79-584: Gavin Lambert (23 July 1924 – 17 July 2005) was a British-born screenwriter , novelist and biographer who lived for part of his life in Hollywood . His writing was mainly fiction and nonfiction about the film industry . Lambert was educated at Cheltenham College and Magdalen College, Oxford , where one of his professors was C. S. Lewis . At Oxford, he befriended Penelope Houston and filmmakers Karel Reisz and Lindsay Anderson , and they founded
158-401: A Hollywood screenwriter , Lambert was able to interview and gain personal remembrances of most of the cast and crew involved with the film, including dismissed director George Cukor and star Vivien Leigh ( Scarlett O'Hara ). His final biography, Natalie Wood: A Life (2004) supplied an insider's look at actress Natalie Wood and chronicled everything concerning her life, since Lambert was
237-674: A film studio , production company , TV network, or producer, they often have to continue networking, mainly with directors or executives, and push to have their projects "chosen" and turned into films or TV shows. If interest in a script begins to fade, a project can go dead. The International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG) is the international federation of screenwriters' and playwrights' unions, who recognize union membership across international borders. They have 14 different affiliates across various nations who collectively work to verify original authorship, fight for fair compensation, and enforce copyright. Most professional screenwriters in
316-402: A stand-in and sound-alikes were used to replace Wood for some of her crucial shots. By this time, Wood had already completed all of her major scenes, and Trumbull proceeded to complete the film by rewriting the script and using Natalie Wood's younger sister, Lana Wood, for Natalie Wood's few remaining scenes. The film was released posthumously on September 30, 1983, and was dedicated to Wood in
395-508: A teenager 's battle with schizophrenia . Later, the author also wrote the scripts for some TV movies such as Second Serve (1986) on transgender tennis player Renée Richards and Liberace: Behind the Music (1988) on gay performer Liberace . In 1997, he contributed to Stephen Frears 's film A Personal History of British Cinema . He was heavily quoted in William J. Mann 's book, Behind
474-404: A Cause (1955), Nicholas Ray 's film about teenage rebellion. Wood had to sign to a long-term contract with Warner Bros. but she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress . She later said it was the first script she read that she actually wanted to do as opposed to being told to do by her parents; she also said her parents were opposed to her doing it. "Until then I did what I
553-612: A Rose Garden but she did not appear in it. Wood later said making Penelope was difficult for her. "I broke out in hives and suffered anguish that was very real pain every day we shot", she recalled. "Arthur Hiller, the director, kept saying, 'Natalie, I think you're resisting this film', while I rolled around the floor in agony." By 1966, Wood suffered emotionally and in an attempt to overcome her emotional problems, she sought professional therapy. She paid Warner Bros. $ 175,000 to cancel her contract and fired her entire support team: agents, managers, publicist, accountant, and attorneys. In
632-535: A bevy of tinsel-town lowlifes, Inside Daisy Clover (1963), The Goodbye People (1971) about Hollywood's beautiful people, and Running Time (1982), a portrait of an indefatigable woman from child starlet to screen goddess, but also a unique life history of the American film industry. Other works of fiction included Norman's Letter (1966), which received the Thomas R. Coward Memorial Award for Fiction, A Case for
711-506: A brother, niece and nephew, and named Mart Crowley executor of his estate. Gavin's father's half-sister was Ivy Claudine Godber aka Claudine West (1890–1943), a screenwriter who won an Oscar for her joint writing of the script of Mrs. Miniver in 1942. His papers are currently housed at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University . Lambert became a notable screenwriter of
790-502: A butterfly to pieces in front of her to ensure she would sob for a scene. Welles later said that Wood was a born professional, "so good, she was terrifying." He also said "Natalie doesn't act from the script, she acts from the heart." Wood acted in another film directed by Pichel, The Bride Wore Boots , and went on to 20th Century Fox to play Gene Tierney 's daughter in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). Wood's best-known film as
869-532: A child actress, Wood received significant media attention. By age nine, she had been named the "most exciting juvenile motion picture star of the year" by Parents magazine. In the 1953–54 television season, Wood played Ann Morrison, the teenage daughter in The Pride of the Family , an ABC situation comedy . She appeared as a teenager on episodes of The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse , Public Defender , Mayor of
