Thus far, the books available on Natalie Wood all have something in common: none are throrough from birth to her end. Suzanne Finstad's biography comes closest, and is a wonderful collection of anecdotes and quotes about Natalie, and a detailed view of Natalie's career...of Natalie, the star.
A Memoir by Lana Wood came first and is a more personal view into Natalie as a sister, but Lana at that time was treading carefully. She had her suspicions but it was a time NO ONE close to Natalie spoke true feelings about her death. The tabloids were running rampant, but there was little Lana could say about the facts surrounding her sister's death when she wrote her book. Lana was still grieving, as she always will.
"Natalie and RJ" by Warren Harris reads more like a People magazine article. It includes little substance.
Noguchi's book "Coroner to the Stars" offers a theory of Natalie's death based on another's speculation.
Ginger Sugar Blymyer offered us a warm, touching personal memoir of having shared 17 years with Natalie, an interesting read.
Gavin Lambert's "Natalie Wood: A Life" was total agenda to deflect the truth exposing Robert Wagner in Suzanne Finstad's "Natasha"
And then came, "Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour" which is more the story of Dennis Davern's association with the Wagner family and what he witnessed during Natalie's final weekend, followed-up by a look into the shoddy investigation into her death and our ordeal to bring the truth to the public. There was not room to explore more about Natalie as a person, woman, and actress. Although, within Dennis's friendship with Natalie, as told virtually verbatim the way he described it to me, I think we got a nice glimpse at the wonderful personality Natalie shared with her friends and those closest to her. I used to love listening to Dennis's stories about sharing time with Natalie. I felt like I "knew her" -- it felt that up close and personal.
So, is there room for another Natalie biography? I think so, and I'm asking what readers might most want to know about Natalie. More about her personal life? More about her relationships? Her career? (Of course, all should be included in a thorough biography, but maybe a more intimate look at Natalie is still needed?)
I love reading all of the blog comments about Natalie, things that fans have noticed or remembered hearing or reading about her in the past.
I welcome input. I would also love to see the above photo of Natalie as a book cover. Through this photo, we see Natalie, the woman.
Marti, I wish you would write one and I hope that's what this post is leading to. I would love to read another book on Natalie written by YOU. LDe
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know more about Natalie's personal life. More of what she was really like when she interacted with her family and friends.
ReplyDelete"Natasha" is the most through by far, but it puts an overwhelmingly heavy amount of focus on the relationships she had with middle-aged men when she was an underage teenager. I found that quite sad.
ReplyDeleteYour book offers the most on Natalie's personal life in her 30s - when she was at her most low-profile in show business but also most involved with her husband, children, and friends.
You write it, I will read it. I like hearing story that you have shared with us from Dennis, these are the things I like. But anything truthful about Natalie I would like. Thanks. Pam
ReplyDeleteI would appreciate a biography detailing Natalie's personality. Anon 10:15 was right, though Natasha is good, the amount of relationships, scrutiny, and depressive episodes Natalie often faced were rather unfair to her.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Plummer's autobiography contained a small chapter dedicated to his work in Inside Daisy Clover. I loved it so much I literally typed it out, word for word.
He briefly mentions how happy, bubbly, flirty, and yes, sexy Natalie could be, but not in a crass way. He was highlighting many of the positive characteristics she had.
I would love the book to contain facts, even the silliest ones. Like, what were her favorite movies, types of music...to humble things like religion, philosophies, and opinions regarding the things going on during her life.
So many of Hollywood's interesting characters are often (and rudely) portrayed by people like Lambert, and the gossip writers. These leeches taint those we admire. Worst of all, their dishonesty hurts said star(s), living or passed on. Sometimes I think we all forget that behind the famous scenes, or songs, or what have you, these souls are HUMAN BEINGS.
And that is what I believe the next book on Natalie Wood should reflect.
Im thinking about writing a book about Natalie Wood. I could use all these other posts to get enough info to get me started to. Great.
ReplyDeleteHow could you possibly write a book using the posts on this blog even as your jumping off point? It takes writers years of research gathering to write a FACTUAL biography. It took Marti years of gathering her data and then cross referencing just to write what is basically the final chapter of a great star and woman's life and I make this statement with the absolute respect Marti and GNGS so deserve.
ReplyDeleteIgnore him, that's the troll-boy @ 3:31AM
ReplyDeleteLMAO, he is admitting that he has no knowledge of Miss Wood beyond this blog.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see a book that deals with Natalie, the woman, the actress, the mother, the friend. Marti did that so well in GNGS. I would like to see her give it a shot.
ReplyDeleteFinstad's book was OK, certainly the best to this point but she interjected too much psychological drama. There were a few inaccuracies in her book. Also, she minimized Robert Wagner's place in Natalie's life. Like it or not, he was a major part of her life, for better or worse. Finstad played that down. I would have gone into greater detail about how deeply it affected her when she found him with a man and how that shaped her life in the years afterward, why she waited so long to marry, how she protected him by keeping the truth to herself.
