to laugh and joke around on the set. We would tease
each other a lot. Natalie had this mannerism when she
acted where she would swish her head to one side and
give a puzzled look. She adopted this as part of her
screen trademark, I guess. So I would do it back to
her, exaggerated, and there we'd be, two cocked
heads looking at each other.
I think it's wonderful when actors working
together can find areas of connection when they can
touch the soul of that other person. And I think that
happened for Natalie and me.
I'll always be thankful to Natalie for the things
that she taught me. I could talk with her about the
nonsense and the distortion and what it is to be a
movie star. She said that no matter how silly it may
seem, fans do have this feeling about you that you
have to respect. But never let it overwhelm you. So
when we'd go out in public, Natalie and I would be
mobbed an aspect of the business I had little
patience for. Natalie would tell me Just smile,
keep moving, and don't ever stop.
I adored Natalie Wood. She was incredibly
generous, which not many people in our industry are.
She was extremely driven and in charge when it came to
her career. Yet Natalie had a vulnerability about
her, I guess the part of her that longed to be taken
care of. She didn't have a husband or a family when
I first worked with her, and I think it was hard for
her to be alone.
Over the years we enjoyed a wonderful friendship.
I was best man at her second wedding. A couple of
years later Natalie even made a cameo appearance in
the movie The Candidate as a favor to me.
We eventually lost touch, but our admiration for
each other never really ended. I only wish our paths
could have crossed again.
Oh, and at one point, I told her the story about
how I had picked on her that day in high school. She
got a big kick out of that.
For Turner Classic Movies, I'm Robert Redford
_________________________________________
Maureen O'Hara remembers Natalie Wood:
"I have been the mother to almost forty children in
movies, but I have always had a special place in my
heart for Natalie.
She always called me Momma Maureen and I called her
Natasha, the name her parents had given her. She loved
making little ceramics on the weekends and used to
bring me gifts of lovely painted animals and people.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Hugo in St.Croix stole them
all and I can't find even one. They're up there
somewhere in the jet stream watching over me.
When Natalie and I shot the scene in Macy's, we had to
do them at night because the store was full of people
doing their Christmas shopping during the day. Natalie
loved this because it meant she was allowed to stay up
late. I remembered all the tricks we pulled as kids in
our house, trying to stay up past bedtime, and so I
really enjoyed this time with Natalie.
We loved to walk through the quiet, closed store and
look at all the toys and girls' dresses and shoes. The
day she died, I cried shamelessly. It was such a
horrible way to go for such a lovely, lovely girl."
I love that pictrue from Harvard....when she [SIZE=-1]recieved[/SIZE] the worst actress award 
great sense of humor!
I think [SIZE=-1]you can't make a bad movie good just with your acting talents. [/SIZE]
She was a great actress!
great sense of humor!
I think [SIZE=-1]you can't make a bad movie good just with your acting talents. [/SIZE]
She was a great actress!
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