Customer Reviews

Natalie : A Memoir by Her Sister

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Lana Wood, who is probably best known for her brief but memorable role of the suggestively named Plenty O'Toole in the Bond flick Diamonds Are Forever, wrote this engaging, poignant, and frequently funny memoir on her famous sister Natalie.

Amazingly candid and brutally honest, Lana painted a fascinating and yet disturbing portrait about Natalie Wood; from her years as a child star controlled by her domineering stage mother, then growing up to become one of Hollywood's most famous and beloved (and volatile) celebrities. Then to later years as Natalie struggled with age and the ups and downs of both her career and her relationship with her sister....culiminating to the fateful day when Lana was informed of her tragic death.

For James Bond fans, they will probably be interested in Lana's experience on the set of Diamonds Are Forever, revealing an affair with Sean Connery (which curiously, she did not disclose on the special DVD of Diamonds Are Forever).

Ultimately, this book is also as much about Lana herself as it is about Natalie. Forever in Natalie's shadow, Lana herself never developed her own life and identity, everything in her life is connected with Natalie in some fashion and she spends virtually her entire life seeking Natalie's approval and acknowledgement.

This book will probably make you see Natalie Wood's films a little differently. Underneath that gamine veneer is a woman who has a fury that Hell can't match.

...but Lana Wood has a very autobiographical writing style. I found Wood's memoir to be incredibly gossipy. She speaks for pages upon pages about her own feelings during pivotal times in Natalie's life. Every here or there, it's nice to have an eyewitness account of what happened at certain times, but I'd rather read about the Academy Awards for which Natalie was being nominated instead of the powerful men in Hollywood with whom Lana was sleeping. There is a lot of name-dropping as well as a lack of substance in the book's context. After reading this, I read Suzanne Finstad's NATASHA and found it to be very thorough and much more detailed about both her personal and professional life. I was not a fan of this book in any respect.

Natalie Wood may have been one of the most gifted actresses to have ever graced the silver screen. But, to Lana Wood, she was her sister and her best friend. This extremely touching biography of Natalie ,by Lana, examines Natalie's life through the eyes of someone who spent most of her life trying to be like her. The reader is no longer looking at Natalie the movie star, but at Natalie the sister, the friend, the wife, and the mother. It is easy to feel the pain and utter devestation that Lana felt when she lost her sister and understand her frustration at the estranged realtionship she, at the time this book was written, had with her brother-in-law, Robert Wagner, and her two nieces. Overall, this story is the story of two sisters, a happy, fruitful life, and a devestating tragedy. The book was written in 1984 and the information on family is a little outdated (their mom died in early 1998 and Natalie's oldest daughters are now a successful actress and a successful artist), but the emotions conveyed transcend time.

Lana Wood's tribute to her sister Natalie is a poignant, heart-wrenching and engrossing book that sums up the love/hate, resentment and longing often applied to siblings, but in this case, the older sister was a Hollywood superstar and the little sister was a wallflower continually in her shadow. Their mother, Maria, was an overbearing, fanciful and sometimes downright cold parent who wanted fame and fortune for herself and pushed Natalie into show business, forever relegating her husband and other two daughters into the background, to the point where she considered them virtual non-entities. Lana recounts the years of her family's life in Tinsletown, penning both her love and admiration for her famous sibling as well as her resentment and frustration. Although they had their disputes in later years, their sisterly bond brought them back together, fortunately, before Natalie's tragic death. It amazes me that Lana is still increasingly loyal to her mother, who ignored her and compared her to Natalie, and who inflicted such pain on her children. It can't be easy to have your mother neglect you, your father so distant and an alcoholic, and have to try to measure up to a sister who is a major Hollywood talent. As much as they feuded, Lana clearly loved her sister dearly, a loss that she undoubtly feels to this day. Her estrangment from Natalie's husband Robert Wagner (who seems to delight in slamming her), and her nieces continues to the present, no doubt causing her a great deal of anguish.

"I cry for her often. I expect I always will."