Lambert's book was written for Robert Wagner, so that takes away any credibility it might have.
Harris' book is not worth discussing, so bad!
Go for it, Marti!
Hi, I would love a detailed photo biography of Natalie. I have Christopher Nickens book (which is quite good), but after being a Natalie collector for over 20 years, you find that the book isn't as accurate as you first thought. I would love a huge coffee-table sized book of photographs of Natalie ranging from her birth to her death. She must have had millions of photographs taken during her career, and I would love to have a document of those as well as candid photos of her private life (I love the photos that Marti has on this site of the off-duty Natalie on Splendour). It would be an absolute godsend if something like this could be available for the 30th anniversary of her death. We, the fans, should have something more positive to remember her by, not just the sad and unfortunate details that lead to her untimely death. Just a thought!
ReplyDeleteThere are a few factual inaccuracies in Nicken's book but it's still a must have for Natalie fans.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about having something positive to remember her by. I think most of the longtime fans already have that. I know I do. Some of the younger fans tend to remember her as a tragic figure. I do not. She loved life, she loved to laugh and have a good time and she did have a good time. There are so many funny stories but many people, unfortunately, would rather read about her death and the problems she had in her life. That's why I encourage Marti to take the wheel and give us Natalie, the women, all facets of her.
Nickens book was a labor of love. There are a few rather *inauspicious inconsistencies in it and anyone who has been a fan of Natalie Wood can spot these at once. It is still a wonderful book and along with Marti's GNGS the only one truly worth the pages it is printed on.
ReplyDelete*inauspicious inconsistencies= Unlike the auspicious folderol and outright lies in the Lambert book filled with Wagner's agenda to ward off the damage of the Finstad book or that Eyman/Wagner gargantuan travesty of self absorbed, rancid, lewd, postulating sludge the self proclaimed "Son of Hollywood" passed off as a memoir...
Anonymous posts: Im thinking about writing a book about Natalie Wood. I could use all these other posts to get enough info to get me started to. Great.
ReplyDeleteMy response: BWAHAhahahahahahaha!
Thanks for all these posts (well, most of them...lol) I would love a book about Natalie's real personality, the way she loved LOVING LIFE!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 1:41 -- love your comment.
I love the idea of a photo book, too, but it would cost a fortune to use the wonderful photos of Natalie available in a book because each photo must be purchased or leased for use. Unless the author was truly wealthy, it will never happen. I doubt publishers would invest the fortune it would require, either. BUT, I do have a few means to possibly acquire never before seen photos of Natalie, and that's what would make a photo section even more interesting. I'm glad everyone likes the more candid photos of Natalie we used in GNGS. Dennis took most of them.
I am seriously thinking about giving Natalie more voice...something I believe she deserves, but I would want to capture the real Natalie. When Dennis started reading Suzanne's book, he couldn't take it. Oh, he agrees it's a massive, wonderful volume of Natalie's accomplishments, but he said it was like reading about someone he never knew -- a celluliod movie star, rather than the vibrant, funloving Natalie he knew for so many years! Hopefully, a publisher will agree there's room for another Natalie biography!
Dennis is not the only person who felt like he was reading about a woman he never knew. Another person who knew her very well, for a very long time, felt the same way.
ReplyDeleteMarti, to echo the thoughts of another, If you write it, I'll read it!
ReplyDeleteI would like to know more about Natalie the person. Likes and dislikes, favorites, how she handled the many different relationships in her life, etc. I loved the stories Dennis shared in your book about Natalie's preference for the color 'Pelican blue' and the pool party at her home. It would be wonderful if you would bring forward Natalie the human being, wife, mother, sister, friend. I so enjoyed Lana sharing stories about Natalie's collection of sunglasses and her 'huge' (lol) lunch menus! Those are the things I think people most remember about loved ones lost, the million little things. It would also be interesting to know where she stood on issues such as politics, religion, etc. Natalie is indeed a very rich subject for a writer.
Great ideas. I love the idea of Lana providing personal stories (I haven't read Lana's book) and delving into Natalie's feelings about the world, faith, show business, motherhood, marriage, etc. I would also like to know more about her life in the '70s when she slowed down her career.
ReplyDeleteKB
Oh, and I love the photo above as a cover photo. My favorite photos of her were when she was in her 30s and 40s. Just MHO.
ReplyDeleteKB
Marti - I do hope justice is finally served and Robert Wagner is punished for what he did to Natalie Wood. It is unbelievable anyone could be so inhumane especially one who purported to love her so deeply. The ineptness of the investigation is shocking - based on the facts you have revealed.
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading "Natasha" by Suzanne Finstand and she states that Dennis revealed he saw Natalie in the ocean the night that she died. She also claims that Marilyn heard two men's voices responding to Natalie while she was in the water. Can you clairfiy these two points please?