The Mystery Of Natalie Wood
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The Mystery Of Natalie Wood
''The Mystery of Natalie Wood'' is a two-part 2004 made-for-TV biographical film directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Partly based on the biographies ''Natasha: the Biography of Natalie Wood'' written by Suzanne Finstad and ''Natalie & R.J.'' written by Warren G. Harris, the film chronicles the life and career of actress Natalie Wood, from her early childhood in the 1940s until her death in 1981. Plot Part 1 The film begins on November 28, 1981, on Catalina Island, California, where 43-year-old Natalie Wood (Justine Waddell) falls off her yacht, ''Splendour'', and drowns. Flashing back to 1943, five-year-old, then named Natasha (Grace Fulton), grows up in a violent household in Santa Rosa, California. Her overbearing mother, Maria Gurdin (Alice Krige), is obsessed with making her daughter a film star. When a film is shooting in town, Maria arranges a role for Natasha. She kills a butterfly in order to get Natasha to cry on cue. Her performance impresses the director, Irving Pichel (J ...
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Suzanne Finstad
Suzanne Finstad (born Suzanne Elaine Finstad September 14, 1955 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a bestselling American author, biographer, journalist, producer, and lawyer. Work pre-1990 Finstad received the Frank Wardlaw Prize in 1984 for literary excellence for her first book, ''Heir Not Apparent'' (1984), drawn from her experiences as a young law clerk and trial attorney investigating claims to the billion-dollar estate of industrialist, aviator and filmmaker Howard Hughes, who appeared to have died without a valid will. ''American Cinematographer'' described ''Heir Not Apparent'' as a "spellbinding account of intrigues by lawyers, relatives and fortune hunters for a share in the Hughes estate." ''Kirkus Reviews'' praised the book, which was excerpted in ''Penthouse'', as "immediate and engrossing." Other critics called it "strikingly literate," "a detective-story lovers dream . . . the stuff good novels are made of." Her second book, ''Ulterior Motives: The Killing and Dark ...
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John Noble
John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is known for his roles as Denethor in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Dr. Walter Bishop on the science fiction series ''Fringe'', Henry Parrish on the action-horror series '' Sleepy Hollow'', and Morland Holmes on the police procedural ''Elementary''. Noble has also done voice work as Leland Monroe in the video game ''L.A. Noire'', Unicron in the animated series '' Transformers: Prime'', and Scarecrow in the DC Comics video game '' Batman: Arkham Knight''. Career Noble starred as scientist Walter Bishop in the television series ''Fringe''. He made occasional appearances on the television series '' All Saints''. He is internationally known for his performance as Denethor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. He played Russian Consul Anatoly Markov in the sixth season of the US television series '' 24''. In 2011, he appeared as Real Estate tycoon Leland Monroe in Rockstar's video game ''L.A. Noire''. He is al ...
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Grace Fulton
Grace Caroline Currey (née Fulton) is an American actress and dancer. Life and career Currey is the daughter of Damian Fulton, an artist, and his wife Alisa. Starting as a child actress, her first role was playing the 4-year-old version of Heather Paige Kent's character in a 2001 episode of '' That's Life''. Graduating to adult roles, she portrayed Mary Bromfield in the DC Extended Universe 2019 film ''Shazam!'', which was directed by David F. Sandberg. In 2022, she starred in the thriller ''Fall'', with Virginia Gardner, and will reprise the role of Mary Bromfield, this time as both the adolescent and superhero versions, in the upcoming sequel ''Shazam! Fury of the Gods ''Shazam! Fury of the Gods'' is an upcoming American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Shazam. Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Studios, and the Safran Company, and set for distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is intended to ...''. Filmography Film Television Awards and nominat ...
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West Side Story (1961 Film)
''West Side Story'' is a 1961 American musical romantic drama film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. With a screenplay by Ernest Lehman, the film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same title, which in turn was inspired by Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet''. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris, and was photographed by Daniel L. Fapp in Super Panavision 70. The music was composed by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Released on October 18, 1961, through United Artists, the film received praise from critics and viewers, and became the highest-grossing film of 1961. It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 10, including Best Picture (in addition to a special award for Robbins), becoming the record holder for the most wins for a musical. ''West Side Story'' is regarded as one of the greatest musical films of all time. The film has been deemed "culturally, historically, or aes ...
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Warren Beatty
Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, three for Original Screenplay, and one for Adapted Screenplay – winning Best Director for ''Reds'' (1981). Beatty is the only person to have been nominated for acting in, directing, writing, and producing the same film, and he did so twice: first for '' Heaven Can Wait'' (with Buck Henry as co-director), and again for ''Reds''. Eight of the films he produced earned 53 Academy nominations. In 1999, he was awarded the Academy's highest honor, the Irving G. Thalberg Award. Beatty was nominated for 18 Golden Globe Awards, winning six, including the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2007. Among his Golden Globe nominated films are, his screen debut, ''Splendor in the Grass'' (1961), ''Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967), ''Shampoo'' (1975), '' ...
