Happy Birthday: Natalie Wood.

Natalie Wood (July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981). Fun Fact: Favorite actress was Vivien Leigh. Favorite singer was Bob Dylan.
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Penelope(1966).

Penelope(1966). Comedy directed by Arthur Hiller. Cast: Natalie Wood, Ian Bannen, Peter Falk, Jonathan Winters and Dick Shawn.

The story begins when Penelope, lonely and wanting to get her banker husband James, attention.  Dresses herself up as a sweet old lady and holds up her husband's bank for $60,000.

She then goes to the ladies' room, changing into a yellow suit, as she leaves she informs the guards that a little old lady with a gun is in the ladies' room, and quickly leaves the bank. Then heads straight for her ninkapoop of a psychiatrist, Gregory Mannix and confesses that she is kleptomania.

As luck would have it, one of the banks cameras has photographed the crime and caught a glimpse of a woman wearing yellow suit leaving the bank.

Police Lieutenant Bixbee, who is charmed by Penelope, suspects her after he notices that the little old lady and the yellow suited woman caught on camera, have the same walk as she does. Penelope, gives the yellow suit to a thrift shop and it is purchased by Sadaba, who runs a boutique.

Sadaba, learns the truth about the suit and she and her partner, Ducky, try to blackmail Penelope. Penelope confesses to Dr. Mannix, who goes to return the money through the bank's night deposit box and leaves the money sticking out of the box.

Penelope, confesses the truth when a streetwalker who finds the money is accused of the robbery, but.. will anyone believe her?

The photography in this film is absolutely gorgeous and it fun to see Natalie, wearing the styles of the mid-1960's, designed by Edith Head..

Norma Crane (November 10, 1928 — September 28, 1973) was an actress of stage, film and television. Among her best known roles was that of Golde in the 1971 film adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof. She also starred in They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! and Penelope.

Splendor in the Grass (1961).

After performing in, the movie flop, Fine Young Cannibals. Wood's career was saved by her wonderful performance in one of my favorite movies, Splendor in the Grass (1961)with Warren Beatty. The story is about a teen-aged girl living in a small town in Kansas in 1928, who tries follows her mother's advice of not giving into her boyfriend. Bud, follows the advice of his father, who suggests that he find another kind of girl.

Bud's parents are heartbroken, with his older sister Ginny, who is promiscuous, smokes and drinks while pressuring Bud to attend Yale University.

Bud does find a girl and when Deanie finds out, she is driven out of her mind and institutionalized. Bud's family loses its fortune in the Great Depression, which is the down fall of the family. Natalie's performance in this film earned her, Best Actress Nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards.

Fun Fact:

Film debuts of Warren Beatty, Sandy Dennis, Phyllis Diller, Marla Adams and Eugene Roche.

I always loved Natalie Wood and felt that there was a real chemistry between her and Warren Beatty. Natalie Wood, gives one of her a strongest performance that tells the story of a great love of a life time.

Sex and the Single Girl(1964).

Sex and the Single Girl(1964). Comedy directed by Richard Quine. Cast: Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda, Lauren Bacall and Mel Ferrer. The film was inspired by the title of the 1962 non-fiction book Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown.

Bob Weston, editor of a scandal magazine writes an eye opening article about research psychologist, Helen Gurley Brown, who wrote the book, Sex and the Single Girl. Wanting to meet her, Bob impersonates one of his neighbors and goes to Helen for marriage counseling.

Eventually, Bob suggests to Helen that they start dating, to get her attention he threatens to drown himself. When she arrives she accidentally causes them to fall into the water. They go to Helen's apartment to dry off and while Bob mixes martinis, Helen tells him, that she is in love with him and he fesses up that he is not really married.

Helen doesn't believe him and asks to see his wife, Sylvia. The next day, Bob sends both his secretary, Susan, and his former girl friend, Gretchen, to Helen to convince Helen that he really is single.

Helen calls the real Sylvia and the three women all show up for the appointment. How will this romantic entanglement get resolved?