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#1732779757350948-473: A child was Miracle on 34th Street (1947), starring Maureen O'Hara and John Payne at Fox. She plays a cynical girl who comes to believe a kindly department store holiday-season employee portrayed by Edmund Gwenn is the real Santa Claus. The film has become a Christmas classic; Wood was counted among the top child stars in Hollywood after the film and was so popular that Macy's invited her to appear in
1027-430: A closeted gay leading man. However, in the film version, he was not fully identified as gay because, at Redford's request, the husband he played was changed from homosexual to appear as though he might be bisexual. From this time on, Lambert and Wood became lifelong friends. Another of Lambert's screenplays was I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), based on a novel by Hannah Green , which describes in layman's terms
1106-409: A first draft. Multi-step deals, where the writer is signed on for more than the first draft (typically including a rewrite) can earn a screenwriter more, with experienced WGA members earning up to $ 5,000,000 for their work. Non-union screenwriters can also work for a salary, but will typically earn less than a unionized screenwriter. Pay can vary dramatically for a non-unionized screenwriter. Some of
1185-745: A friend of Wood for sixteen years. The book was praised by Natalie Wood's daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner , as "a wonderful biography on my Mom. It will be the definitive biography on my mother." Lambert's biography includes Wood's relationship with Elvis Presley , and interviews with the people who knew Wood best, such as Robert Wagner , Warren Beatty , Tony Curtis , Paul Mazursky , Tab Hunter and Leslie Caron . In his book, Lambert controversially claimed that Wood frequently dated gay and bisexual men, including director Nicholas Ray and actors Nick Adams , Raymond Burr , James Dean , Tab Hunter , and Scott Marlowe . Lambert said that Wood supported homosexual playwright Mart Crowley (a later lover of Lambert's) in
1264-567: A manner that made it possible for him to write his play, The Boys in the Band (1968). Lambert's final book was The Ivan Moffat File: Life Among the Beautiful and Damned in London, Paris, New York and Hollywood (2004). Lambert also wrote seven novels primarily with Hollywood settings, among them The Slide Area: Scenes of Hollywood Life (1959), a collection of seven short stories that portray
1343-648: A position to further a project. Once the script is sold, the writer has only the rights that were agreed with the purchaser. A screenwriter becomes credible by having work that is recognized, which gives the writer the opportunity to earn a higher income. As more films are produced independently (outside the studio system), many up-and-coming screenwriters are turning to pitch fests, screenplay contests, and independent development services to gain access to established and credible independent producers. Many development executives are now working independently to incubate their own pet projects. Screenwriters are rarely involved in
1422-639: A role model for Natalie." "Her roles raised the possibility that one's sensitivity could mark a person as a kind of victim," noted Tibbetts. After a "series of bad films, her career was already in decline", according to author Douglas Rathgeb. She was then cast in Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961) with Warren Beatty . 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
1501-494: A romance with a white former gang member whose threatening world of outcasts also alienated him from lawful behavior." Although Wood's singing in the film was voiced by Marni Nixon , West Side Story is still regarded as one of Wood's best films. Wood sang when she starred in the film Gypsy (1962) alongside Rosalind Russell . Her appearance in that film led critic Pauline Kael to comment "clever little Natalie Wood… [the] most machine-tooled of Hollywood ingénues." At
1580-818: A scene in the film, as a result of "Kazan's wizardry… produced a hysteria in Natalie that may be her most powerful moment as an actress." 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." Kazan's favorite scene in the film was the last one, when Wood goes back to see her lost first love, Bud (Beatty). "It's terribly touching to me. I still like it when I see it," wrote Kazan. He added, "I didn't have to give her any direction for that final scene; she knew exactly how to play it." For her performance in Splendor , Wood received nominations for
1659-439: A script to suit the desires of a director or studio . For instance, studio management may have a complaint that the motivations of the characters are unclear or that the dialogue is weak. Hollywood has shifted writers onto and off projects since its earliest days, and the assignment of credits is not always straightforward or complete, which poses a problem for film study. In his book Talking Pictures , Richard Corliss discussed
