Dead in Hollywood is a true-crime web series of strange and tragic Hollywood deaths.
39 years ago today actress Natalie Wood died, drowning off the coast of California in Two Harbors on Catalina Island. Two years ago I retraced Wood’s lost weekend on the island. You can read all about it in the fanzine DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: NATALIE WOOD (Issue #8). CLICK HERE for your copy of the zine!
Two years ago, on Natalie Wood’s deathiversary, I did a Natalie Wood slideshow at the Pool Gallery. We projected the slides on the bottom of the pool. It was freezing, but so worth it! You can read more about the slideshow in the upcoming issue of DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: HERE LIES NATALIE WOOD (Issue #18). A companion piece of sorts to DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: NATALIE WOOD (Issue #8).
CLICK HERE for DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: NATALIE WOOD (Issue #8)
DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD THIS IS WHERE I DIE (Issue #22) will focus on the photos I have taken in and around Los Angeles over the past 20 years. This issue will feature never before seen photos of where stars like Natalie Wood, James Dean, and Dorothy Dandridge met their untimely fates.
“Rebel Without a Cause” defined both popular and youth culture upon its release in 1955, giving voice to the American teenager of the 1950’s. Even though Wood has starred in 20 films before turning 16, she is desperate to transition to adult roles. She sees the part of Judy as her ticket into adulthood. Complicating matters is that every actress from Debbie Reynolds to Jayne Mansfield is being considered for the role. Wood's mother pushes her into "dating" the 44-year-old "Rebel" director, Nicholas Ray - her mother waits in the car during Wood and Ray's romps at the Chateau Marmont. Sleeping with the director doesn't even work! It's not until a drunken car crash on Laurel Canyon with Dennis Hopper that Ray to cast considers Wood for the role. Ray visits Wood at the hospital, where the doctor calls Wood a "goddamn juvenile delinquent." Wood yells: "Did you hear what he called me, Nick? He called me a goddamn juvenile delinquent! Now do I get the part?" Wood deserves the credit for transforming Ray’s vision of Wood’s character Judy from a trashy teen to a confused, hurt kid like Wood herself.
Hard at work on Dead in Hollywood: Natalie Wood (Issue 8). It’s going to be my most personal issue yet. More to come. Stay tuned. (Instagram: @deadinhollywoodzine)
“If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, if he can live on after he's dead, then maybe he was a great man.” -James Dean
Dean Scream.
Hard at work on Dead in Hollywood: Natalie Wood (Issue #8).
"Jupiter is so big and its gravitational pull so strong that man would find it difficult to move about on the surface.” -Fritz Zwicky, astronomer
...has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor.
Look at Me the Way I look at Natalie
Dead in Hollywood: James Dean (Issue #6)