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Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Constantinople (now Istanbul), to Cappadocian Greek parents, his family came to the United States in 1913. After attending Williams College and then the Yale School of Drama, he acted professionally for eight years, later joining the Group Theatre in 1932, and co-founded the Actors Studio in 1947. With Robert Lewis and Cheryl Crawford, his actors' studio introduced "Method Acting" under the direction of Lee Strasberg. Kazan acted in a few films, including ''City for Conquest'' (1940). His films were concerned with personal or social issues of special concern to him. Kazan writes, "I don't move unless I have some empathy with the basic theme." His ...
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Splendor In The Grass
''Splendor in the Grass'' is a 1961 American period drama film produced and directed by Elia Kazan, from a screenplay written by William Inge. It stars Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty (in his film debut) as two high school sweethearts, navigating feelings of sexual repression, love, and heartbreak. Pat Hingle, Audrey Christie, Barbara Loden, Zohra Lampert, and Joanna Roos are featured in supporting roles. ''Splendor in the Grass'' was released theatrically on October 10, 1961, by Warner Bros. Pictures to critical and commercial success, grossing $4 million, and received two nominations at the 34th Academy Awards for Best Actress (for Wood) and Best Original Screenplay, winning the latter. Plot In 1928 Kansas, teenagers Wilma Dean "Deanie" Loomis and her boyfriend, Bud Stamper, want a more physically intimate relationship, but heed the advice of their parents not to become more involved for the sake of Deanie's reputation and Bud's future plans for college. Bud's sister, Ginny, ...
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Robert Wagner
Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor of stage, screen, and television. He is known for starring in the television shows '' It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch'' (1975–1978), and ''Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984). He later had a recurring role as Teddy Leopold in the TV sitcom ''Two and a Half Men'' (2007–2008) and made twelve guest appearances (2010–2019) as Anthony DiNozzo Sr. in the police procedural '' NCIS''. In films, Wagner is known for his role as Number 2 in the ''Austin Powers'' trilogy of films (1997, 1999, 2002), as well as for '' A Kiss Before Dying'' (1956), ''The Pink Panther'' (1963), ''Harper'' (1966), ''The Towering Inferno'' (1974), '' The Concorde ... Airport '79'' (1979) and many more. Early life Wagner was born on February 10, 1930, in Detroit, Michigan. He is the son of Hazel Alvera (''née'' Boe), a telephone operator, and Robert John Wagner, a travelling salesman who worked for the Ford Motor Company. Robert ...
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Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in ''Giant'' (1956). In the next ten years he made a name in television, and by the end of the 1960s had appeared in several films, notably ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967) and ''Hang 'Em High'' (1968). Hopper also began a prolific and acclaimed photography career in the 1960s. Hopper made his directorial film debut with ''Easy Rider'' (1969), which he and co-star Peter Fonda wrote with Terry Southern. The film earned Hopper a Cannes Film Festival Award for "Best First Work" and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (shared with Fonda and Southern). Journalist Ann Hornaday wrote: "With its portrait of counterculture heroes raising their middle fingers to the uptight middle-class hypocrisies, ''Easy Rider'' became the cinematic symbol of the 1960s, a celluloid an ...
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Robert Taylor (Australian Actor)
Robert John Taylor (born 1963) is an Australian actor who has appeared in many films and television series in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. On television, he is known for playing the lead role of Walt Longmire in the A&E/Netflix television series '' Longmire''. On film, he is known for playing "Agent Jones" in ''The Matrix'' (1999); he also starred in ''Vertical Limit'' (2000). Early life Taylor was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia. His parents separated when he was nine, and he moved to a mining town in Western Australia to live with his aunt and uncle. He worked as a miner when he was a teenager, and later had jobs including lifeguard and bouncer. He went to university three times. At age twenty one, Taylor went to work on an oil rig in the Indian Ocean. His ship collided with another and sank off the west coast of Australia, but he and two crew mates escaped on a lifeboat. Taylor suffered a broken arm and ribs and, while recovering in the hospita ...
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Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle Jr., August 7, 1911 – June 16, 1979) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor best known for the 1955 film ''Rebel Without a Cause.'' He is appreciated for many narrative features produced between 1947 and 1963 including ''They Live By Night'', ''In A Lonely Place'', ''Johnny Guitar'', and ''Bigger Than Life'', as well as an experimental work produced throughout the 1970s titled '' We Can't Go Home Again'', which was unfinished at the time of Ray's death. Ray's compositions within the CinemaScope frame and use of color are particularly well-regarded and he was an important influence on the French New Wave, with Jean-Luc Godard famously writing in a review of '' Bitter Victory'', "... there is cinema. And the cinema is Nicholas Ray."Godard, Jean-Luc (1958). "Au-dela des étoiles," ''Cahiers du cinéma'' 79 (January); translated as "Jean-Luc Godard: Beyond the Stars," in ''Cahiers du CInéma: The 1950s. Neo-realism, ...
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James Dean
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in '' East of Eden'' (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in ''Giant'' (1956). After his death in a car crash on September 30, 1955, Dean became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role in ''East of Eden''. Upon receiving a second nomination for his role in ''Giant'' the following year, Dean became the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list. Early life and education James Byron Dean was born on February ...
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