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#17327797573501738-403: A short-lived but influential journal, Sequence , which was originally edited by Houston. The magazine, which lasted for only 15 issues, moved to London after the fifth issue, and Lambert and Anderson took over as co-editors. Lambert eventually left Oxford without obtaining a degree. From 1949 to 1956 he edited the journal Sight and Sound , again with Anderson as a regular contributor. At about
1817-546: A special by NBC . In between these she made Peeper (1975) with Michael Caine . She made cameo appearances on Wagner's prime-time detective series Switch in 1978 as Bubble Bath Girl, and his series Hart to Hart in 1979 as Movie Star. After another lengthy break, she appeared in the ensemble disaster film Meteor (1979) with Sean Connery and the sex comedy The Last Married Couple in America (1980) with George Segal and Valerie Harper . Her performance in
1896-532: A technical product, a brief " scenario ", "treatment", or "synopsis" that is a written synopsis of what is to be filmed. Screenwriting is a contracted freelance profession, not a hired position. No education is required to be a professional screenwriter, but good storytelling abilities and imagination give aspiring screenwriters an advantage. Many screenwriters start their careers doing speculative work ("work on spec"), practicing their screenwriting with no guaranteed financial compensation. If one of these scripts
1975-590: A teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), followed by a role in John Ford 's The Searchers (1956). Wood starred in the musical films West Side Story (1961) and Gypsy (1962) and received nominations for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with
2054-589: A tribute to filmmaker Sam Wood . Her only full sibling, sister Svetlana, was born in Santa Monica in 1946 and later also became an actress under the name Lana Wood . Wood's first appearance on screen came when she was just 4 years old in the March 1943 release of The Moon Is Down based on the John Steinbeck book of the same name. Shortly thereafter, she was cast again in a fifteen-second scene in
2133-507: Is based on a novel by D. H. Lawrence . The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) adapted a novella by Tennessee Williams on the affairs of an older actress with a young Italian gigolo . As, from the 1920s through the late 1960s, homosexuality was rarely portrayed on the screen, gay screenwriters like Lambert learned to express their personal sensibilities discreetly between the lines of a film. "The important thing to remember about 'gay influence' in movies," observed Gavin Lambert, "is that it
2212-403: Is held down by social pressure," adding that "she clings to things with her eyes," a quality he found especially "appealing." Finstad felt that although Wood had never trained in method acting techniques, "working with Kazan brought her to the greatest emotional heights of her career. The experience was exhilarating, but wrenching for Natalie, who faced her demons on Splendor. " She adds that
2291-461: Is put out about a project that a film studio , production company , or producer wants done, they are referred to as "open" assignments. Open assignments are more competitive. If screenwriters are competing for an open assignment, more established writers usually win the assignments. A screenwriter can also be approached and personally offered a writing assignment. Many screenwriters also work as full- or part-time script doctors , attempting to better
2370-412: Is sold, it is called a spec script . Amateur screenwriters will often pursue this work as "writers in training," leading these spec scripts to often go uncredited or come from unknown screenwriters. Further separating professional and amateur screenwriters is that professionals are usually represented by a talent agency . These screenwriter-specific employment agencies work to handle the business side of
2449-582: The Academy Award , Golden Globe Award , and BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role . 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. Tibbetts wrote of similarities in her role in this film and the earlier Rebel. She
Gavin Lambert - Misplaced Pages Continue
2528-616: The Angels (1968), and In the Night All Cats Are Grey (1976). In 1996, Lambert wrote the introduction to 3 Plays , a collection of works by his longtime friend, Mart Crowley . Screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter , scribe , or scenarist ) is someone who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting . These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television commercials, video games, and
2607-554: The Canadian actress Norma Shearer . His book, Nazimova: A Biography (1997) was the first full-scale account of the private life and acting career of lesbian actress Alla Nazimova . He was the author of the memoir Mainly About Lindsay Anderson (2000) (whose title echoed that of Anderson's own work, About John Ford ). He also wrote the book GWTW: The Making of Gone with the Wind ( Little, Brown and Company , 1973). Working as