Natalie Wood, was a lot of fun to watch in a comedy about the battle of the sexes. When Tony Curtis talks about Jack Lemmon (Curtis' co-star in Some Like It Hot) will make anyone smile, who has seen the classic film.

Fran Jeffries (born May 18, 1937), had a cameo in the 1963 film, The Pink Panther, in which she sang a song called, It Had Better Be Tonight," while she danced provocatively around a fireplace.

She had a minor role in, Sex and the Single Girl.

She sang on, The Tom Jones Show in 1969 doing a duet of, You've Got What it Takes.

She was featured in Playboy Magazine a couple years later, in 1971 at the age of 35, in a pictorial entitled "Frantastic!".

Ten years later she posed a second time for Playboy at the age of 45. This second pictorial was titled "Still Frantastic!".

At some point in her career, she perform onstage with Bob Hope.

Tomorrow Is Forever(1946).

Tomorrow Is Forever(1946). Directed by Irving Pichel. Cast: Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles and George Brent. The music score is by Max Steiner. It also features the eight-year-old Natalie Wood in her first credited role.

After Elizabeth MacDonald, receives word that her husband, John Andrew, has been killed in the war. She faints at work and is taken in by her bosses, Larry Hamilton, aunt Jessie, who informs him that Elizabeth is pregnant.

In a German hospital, John is badly injured and decides not to give his real name, so everyone will still believe that he was killed in the war..

Elizabeth, gives birth to a boy, who she names John Andrew and accepts Larry's marriage proposal. Twenty years later, as the threat of war in Europe begins, Elizabeth, is holding on to all hope that her son John Jr., will not be called to duty.

John the father who is now crippled, lives in Austria and calls himself Erich Kessler, begins making plans to return to Baltimore, with his foster daughter Margaret, to work as a chemist at the Hamilton factory. After arriving, John takes Margaret, to the house, in which he and Elizabeth, used to live and tries to find out if his wife Elizabeth, still lives there. Later John, checks in with his new employer Larry, and is unaware that he is married to Elizabeth, accepts his dinner invitation.

John, is shocked when he sees Elizabeth, who does not recognise him, but, she does sense something familiar about him. John, then is introduced to John Jr. and it is not long before he realizes that is his son. Now, John must decide whether or not to reveal his true identity.



 This is a very touching story, with wonderful performances by Claudette Colbert and Orson Welles. Anyone, who loves a good old-fashioned love story, will want give this movie a try.

Happy Birthday: Natalie Wood!

Personal Quote: (on dating Elvis Presley) Elvis was so square, we'd go . . . for hot fudge sundaes. He didn't drink, he didn't swear, he didn't even smoke. It was like having the date that I never had in high school.

Please click here to learn more about Natalie Wood.

Video: Natalie Wood tells of a special memory about Bette Davis on the set of the film, The Star(1952). The plot tells the story of a washed up actress who tries anything to restart her career, even at the risk of alienating her family. Bette Davis received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

The Star (1952).

The Star(1952). Directed by Stuart Heisler. Cast: Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden and Natalie Wood. Bette Davis received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

The story begins when, Oscar Award winning Margaret Elliot, a bankrupt movie star, has to sell all her beautiful possessions at auction. She believes with all her heart, that one good part she can rebuild her career.

After another disappointment, she gets drunk and is arrested for DUI, and spends a night in jail. She is bailed out by Jim Johannsen, a young actor who she helped in the past.

Jim, tries to make Margaret see that her acting days are over. She does manage to get a screen test for a role in a film she’d always wanted to play. She decides to play the part as a sexy young woman but she ends up looking like a fool.

Later, at a Hollywood party, she is offered a role in a new film about a fading star who can’t face when their career is over. Will this script open Margaret's eyes to the truth.

The film, "The Star", is a look behind the scenes of old Hollywood. Bette, gave what I thought to be a realistic performance. Natalie Wood, gave a wonderful, bubbly performance as her daughter.