Before I started reading this book (I bought it used on an internet auction site recently), I really did not know too much about Natalie but always wanted to know more about her. I could not put the book down, it was so engrossing. The only movies I saw her in was Miracle at 34th Street and West Side Story. She was a wonderful actress, and in the latter movie, when I first saw it, I thought she really was Puerto Rican, and that it really was . . . her singing voice! She was, always, and will be a gifted, suburb, and beautiful actress.

Her sister did a wonderful job on this book, motivating me to want to seek out more of Natalie's movies and wondering what she (the author) is doing nowadays. You can clearly see that she truly loved her sister, through the ups and downs of their relationship, and did not gloss over the bad times but was honest and took responsibility for her own actions, not what most autobiographers would do, so you know the information is from a trusted source.

My heart and sympathy goes out to the entire family during this difficult time, and hope in their own way, can reach out to each other because, the family history and memories, good or bad, are truly to be cherished, the tender strength binding every member together, that LOVE clings to.

For a book about Natalie Wood, Lana Wood talks about herself alot, more so than she talks about Natalie.

When looking at other books on Natalie Wood I have seem some reviews. A few of those reviews have branded this book as a hatchet job on a beloved movie star by her little sister. I disagree. This book provides us with what most books on movie stars lack -- a very intimate knowledge that basically only someone very close (and in this case) who grew up with the subject can deliver. One thing is for certain this book will never be considered a glossed over account of Natalie Woods' life. It is strange that sweet, glossed over accounts are typically scorned but candid accounts are considered by some to be hatchet jobs.
I felt sorry for Lana but I believe my pity is needed since her pain and frustration readily comes through on the pages. It is a shame she needed Natalie's approval so much and so often Natalie withheld that approval. Honestly, too many of Natalie's actions toward Lana do not make sense. Even when Lana was a grown woman, Natalie felt compelled to freeze her out for infractions such as marrying men Natalie did not approve of or having a better career at the moment. Following one of the many freeze outs, their relationship would resume as if nothing bad had happened. Their mother seemed to play both ends against the middle and I am sure this helped keep Lana off balance as well. But Natalie obviously had some problems, and it seems that either Lana was regarded as a safe punching bag or was the source of Natalie problems. There were several incidents that indicated acute jealousy by Natalie. In the last years, I wonder if Robert Wagner was not the prime factor in Lana being kept at arms length. I assume this because after Natalie's death the relationship between Wagner and Lana did not improve.
Anyone that wants a first-hand account of Natalie's life as a top movie star and a lot of private moments between two sisters will want to read this book.

My mother bought me this book when I was about 10 years old. She bought it for me becuase I am named after Natalie Wood. My parents never knew her or anything they just loved her. (Well, mostly my father loved her) I read through it and although I was very young and didn't really understand everyhting,like my parents I too fell in love with Natalie. I've read it numerous times throughout the years and each time I catch something new or gain a new perspective about her life. Lana did an absolutely incredible job writing this, too. I am now 18 and just got finished reading it again and am still engrossed in it as much as I was when I was 10. I am honored to be named after such a breathtaking, incredible woman.

I bought a used copy at a thrift shop with the idea of listing it on eBay, but I wanted to read it first. Now that I have, I'm not sure I'm ready to part with it just yet!

The first Natalie Wood movie I remember having seen was "Inside Daisy Clover." At the time (the early 60's), I was too young for the star's name to make an impression - my cousin, who was a year older and whose idea it was to see it, no doubt knew who she was - but I do know that I really enjoyed the movie. I had also forgotten that she had been in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.

The pictures throughout the book helped tell the story as well as the narrative. No one but Lana could have told the story in this kind of detail.

I love this book. Lana did such a wonderful job on this book. I have read it so many times. My first copy of it was when I was a freshman in high school. I found it a used book shop. I loved it. It made me like both Natalie and Lana. They are two of my most favorite actresses of all time. My dad used to have a huge crush on Natalie. She was a wonderful person. I wish she was stil alive.