Natalie Wood


Is this the movie that Natalie Wood turned down because of the older actor/producer who raped her?

There seems to be some conjecture as to whether it was Kirk Douglas or Burt Lancaster, though.

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According to the book biography, "Natalie Wood: A Life" by Gavin Lambert, it probably was this film, although in Suzanne Finstad's book, "Natasha: The Biography Of Natalie Wood", the film in question isn't named, although this was where the rape was first printed about.

I remember it was mentioned in Natalie's E! True Hollywood story that she turned this film down and it listed Douglas, Lancaster and Olivier as the male leads. After I heard that she had been allegedly raped as a teen, I wondered if the man who raped her was one of the stars of The Devil's Disciple, and after reading both biographies, it looks like my hunch was correct.

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[deleted]

I think it's this one.

Viva Bardot!

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[deleted]

The only principle in the film who would have been about the right age -- born around 1921-22 -- would have been the director Guy Hamilton.

Did any other young women make any allegations against Hamilton?

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The rape occurred in late 1954, shortly before Natalie began filming Rebel Without a Cause. Natalie would have been 16 and Douglas 38 at the time. Natalie's biographer Suzanne Finstad says that the rapist was an actor-producer who was an idol of Natalie's, so that rules out director Guy Hamilton (who would've been in the UK anyway); Finstad also says the actor was still alive in 2001, when her book was published, so that rules out Burt Lancaster, who died in 1994.

The 1956 Academy Awards ceremony must've been an odd experience for Natalie; nominated for Supporting Actress for Rebel but in the same room with Douglas, nominated for Best Actor for Lust for Life.

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Here is a televised award ceremony from 1956, where Natalie and Kirk were in close proximity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8BXvOX_PDU

At one event, the movie star whom Natalie told her close friends had raped her sat near her during a ceremony, flashing his charismatic grin as if nothing had ever happened. Natalie Wood, the always-beautiful, always-happy star, beamed radiantly throughout the event, pretending to adore the famous actor beside her whom she despised.

If she was nervous in this clip, she hid it well. But then, she always did her best to present a happy face in public. Notice she didn't really look at Kirk though. He sat near her, but she seemed to be trying her best to sit closer to Tony Perkins (not that I blame her, he was gorgeous), and avoid looking Kirk in the eye. I've read elsewhere that the rape allegation is not new, that it was whispered about for many years before Finstad published in her book. Who knows.

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The award ceremony video.....that is some creepy stuff. I just finished watching The Mystery of Natalie Wood and became very curious as to who it could be. If it is Douglas, he needs to be humiliated before he kicks the bucket. Of course it won't happen but I can dream.

Marty:Block past Maple,that's John F. Kennedy Drive.
Sam:Who the hell is John F. Kennedy?

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Shirley Temple in her memoir tells a story of going to a public dance and meeting Kirk Douglass there, who was at the time a New York theater actor who had only just arrived in Hollywood and hadn't made any films yet. Temple at the time was already married and basically retired at the age of 18 or 19. She says that Douglass asked her to dance and while they were dancing he whispered something too filthy for her to relate into her ear and she ran out.

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Really?! Wow. I never got to finish Shirley Temple's autobiography. My library had a copy, when I returned it, I had to wait two weeks, waited two weeks, and poof! they didn't have it anymore. I got as far as when she stopped filming as a child. Simply amazing he's still alive while both Woods and Temple are dead. What. The. Hell.

I posted this somewhere else, but I became a bigger believer that it was him when I caught him on a gameshow called "The Name's The Same". It came on gameshow network channel 3:00 am right after What's My Line. The celebrities that appeared on the show was asked if they weren't a celebrity, what other job would they want and the panel would have to guess that job. When they revealed to the audience what job he chose, it was to be a wrestling coach for Vassar.....when it was an all girl's school.

If you think about it, wrestling looks very similar to rape with all the struggling and keeping a person down. It's farfetched I'll admit, yet with everything pointing to him, looks like his was hiding in plain sight.

I despise the pleasure of pleasing people that I despise. ~ Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

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If you care for some more disturbing speculation about Kirk Douglas, search Youtube for:

Jean Spangler Mysteries and Scandals

The extra and chorus girl disappeared, and Kirk Douglas, who wasn't even a suspect yet, called the police up to say he had nothing to do with it.

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