Classic movie snippets: The Star (1952) , movie review.

Barbara Lawrence (born February 24, 1928). She began her career as a photographer's model and performed in her first film, Diamond Horseshoe (1945). She also performed in the film, Captain from Castile(1947) with Tyrone Power. While finishing her studies at UCLA, she caught the attention of talent scouts and Lawrence was soon co-starring in 20th Century Fox movies: A Letter to Three Wives, The Street with No Name, Thieves' Highway and Here Come the Nelsons.

After her move to MGM, Lawrence starred in, Her Twelve Men. Lawrence, also played the major role in the film, Oklahoma!, in which she gets into a fight with Gloria Grahame.

Happy Birthday: Steve McQueen!

Steve McQueen (March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980), landed his first film depute in a small part in the film, Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), directed by Robert Wise. A film based on the life of middleweight boxing legend Rocky Graziano. Joseph Ruttenberg, was awarded a 1956 Oscar, in the category of Best Cinematography. The film also won the Oscar for Best Art Direction. The role of Rocky Graziano, was originally to be played by James Dean, but he died before filming began, Paul Newman accepted the part.

The story is about Rocky Graziano, who joins a street gang and gets into trouble and is sent to prison. After his release, he is drafted into the U.S. Army, but runs away. To support himself , he becomes a boxer and wins six fights in a row. Before the Army catches up with him and throws him in a United States Disciplinary Barracks for a year. When he gets out, he falls in love and marries his sister's friend, Norma. He rises to the top, but loses a title fight with Tony Zale. Someone from his past blackmails him into throwing a fight. Rocky fakes an injury and avoids the fight altogether. Will he loose his license and ever be able to fight again?

When McQueen, performed in a two-part television presentation entitled The Defenders, Hollywood manager Hilly Elkins, thought that B-movies, would be a good place for him to start. McQueen was hired to perform in the films: Never Love a Stranger, The Blob (his first leading role), and The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery.

Please click here to read Steve McQueen movie reviews.

McQueen, got a big break when Frank Sinatra removed Sammy Davis, Jr. from the film, Never So Few. When Davis role went to McQueen, Sinatra, made sure that McQueen had plenty of close-up shots. After the film, Never So Few, director John Sturges cast McQueen in his next movie, The Magnificent Seven (1960), which became McQueen's first major hit.

McQueen's next big film, The Great Escape (1963), gave Hollywood's version of the true story of an historical escape from a World War II POW camp. This film made McQueen, a superstar.

In 1963, McQueen starred with Natalie Wood in the film, Love With The Proper Stranger. He later performed in the film, Nevada Smith. McQueen, also earned his only Academy Award nomination in 1966 for his role in, The Sand Pebbles.

He followed his Oscar nomination with the film, Bullitt(1968), one of his most famous films. It featured an amazing car chase through San Francisco.

McQueen, performed as a wealthy executive in one of my favorite films, The Thomas Crown Affair with Faye Dunaway in 1968. He made the Southern period piece The Reivers(1969), followed by the film, Le Mans(1971). Then came the film, The Getaway(1972) during which he met future wife, Ali MacGraw. An action-crime film directed by, Sam Peckinpah. The film is based on a novel by, Jim Thompson. It was remade in 1994 starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger.

The story is about Carter "Doc" McCoy, a convict, who is denied parole. He wants his wife Carol, to make a deal with Jack Benyon. Benyon, has Doc paroled on the condition that he take part in a bank robbery, with two of his men. Things go wrong, Frank draws a gun on Doc, who beats him to the draw and shoots Rudy.

Doc meets with Benyon, who attempts a double cross and shot and killed by Carol. Doc gathers up the money and the couple run for the border into Mexico.

Rudy, having secretly worn a bulletproof vest, is still alive. He forces a veterinarian and his wife to treat his injuries, then kidnaps them so he can go after, Doc and Carol.

