Authors: Suzanne Finstad
WORRIED LIKED HER BECAUSE NATALIE WOOD
: Lana Wood to SF
NEUROSES KEPT HER SLIM
: “Teenage Dreamboat,”
Movieland
, October 1957
RJ’S FIRST BOAT; FIRST INTIMACY
: 10/79
Orange Coast
; “Heart To Hart,” Jane Ardmore,
San Antonio Light
, 9/27/81
FLOATING IN SPACE
: “The Very Private Lives of Natalie and Bob Wagner,” Leonard Lewis,
Movie World
, March 1959
HEAD OVER HEELS
:
3/86 GQ
STAR JUNKET
: 3/10/57 Sheilah Graham column
BOYS SWARMING
: Karl Malden to SF, 7/29/99
NO PICNIC
: “Natalie Wood: Bait Enough For Beatty?” Helen Hendricks,
Silver Screen
, October 1962
PRIVATE LINE, TALKED ALL NIGHT, BLACK FURNITURE; BURN OUT
: 3/57
Motion Picture
AMBITION OF LIFE
: 4/8/57
Hollywood Reporter
PARTY LINE; LOVE TALK
: Dr. Melvyn Wishan to SF
TORTURED HER OVER
MARJORIE
: Marlowe to SF
HAD TO PLAY THE GAME
: Zimring to SF
BROOKLYN ACCENT; 3 DATES; TWO-PART SERIES
: 8/57 and 9/57
Photoplay
SWEARING CONTESTS; ACTED AS A BEARD
: Judi Meredith Nelson to SF
SINATRA WAS COURTING
: Faye Nuell Mayo to SF; 4/8/57
Hollywood Reporter;
4/30/57
Daily Variety
TOMORROW WON’T COME
: Sheilah Graham column,
Sunday Mirror
, 3/11/57
HEADING FOR A FALL
: “Natalie Wood: Teenage Tiger,”
Look
, 6/25/57
SINATRA INCONGRUOUS
: “The Night Natalie Wood Can Never Forget,” Peer Oppenheimer,
Movieland
, August 1957
BOY CRAZY
: 3/21/57
Daily Variety
COULDN’T BE FAITHFUL; LOOKING FOR HAPPINESS; LUNCH WHEN ENGAGED
: Jacqueline Eastes Perry to SF
CALL IT FASCINATION
: 10/62
Silver Screen
INTENSE ABOUT SOMETHING
: “Little Girls Grow Up Fast,”
Young Movie Lovers
, 1957 issue
COMPARED TO ZELDA
: 2/60
Coronet
HANDS SHAKING
: Amanda Duff Dunne to SF
SCENES WITH TIERNEY
: Anna Lee Nathan to SF
NERVOUS HEART
: 1/21/57
Daily Variety
EVERY TIME SHE READS
: 3/58
Photoplay
NO MORE FAN COVERS
: “Why Are Men Afraid of Natalie?” Joy Sands,
Movie and TV Spotlight
, October 1957
TRIED TO MAKE HER LOOK LIKE FEMME
: UP press release by Vernon Scott, 4/4/57
MAKING UP MIND BETWEEN R.J. AND NICKY; NICKY WOULDN’T BE BEST THING
: Troy Donahue to SF, 5/29/99
MET WITH CONRAD HILTON; VERY SERIOUS
: Olga Viripaeff to SF; Lana Wood to SF
EVERY 3 MINUTES
: “Divorce Without Marriage,”
Hollywood’s Top 10 Scandals 1963
VIOLENT-TEMPERED HILTON
: “Liz, Ms. Taylor Will See You Now,” Paul Theroux,
Talk
, October 1999 [Taylor states Hilton “physically abused” her and “kicked a baby out of her stomach”]
MINK ON BOAT FOR 19TH BIRTHDAY
: 8/58
Modern Screen
; 7/22/57
Daily Variety
SHOUP TAUGHT HER; BOOB UPLIFTS
: Faye Nuell Mayo to SF; Judi Meredith Nelson to SF
CRITICIZED METHOD
: “Natalie Wood Heard From: Tells What’s Wrong with N.Y. Actors,” Joe Hyams,
New York Tribune
, 6/20/57
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]
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 because of
Cash
schedule)
RESISTED DEANIE BECAUSE IT WOULD OPEN DOORS
:
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star