2686-548: The Fine Young Cannibals (1960), she lost momentum. Wood's career was in a transition period, having until then consisted of roles as a child or as a teenager. Biographer Suzanne Finstad wrote that a "turning point" in Wood's life as an actress took place when she saw the film A Streetcar Named Desire (1951): "She was transformed, in awe of director Elia Kazan and of Vivien Leigh 's performance… [who] became
2765-582: The Hollywood studio era. In 1954, while still living in England, he wrote his first screenplay , Another Sky , about the sexual awakening of a prim English woman in North Africa . In 1955, he also directed Another Sky in Morocco . This was followed in 1958 by the Hollywood screenplay, Bitter Victory and in 1960 by Sons and Lovers . The latter, for which Lambert gained an Academy Award nomination,
2844-606: The Proper Stranger (1963). Her career continued with films such as Sex and the Single Girl (1964), The Great Race (1965), Inside Daisy Clover (1965), and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). During the 1970s, Wood began a hiatus from film and had two daughters: one with her second husband Richard Gregson , and one with Robert Wagner , her first husband whom she married again after divorcing Gregson. She acted in only two feature films throughout
2923-564: The Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969. Lambert was also a biographer and novelist, who focused his efforts on biographies of gay and lesbian figures in Hollywood. According to screenwriter and writer Joseph McBride , he was "a keenly observant, wryly witty chronicler of Hollywood's social mores and artistic achievements." He wrote biographies on Hollywood figures such as On Cukor (1972) on film director George Cukor and Norma Shearer: A Life (1990) on
3002-411: The Single Girl (1964) and The Great Race (1965), the latter with Jack Lemmon , and Peter Falk . In The Great Race , her ability to speak Russian was an asset given to her character Maggie DuBois, justifying the character's recording the progress of the race across Siberia and entering the race at the beginning as a contestant. Director Sydney Pollack was quoted as saying about Wood, "When she
3081-598: The Town , Four Star Playhouse , The Ford Television Theatre , and General Electric Theater , and also appeared in a TV version of Heidi . She described the GE Theater episode, "Carnival", as one of the best things she ever did. She had roles in the feature films The Silver Chalice (1954) and One Desire (1955). Wood successfully made the transition from child star to ingénue at age 16 when she co-starred with James Dean and Sal Mineo in Rebel Without
3160-617: The U.S. are unionized and are represented by the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Although membership in the WGA is recommended, it is not required of a screenwriter to join. The WGA is the final arbiter on awarding writing credit for projects under its jurisdiction. The WGA also looks upon and verifies film copyright materials. Other notable screenwriters' unions include the Writers' Guild of Great Britain , representing screenwriters in
3239-574: The UK, and La Guilde Française des Scénaristes, representing screenwriters in France. Minimum salaries for union screenwriters in the US are set by the Writers Guild of America . The median compensation for a first draft from a first time screenwriter is $ 100,000, while the most experienced members have a median compensation of $ 450,000. The most experienced WGA members have reported up to $ 4,000,0000 compensation for
Gavin Lambert - Misplaced Pages Continue
3318-727: The United States. Her parents met while her mother was still married to Tatuloff. They were married in February 1938, five months before Wood was born. A year after Natalie's birth, her father changed the family's surname to Gurdin. In 1942, they bought a home in Santa Rosa, California , where Wood was noticed by members of a crew during a film shoot downtown. After she started acting as a child, RKO executives David Lewis and William Goetz changed her surname to "Wood" to make it more appealing to English-speaking audiences and as
3397-410: The age of 25, Wood received her third Academy Award nomination for Love with the Proper Stranger (1963), making Wood (along with Teresa Wright ) the youngest person to score three Oscar nominations. 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. Wood made two comedies with Tony Curtis : Sex and
3476-556: The age of 43, Wood drowned in the Pacific Ocean near Santa Catalina Island during a break from production of her would-be comeback film Brainstorm (1983). She was with her husband Wagner and Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken . The events surrounding her death have been the subject of conflicting witness statements, prompting the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department , under the instruction of
3555-445: The business, I never met a smarter moppet." Wood remembered that period in her life, saying, "I always felt guilty when I knew the crew was sitting around waiting for me to finish my three hours. As soon as the teacher let us go, I ran to the set as fast as I could." Wood's mother continued to play a significant role in her daughter's early career, coaching her and micromanaging aspects of her career even after Wood acquired agents. As
