Natasha (78 page)

DON’T UNDERSTAND
: Lana Wood to SF

TERRY-CLOTH ROBE
: Walken’s 2nd statement to police, notes by Hamilton

LOW-KEY
: Whiting’s and Wintler’s police statements; Wintler to SF; Whiting’s personal notes; Davern’s media interviews

TOO WHACKED OUT
: John Ryan to SF

TOLD HOWAR: Christopher Walken to Barbara Howar,
Entertainment Tonight
, 3/2/83

PLAYBOY
VERSION
: “Playboy Interview: Christopher Walken,”
Playboy
, September 1997

RASURE COMMENTS
: Duane Rasure to SF

VIRTUAL PRISONER; WARNED HIM FBI
:
3/00 Vanity Fair

ASKED TO SIGN A STATEMENT; WAGNER GOT HIM PARTS
: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99, 2/28/01

SURFACED PUBLICLY
: “At Last, Skipper of Wagner’s Yacht Breaks His Silence,”
Star
, 7/23/85 443, 445 WOULD GO BETWEEN; HELD BACK: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99

STEP FURTHER
: 3/00
Vanity Fair

DAVERN CALLED LANA
: Lana Wood to SF, 2/15/01; Cheryl Quarmyne to SF, 3/1/01; Evan Smedley Maldonado to SF, 2/28/01; Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99 & 2/28/01; Davern to Lana Wood, 2/24/01

QUARMYNE’S ACCOUNT
: Cheryl Quarmyne to SF, 3/1/01

MORE TO STORY
: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99, 2/28/01

POLICE OVERLOOKED EVERYTHING; WOULDN’T TELL POLICE
: Marti Rulli to SF, 10/4/99

GOOD SOUL
: Robert Redford to SF

LEFT HANGING
: “Walken’s On-and-Off Career in the Movies,”
New
York Times
, 11/4/83

WHO KNOWS
: Olga Viripaeff to SF

OOTRA VECHEREEM
: Natalie’s eulogy for Nick Gurdin

Natalie’s mother, Maria Zudilova, with her family in Siberia, 1919. Maria claimed they were Romanovs. Seated from left: Maria’s father, Stepan Zudilov, 42; Maria, 11; her “aristocrat” mother, also named Maria, 36; sister Zoia, 12; brothers Gleb, 4, and Boris, 6. Back row from left: half-sister Kallisfenia (Kalia), 13; half-brother Mikhael, 20; half-sister Apollinaria (Lilia), 17; half-brother Semen, 18.

Musia as Queen of the Russian Invalids Ball in San Francisco in 1936, assuming a pose like the Russian royalty she claimed to be.

Musia with her trophies as Queen of the White Russian Veterans Balls in San Francisco, a glory she would relive while channeling her dreams through Natasha.

Natasha’s first publicity photo, a few weeks after producers changed her name to “Natalie Wood.” She mailed it to her only friend, Edwin, on May 2, 1945, signing her real name, Natasha, in parentheses, signifying the beginning of the split in her persona.

Natasha at the christening of baby sister, Svetlana, in 1946, when “Natalie Wood” first appeared on-screen in
Tomorrow Is Forever
.

The three sisters-Natasha, Olga, and Svetlana-with their mother, the formidable Maria/Musia/Mud.

Natalie in 1948 with the cast of
The Green Promise
, the movie where she injured her left wrist and nearly drowned. The wrist healed improperly and she wore a bracelet over it for the rest of her life. From left: Marguerite Chapman, Natalie, Walter Brennan, Connie Marshall, unidentified man, Ted Donaldson.

Michael Panieff’s ballet class reads Christmas cards. At left is Natalie; at right “Taffy” Paul; second from right is Jill Oppenheimer. Natalie would marry actor Robert Wagner twice; Taffy would change her name to Stefanie Powers and play Wagner’s wife on TV; Jill would become Jill St. John, Wagner’s third wife.

Natalie, 11, before she began to wear a bracelet over her disfigured left wrist.

Natalie and her first love, Jimmy Williams. Their tragic romance would be mirrored by her role as Deanie opposite Beatty in
Splendor in the Grass
. Williams would become her personal prototype for Jimmy Dean in
Rebel Without a Cause
.

Jimmy Williams’ favorite photo of Natalie, smiling for him at Fulton Jr. High.