Do You like book Natasha: The Biography Of Natalie Wood (2002)?
This was a revealing and sometimes shocking revelation of Natasha Gurdin (AKA Natalie Wood), the famed child star and Hollywood icon. The author vividly paints the world into which little Natasha was born into and how how her controlling, manipulative and disillusioned mother, Maria (AKA "Mud") formed her into a star after her dream. The author pulls no punches in telling how Maria lived vicariously through her creation, "Natalie." Natalie is shown to be a capricious, intelligent, engaging and talented child actress who grows into a young girl with dreams of 'true love." Unfortunately, her many love affairs leave her scarred. Her marriages (two to Robert Wagner) also leave her disheartened but with two girls - the joys of her life. In the end, Natalie Wood grows into a vulnerable woman who spent two decades in therapy and one who battled her mother for control of her life. Her lifelong superstitious nature and fear of drowning eventually weaken her and ends in her tragic drowning. Ms. Wood wore her "badge' (stardom) with gallantry but also battled to carve out a private life for herself.The author mixes in mystery, folklore, myths, gossip, secrets and truth in telling a wonderful tale of a tragic and magical life of only 44 years. Bravo!
—Jaime Contreras
I read this a few years ago in High School and since then I've been a big fan of Natalie Wood. Well, I had liked her movies, but I didn't really appreciate her career until I learned more about her. So when Boyfriend and I talked about her randomly, I knew I wanted to read this or something similar about her. When I went to the library (which is a different library then were I borrowed it originally), I stumbled upon this and decided to re-read it.She truly was an interesting person and came from an interesting family. Especially her mother, who was...well...interesting. Hahaha. Her mother has been labeled a "pathological liar", or "crazy", or just really creative. Perhaps some of the stories she told were true. I mean, she did go through hard times during and after the Russian Revolution. Perhaps, her and her daughters are related to the Russian monarchs. The were rich and well off, so I can see it. However, no one will really know the truth, for Maria (Natalie's mother) was always coming up with something and there are no records (that we know of). Again, who knows what Russia is hiding. I'm still convinced that Anastasia survived and that the Russian government tampered with the DNA tests. Why would they want to give hope for the monarch coming back? That would indeed be crazy.Anyways...this was a fun and light read. Well, it was rather tragic especially near the end, but I still found it a light read. Poor Natalie...to go out like that. All her life she feared "dark water" and that was how she went. I wish she had lived and done more movies and maybe TV shows. She had so much more to offer to the industry. All the three great actresses in US history are gone now. So sad. There is not much else to say...but I highly enjoyed this and now I must watch one of her movies. hahaIn the end, I would recommend this to those that Natalie Wood or to those who like the old movies. It's very interesting to get the back-story of one of the most popular actresses of the time. In the end, I shall stamp this with 5 stars. :)
—Carole Rae
Why does Natalie Wood’s gaudy life inspire mediocre bios? Because they never mention the “I’m pretty, mama! I’m a pretty girl!” scene in “Gypsy,” maybe the most brutal scene in any Hollywood movie? Because she spent her whole life in LA? Because nobody parts with a story they don’t own a piece of? Because she didn’t make more enemies? Because writers can’t resist schlocking up her stage mom or her horrible death? But “Mr. S,” the book by Sinatra’s valet, has two pages on N.W. (70-71) that are easily the best thing written about her, which made me hungry to try this one. It’s sleazoid where Gavin Lambert’s is saintly, yet neither really gets her opaque charisma. Also, neither explains why Natasha Gregson Wagner stopped being famous. What happened with that?
—Rob