3634-590: The closing credits. In this period, Wood had more success in television, receiving high ratings and critical acclaim in 1979 for The Cracker Factory and especially the miniseries remake of From Here to Eternity (1979), with Kim Basinger and William Devane . Wood's performance in the latter won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 1980. She starred in The Memory of Eva Ryker , released in May 1980, which proved to be her last completed production. She
3713-478: The coroner's office, to list her cause of death as "drowning and other undetermined factors" in 2012. In 2018, Wagner was named as a person of interest in the ongoing investigation into her death. Wood was born Natalie Zacharenko in San Francisco on July 20, 1938, to Maria Zudilova (1908–1998) and second husband Nicholas Zacharenko (1912–1980). Her mother (who also used the names Mary, Marie, and Musia)
3792-492: The decade, but she appeared slightly more often in television productions, including a remake of From Here to Eternity (1979) for which she won a Golden Globe Award . Wood's films represented a "coming of age" for her and for Hollywood films in general. Critics have suggested that her cinematic career represents a portrait of modern American womanhood in transition, as she was one of the few to take both child roles and those of middle-aged characters. On November 29, 1981, at
3871-467: The film Happy Land (1943). Despite the brief parts, she became a favorite of the director of both films, Irving Pichel . He remained in contact with Wood's family for two years, advising them when another role came up. The director telephoned Wood's mother and asked her to bring her daughter to Los Angeles for a screen test . Wood's mother became so excited that she "packed the whole family off to Los Angeles to live," writes Harris. Wood's father opposed
3950-463: The following years, Wood focused on her mental health, and began a relationship with Richard Gregson , whom she married in 1969. After a three-year break from movies, Wood co-starred with Dyan Cannon , Robert Culp and Elliott Gould in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), a comedy about sexual liberation . According to Tibbetts, this was the first film in which "the saving leavening of humor
4029-445: The growing area of online web series. In the silent era , screenwriters were denoted by terms such as photoplaywright , photoplay writer , photoplay dramatist , and screen playwright . Screenwriting historian Steven Maras notes that these early writers were often understood as being the authors of the films as shown, and argues that they could not be precisely equated with present-day screenwriters because they were responsible for
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#17327797573504108-499: The highest amounts paid to writers for spec screenplays: $ 5 million: $ 2 million: $ 1 million: Natalie Wood Natalie Wood (née 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 eight in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). As
4187-475: The historian's dilemma: "A writer may be given screen credit for work he didn't do (as with Sidney Buchman on Holiday ), or be denied credit for work he did do (as with Sidney Buchman on The Awful Truth )." After a screenwriter finishes a project, they pair with an industry-based representative, such as a producer, director, literary agent , entertainment lawyer, or entertainment executive. The partnerships often pitch their project to investors or others in
4266-494: The idea, but his wife's "overpowering ambition to make Natalie a star" took priority. According to Wood's younger sister Lana, Pichel "discovered her and wanted to adopt her." Wood, then seven years old, got the part. She played a post- World War II German orphan, opposite Orson Welles as Wood's guardian and Claudette Colbert , in Tomorrow Is Forever (1946). When Wood was unable to cry on cue, her mother tore
4345-489: The last half of [the twentieth] century, what the Great American Novel was for the first half. Closet writers who used to dream of the glory of getting into print now dream of seeing their story on the big or small screen." Every screenplay and teleplay begins with a thought or idea, and screenwriters use their ideas to write scripts, with the intention of selling them and having them produced. In some cases
4424-630: The latter was praised and considered reminiscent of her performance in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice . In Last Married Couple , Wood broke ground: although an actress with a clean, middle-class image, she used the word fuck in a frank marital discussion with her husband (Segal). At the time of her death, Wood was filming the $ 15 million science fiction film Brainstorm (1983), co-starring Christopher Walken and directed by Douglas Trumbull . The ending of Brainstorm had to be re-written and Wood's character written out of at least three scenes, while