Benyon's brother Cully and his men also go after Doc and Carol. At the train station, a thief takes Carol's, locker keys and takes their bag of money. Doc, follows the thief onto a train and takes it back. Doc, steals a shotgun and they find themselves several shoot-outs with police. They escape by hiding in a trash bin and dumped at the local landfill.

Rudy's and the veterinarian's wife end up together. They arrive at hotel well known by criminals as a safe house, threatening the hotel's manager. Doc and Carol are given a room on the same floor and ask for food to be delivered, but the manager says he can't leave the desk. Doc, soon realizes that the manager has sent away his family. As they are planning their get away, Fran and Rudy, come to their door. Doc, is surprised to see Rudy alive. He sneaks up from behind and knocks out both Rudy and Fran.

Cully and his men arrive just as the McCoys are leaving. In a gunfight all of Cully's men are killed, except one, who Doc allows to walk away. Rudy now recovered follows Doc, who shoots and kills him.

With the police hot on their heels, the couple hijack a pickup truck and force its driver, a cowboy, to take them to Mexico. After crossing the border, Doc and Carol pay the cowboy for his truck and send him on his way.

He worked for director Sam Peckinpah, again with the leading role in, Junior Bonner (1972), a story of an aging rodeo rider. He followed this with a physically demanding role in the film, Papillon(1973).

After the film, The Towering Inferno(1974), co-starring with his friend, Paul Newman and reuniting him with Dunaway, McQueen wanted to focus on motorcycle racing and traveling around the country in a motor home and on one of his vintage motorcycles. He did not return to acting until the film, An Enemy of the People(1978).

His last films were both loosely based on true stories: Tom Horn, a Western adventure, about a former Army scout turned professional gunman, who worked for the big cattle ranchers and then the film, The Hunter, a action movie, about a modern-day bounty hunter, both released in 1980.

Oscar Blogathon: Best Actress 1963: Natalie Wood in, Love with the Proper Stranger(1963).

Natalie Wood, had a long Hollywood career. Her versatility served her well, maybe because she began performing in movies by the age of four and was a successful child actor in films such as, Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

She also gave a wonderful performance in, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She then starred in the musicals: West Side Story (1961) and Gypsy (1962).

She also received Academy Award nominations for her performances in the films, Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger(1963). A Romantic/comedy/ drama. Directed by Robert Mulligan. Cast: Natalie Wood, Steve McQueen, Edie Adams, Herschel Bernardi and Harvey Lembeck. The film is also the screen debut of Tom Bosley. The film's title song, written by Elmer Bernstein and Johnny Mercer, was recorded by Jack Jones.

The film begins, when Angie Rossini a Italian-American girl, finds herself pregnant after a "one night stand". The father is a musician named, Rocky Papasano and when she finds him, he does not remember her. All she wants from him is to give her enough money to help pay for an abortion.

Rocky comes up with the money for the abortion, but.. it turns out the abortionist is not a doctor. Rocky, refuses to let her go through with the abortion. He seems to really care about her and his concern brings them closer together. After meeting her brothers, Rocky says that he is ready to "take his medicine" by marrying her. Angie feelings are hurt and refuses, Angie wants a love relationship, with "bells and banjos."

Angie decides that it is best to move out on her own and begins to date her friend, Anthony. Rocky and Angie, cant seem to forget each other and Angie, invites him to dinner, where he makes advances towards her.



Angie says she doesn't want to make the same mistake and throws him out. The next day, Rocky waits for her outside Macy's, where she works, ringing bells and playing a banjo. Will he win her over?

I find it amazing that Natalie was just 25 years old at the time and to this day remains the youngest person to ever receive 3 Academy Award nominations. Love with the Proper Stranger, is a wonderful movie and before you know it you find yourself really hoping that they will get together. Wood's performance shows the most vulnerable side of this character. You may think, this film sounds like it is a great"chick flick", but... the story is has some wonderful comedic scenes that may appeal to the guys, too.

