Natalie: a Memoir By Her Sister

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.

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.

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.

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.