4503-422: The production of a film. Sometimes they come on as advisors, or if they are established, as a producer. Some screenwriters also direct. Although many scripts are sold each year, many do not make it into production because the number of scripts that are purchased every year exceeds the number of professional directors that are working in the film and TV industry . When a screenwriter finishes a project and sells it to
4582-573: The remainder of her life. She made a brief cameo appearance as herself in The Candidate (1972), working once more with Robert Redford. Wood reunited on the screen with Robert Wagner in the television film of the week The Affair (1973), and with Laurence Olivier and Wagner in an adaptation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) for the British series Laurence Olivier Presents broadcast as
4661-481: The same time Lambert was deeply involved in Britain's Free Cinema movement which called for more social realism in contemporary movies. He also wrote film criticism for The Sunday Times and The Guardian . In late 1955, he moved to Hollywood , California , to work as a personal assistant to director Nicholas Ray and worked on the script (uncredited) for Ray's Bigger Than Life (1956). Later, he co-wrote
4740-545: The screenplay for Ray's film Bitter Victory (1957). According to the critic David Robinson , Lambert was Ray's lover for a time. Gavin Lambert became an American citizen in 1964. From 1974 to 1989, he chiefly stayed in Tangier , where he was a close friend of the writer and composer Paul Bowles . He spent the final years of his life in Los Angeles , where he died of pulmonary fibrosis on 17 July 2005. He left behind
4819-453: The screenwriting job, typically taking on legal, financial, and other important representative roles for the screenwriter. These professional screenwriters rarely work for free. There are a legion of would-be screenwriters who attempt to enter the film industry , but it often takes years of trial and error, failure, and gritty persistence to achieve success. In Writing Screenplays that Sell , Michael Hague writes, "Screenplays have become, for
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#17327797573504898-505: The script is based on an existing property, such as a book or person's life story, which is adapted by the screenwriter. In most cases, a film project is initiated by a screenwriter. The initiator of the project gets the exclusive writing assignment. They are referred to as "exclusive" assignments or "pitched" assignments. Screenwriters who often pitch new projects, whether original or an adaptation, often do not have to worry about competing for assignments and are often more successful. When word
4977-662: The store's annual Thanksgiving Day parade . Film historian John C. Tibbetts wrote that for the next few years following her success in Miracle , Wood played roles as a daughter in a series of family films: Driftwood (1947), at Republic; Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948); Chicken Every Sunday (1949); The Green Promise (1949); Fred MacMurray 's daughter in Father Was a Fullback (1949), with O'Hara; Margaret Sullavan 's daughter in No Sad Songs for Me (1950);
5056-414: The talent and maturity to go beyond them. In the film, Beatty's character was deprived of sexual love with Wood's character, and as a result turns to another, "looser" girl. Wood's character could not handle the sexuality and after a breakdown was committed to a mental institution. Kazan writes that he cast her in the role partly because he saw in Wood's personality a "true-blue quality with a wanton side that
5135-468: The well-mannered 'young wife' front a desperate twinkle in her eyes… I talked with her more quietly then and more personally. I wanted to find out what human material was there, what her inner life was… Then she told me she was being psychoanalyzed. That did it. Poor R.J. [Wagner], I said to myself. I liked Bob Wagner, I still do. Kazan cast Wood as the female lead in Splendor , and her career rebounded. He felt that despite her earlier innocent roles, she had
5214-742: The youngest sister in Our Very Own (1950); Never a Dull Moment (1950); James Stewart 's daughter in The Jackpot (1950); Dear Brat (1951); Joan Blondell 's neglected daughter in The Blue Veil (1951); The Rose Bowl Story (1952); and Just for You (1952); the daughter of Bette Davis ' character in The Star (1952); . In all, Wood appeared in over twenty films as a child. She also appeared on television in episodes of Kraft Theatre and Chevron Theatre . Because Wood
5293-551: Was a carpenter from Ussuriysk . Her paternal grandfather, a chocolate factory employee who joined the anti- Bolshevik civilian forces during the war, was killed in a street fight between the Red Army and White Russian soldiers in Vladivostok . 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. By 1933, they moved to
5372-472: Was a minor during her early years as an actress, she received her primary education on the studio lots wherever she was contracted. California law required that until age 18, child actors had to spend at least three hours per day in the classroom, notes Harris. "She was a straight A student", and one of the few child actors to excel at arithmetic . Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz , who directed her in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), said that, "In all my years in