Please click here to read Natalie Wood's past reviews.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead "looks like" Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood (July 20th, 1938 - November 29th, 1981). Started out as a child actress in such films as Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and Father Was A Fullback (1949). She then became a teen-age star with the huge hit Rebel Without A Cause (1955). During this time period, Natalie also starred in the classic western The Searchers (1956) with John Wayne and The Burning Hills (1956). And then she entered her adult phase with such films as Splendor in the Grass (1961), West Side Story (1961), This Property Is Condemnded (1966) and Bob & Carol & Alice & Ted (1969). She tragically died in a drowning accident in 1981.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (November 28th, 1984). Is best known for such films as Sky High (2005), Bobby (2006), Final Destination 3 (2006), Death-Proof (2007) and her biggest film so far, Live Free or Die Hard (2007) with Bruce Willis.

Happy Birthday Natalie Wood

(1938-1981) Natalie would have been 72 today if not for her accidental drowning back in 1981. She is one of my favorite actresses and was extremely talented. My personal favorite films of hers were The Great Race, Inside Daisy Clover, Sex and The Single Girl, and The Searchers.

Natalie Wood: Part 3 of 3.

After performing in, the movie flop, Fine Young Cannibals. Wood's career was saved by her wonderful performance in one of my favorite movies, Splendor in the Grass (1961)with Warren Beatty. The story is about a teen-aged girl living in a small town in Kansas in 1928, who tries follows her mother's wishes to resist the advances of her boyfriend, Bud Stamper. Bud follows the advice of his father, who suggests that he find another kind of girl.

Bud's parents are heartbroken, with his older sister Ginny, who is promiscuous, smokes and drinks. Pressuring Bud to attend Yale University.

Bud does find a girl and when Deanie finds out, she is driven out of her mind and institutionalized. Bud's family loses its fortune in the Great Depression, which is the down fall of the family. Natalie's performance in this film earned her, Best Actress Nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards.


Next, Natalie performed in the musical, West Side Story(1961) which was a major box office success. The singing parts were dubbed in by Marni Nixon. Natalie did sing when she performed in the film, Gypsy(1962). She co-starred in the film, The Great Race (1965), with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Peter Falk. Natalie, then received her third Academy Award nomination and another Golden Globe award in the film, Love with the Proper Stranger(1964), opposite Steve McQueen.

Natalie, found her acting was criticized at times. In 1966 she won the Harvard Lampoon Worst Actress of the Year Award. She was the first performer in the awards history to accept it in person. Other notable films she performed in were, Inside Daisy Clover (1965) and This Property Is Condemned (1966), both of which co-starred Robert Redford which brought her the Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress. In both films, which were set during the Great Depression, Wood played teens with big dreams. After a much needed rest from acting, Wood played a swinger in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). The film was one of the top ten box office hits of the year. After becoming pregnant with her first child, in 1970, she went into semi-retirement and only acted in four more theatrical films. She performed as herself in The Candidate (1972), reuniting her for a third time with Robert Redford.

She also reunited on the screen with Robert Wagner in The Affair (1973), a television adaptation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) and made cameo appearances on his shows Switch in 1978 as "Bubble Bath Girl" and Hart to Hart in 1979 as "Movie Star". During the last two years of her life, Wood began to work more frequently as her daughters reached school age.

Natalie Wood : Part 2 of 3.

Natalie Wood, made the transition from child star to teen star when she performed in the film, Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean. she recieved an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Natalie's next performance and one of my favorite western movies, The Searchers(1956) with John Wayne, which also featured Wood's sister, Lana(pictured above), who played the younger version of her character. Directed by John Ford, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is the story of Ethan Edwards, a Civil War veteran, who spends years looking for his abducted niece.

Signed to Warner Brothers, Wood performed in many 'girlfriend' roles. The studio cast her in two films opposite Tab Hunter, hoping to turn the duo into a box office draw. Some of the other films she performed in were, 1958's Kings Go Forth and Marjorie Morningstar, with Gene Kelly.

Natalie Wood: Part 1 of 3 parts.