5451-571: Was brought to bear upon the many painful dilemmas portrayed in her adult films." Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice became the signature film of Paul Mazursky and was a critical and commercial success. It was the sixth highest-grossing film of 1969 . It grossed $ 50,000 in its first week, setting a house record. Wood did not capitalize on the success of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice . After becoming pregnant in 1970 with her first child, Natasha Gregson , she went into semi-retirement and would act in only four more theatrical films during
5530-479: Was criticized. In 1966, Wood was given the Harvard Lampoon award for being the "Worst Actress of Last Year, This Year, and Next". She was the first person to attend and accept the award in person. The Harvard Crimson wrote she was "quite a good sport". Following a disappointing reception of Penelope (1966), Wood took a three-year hiatus from acting. She was announced for I Never Promised You
5609-577: Was from Barnaul . Wood's maternal grandfather owned soap and candle factories, as well as an estate outside Barnaul. With the start of the Russian Civil War , his family fled Russia for China, settling as refugees in Harbin . Her mother was previously married to Armenian mechanic Alexander Tatuloff from 1925 to 1936. They had a daughter named Olga (1928–2015) and moved to America by ship in 1930 before divorcing six years later. Wood's father
5688-580: Was given the lead in a prestigious project, Marjorie Morningstar (1958). As Marjorie Morningstar, Wood played the role of a young Jewish girl in New York City who has to deal with the social and religious expectations of her family as she tries to forge her own path and separate identity. Tibbetts observed that Wood's characters in Rebel , Searchers , and Morningstar began to show her widening range of acting styles. Her former "childlike sweetness"
5767-518: Was kept busy during the remainder of the decade in many "girlfriend" roles, which she found unsatisfying. The studio cast her in two films opposite Tab Hunter , hoping to turn the duo into a box-office draw that never materialized: The Burning Hills (1956), a Western, and The Girl He Left Behind (1956). She guest starred in episodes of Conflict . Warner Bros. tried teaming her with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in Bombers B-52 (1957). Then she
5846-523: Was now being combined with a noticeable "restlessness that was characteristic of the youth of the 1950s." She was leading lady to Frank Sinatra in Kings Go Forth (1958) then refused roles and was put on suspension by Warners. This lasted for a year until February 1959. She returned to be leading lady to James Garner in Cash McCall (1960). After Wood appeared in the box office flop All
5925-432: Was obviously never direct. It was all subliminal. It couldn't be direct because the mass audience would say, Hey, no way." But then, in 1965, Lambert adapted his own Hollywood insider novel Inside Daisy Clover (1963) for the screen. Clover , starring Natalie Wood and Robert Redford , which tells the cautionary tale of a teenage movie star involved in the Hollywood studio system of the 1930s and her unhappy marriage to
6004-450: Was right for the part, there was no one better. She was a damn good actress." For Inside Daisy Clover (1965) and This Property Is Condemned (1966), both of which co-starred Robert Redford , Wood received Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress. In the mid 1960s she was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood along with Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn. Although many of Wood's films were commercially successful, at times her acting
6083-583: Was scheduled to make her stage debut on February 12, 1982, in Anastasia at Ahmanson Theatre with Wendy Hiller . Wood had also purchased film rights to the Barbara Wersba book, Country of the Heart , and was planning to star with Timothy Hutton in the drama about the professional-romantic relationship between a tough-minded poet and her much younger student. (The material was eventually adapted into
6162-545: Was to represent the "restlessness of American youth in the 1950s", expressed by youth gangs and juvenile delinquency, along with early rock and roll . Both films, he observes, were "modern allegories based on the ' Romeo and Juliet ' theme, including private restlessness and public alienation. Where in Rebel she falls in love with the character played by James Dean, whose gang-like peers and violent temper alienated him from his family, in West Side Story she enters into
6241-499: Was told," she said. 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 . She had a small but crucial role in John Ford 's The Searchers (1956) and was the female lead in A Cry in the Night (1956). Wood graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1956. She signed with Warner Brothers and
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