Natalie Wood's, mother had big dreams of Natalie becoming a famous actress or ballet dancer. Her mother would take Natalie to the movies and this is where she learned her acting style by watching other Hollywood child stars on the big screen.

Her mother used to tell her that when the cameraman pointed his lens out at the audience at the end of the film he was taking her picture. She would then pose and smile like he was going to make her famous. As most little girls do, she believed everything her mother told her.

When her family moved to Santa Rosa, California, Natalie was noticed during a film shoot in downtown. Her mother moved the whole family to Los Angeles and pursued a career for her daughter. Natalie, had a sister, Svetlana Zacharenko (better known as Lana Wood one of the "Bond girls"). She and Lana also have a half sister, Olga Viriapaeff.

Natalie made her first on screen performance a few weeks before turning five, in a very small scene in the film, Happy Land (1943). Where she caught the eye of director, Irving Pichel. He stayed in touch with her family until another role popped up. The director phoned Natalie's mother and asked to her bring her, down to Los Angeles for a screen test. Her mother packed up the whole family and headed off to Los Angeles to live.




Natalie, seven years old at the time, landed the part in a film opposite Orson Welles and Claudette Colbert in, Tomorrow Is Forever(1946), directed by Irving Pichel. The movie is about Elizabeth and John, a married couple separated when John goes off to fight in World War I. When Elizabeth learns of John's death, she marries another man. John, is still alive and returns, but after being disfigured in the war he has undergone plastic surgery, making him unrecognizable. He has also adopted a daughter. When he finds out that he has a son with Elizabeth, he has to make up his mind whether or not to tell his family his true identity.

After doing another film directed by Pichel, her mother signed her with 20th Century Fox studio for her first major performance in, Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

Natalie, performed in over 20 films as a child, performing opposite stars as: Gene Tierney, James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Bette Davis and Bing Crosby.



One of my favorite Natalie Wood movies is: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.(1947) This is a wonderful romantic fantasy that tells the story of young widow (Gene Tierney), who moves into what turns out to be haunted seaside cottage of the late Captain Gregg ( Rex Harrison), with her young daughter (played as a child by Natalie Wood, by Vanessa Brown as an adult). The captain first tries to scare the widow away, but soon they team up to write a novel so that she can stay at the cottage. They talk about everything except their feelings for each other. When Miles Fairley, a ladies man, enters Lucy's life offering her a chance for happiness in the real world, the Captain loves her enough to leave her. Unfortunately, Miles is found out for what he is and for the next thirty years Lucy lives in the Cottage alone, waiting.... Will she ever see her Captain again?

THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947)

This is a wonderful romantic fantasy that tells the story of young widow (Gene Tierney), who moves into what turns out to be haunted seaside cottage of the late Captain Gregg ( Rex Harrison), with her young daughter (played as a child by Natalie Wood, by Vanessa Brown as an adult).

The captain first tries to scare the widow away, but soon they team up to write a novel so that she can stay at the cottage. They talk about everything except their feelings for each other. When Miles Fairley, a ladies man, enters Lucy's life offering her a chance for happiness in the real world, the Captain loves her enough to leave her. Unfortunately, Miles is found out for what he is and for the next thirty years Lucy lives in the Cottage alone, waiting.... Will she ever see her Captain again?

THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR, is one of my favorite Romance movies. Harrison and Tierney have wonderful on screen chemistry. A romance that will have you swooning.

Fun Facts:

The word "muir" means "the sea" in Gaelic.

Josephine Leslie, wrote the 1945 novel The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.

Edna Best (3 March 1900 – 18 September 1974) . Best was well known on the London stage before she entered films in 1921, having made her debut at Grand Theatre, Southampton in Charley's Aunt in 1917. She also won a silver swimming cup as the lady swimming champion of Sussex.

She is best remembered for her role as the mother in the film, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). Among her other film credits are Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939), Swiss Family Robinson (1940), The Late George Apley and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (both 1947) and The Iron Curtain (1948).