Natalie Wood On Winning The 'Worst Actress' Award | The Dick Cavett Show

my first guest is a young lady I think she's the only actress about whom you could safely say I used to see your movies as a kid and not get punched in the mouth because she started so early in the business Natalie Wood was really a genuine child actress and she has aged most gracefully don't you think ever since will you welcome Natalie Wood [Applause] [Music] I didn't realize how lovely were thank you say the same thing back to me let you just get married or something something nice going I mean I didn't yes well it looks like the real thing let me be the last to congratulate you anyway I know it isn't you didn't just get married today you're one of those people who has had numerous Oscar nominations and you must have sweated that out a lot of times how many well it can be I mean it can be that little moment where you convince yourself that this is not a chance running away voted for somebody else's but then just before they say the name you know you haven't gone entirely unrewarded though you got an award I remember the exact title but it was something like worst actress of the year it was it was that must've performance that I've gotten an Academy nomination for so I didn't feel too bad you were a good sport about oh you're the only one I think who actually went up there and accepted it and probably astonished them I understand later on after I did I started a trend and somebody else went mm-hmm but I thought about it and I asked if anyone had ever gone you know nobody ever had so I thought it would be a camp to go and it turned out to be terrific fun because what happened was that we were in New York you know getting ready to go and and my public relations people had been speaking to a boy from the Lampoon and his name was John something nice and so we rang up the morning you were to leave and he said oh there's been a change of plans and somebody has to speak and so forth and do you think he could possibly take a half hour earlier playing so we did and we arrived there and he greeted us and all of that he said I know you want to me press that will just rush you into this car and all that and we'll take you right to the ceremonies so he walked in and there was a nice room and there was you know a ceremony and there were awards and all of that and then they ripped off their ties and said now you see well I didn't see because what does it mean well it was not the Harvard Lampoon I had gotten kidnapped by the other paper from the Lampoon had a huge motorcycle escort and president ban and everything meeting the wrong plane you see they made light in the other ones spirited no they gave me a good war but they kidnapped you thank you they didn't abuse you in any way well if anyone tries to kidnap you again just call on me and I'll help them so I think that award that they give for the worst actress sometimes goes into the future which i think is an amusing part of it they give it to not only for that year but for a couple of upcoming years it's a wonderful idea if they really started seriously giving awards for bad acting in our business they'd be doing nothing else wouldn't they well they gave my word to Barbra Streisand this year yes I am you were a child actress and I suppose it's a there's a distinction between singing a child actress and a child star what you were more of an actress I would think luckily yes because I think it it must be terribly difficult to be a child star of the magnitude that you know somebody like Shirley Temple or mmm-hmm well you really are a household word yeah there's almost no way you can make it enough for me to to grow up I mean when I was 15 and was trying to play a part of a 15 year old they all said oh no but you know you just you still got your pigtails and everything and so I had to do several screen tests for picture I did with James Dean particular and I was exactly the right age you know James Dean there's still some cult following about isn't there I think yeah you still see big posters of him do you ever wonder if you missed the childhood that an average person could have had and if you were to be reincarnated you'd rather not come back as a film kid I don't think so oddly enough I guess I was sort of extroverted or something and I was this sort of a friendly little kid and I liked to talk to people and and also I never went to acting school and I think that was a big help because no one way generally speaking I think children if they just sort of left alone and the directors were always nice to me and they said you know this is the situation except with usually you're quite natural yeah and but I know it wasn't true with some of the other children because they you know they didn't react and their mothers were forcing them or they would rather been outside playing and also I always went back to a regular school you know between times that I was working so I wasn't as isolated and cocooned as some of the others you know it says on your bio does everybody know what that is it's the thing Studios sin-debt that gives your whole life and everything yes you're 97 pounds in it well you may blow away at any moment I thought your weighted shot up from 97.9 it's a lot of people were wondering why you're so fluent in Russian when used only was it on the Academy Award show when you spoke well that's the answer to those people who were wondering and most of my close friends call me Natasha they do would you include him in your close friends moving keep moving I met you at a party went and this is not a fair thing to do on the air because you wouldn't remember but there's always that compulsion to say I think I do remember I do that but it was I was working for Jack Paar years ago and I went to a party for a lot of celebrities they cover exactly what it was really well a Parsons was there and it was at the four seasons listening and I was looking for mystery relatives remember the mystery relatives Daisy's - come on Jack's show and you were there and I don't have any idea why I started this story do you have any idea why I started this does this happen to you folks out there in real life I met you at a party oh that's all right I can get out of this do you yeah that must be where I started it no I I did meet you at a party I can't remember what it was but it's not - why I was gonna say that do you have any fun at parties do you enjoy them oh yes I had a terrific time at a party here just before around my husband and I left on our honeymoon it was the party for Mart Crowley because it did your former secretary and playwright and Arthur have boys in the band just to guess is that right sure I just made no let-up I remember why I was at that party why I brought this up because I sat in the corner at that party I didn't have the nerve to approach any of the people I was supposed to say hello to that was it and I had I sat in that corner as I usually do at parties just trying to get up my you sit at parties and watch the avocado dip turned black it's those are my kicks we will be back I believe after this yeah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: The Dick Cavett Show

Views: 409,694

Rating: 4.906631 out of 5

Keywords: natalie wood, natalie wood hbo, natalie wood documentary, Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, christopher walken, natalie wood interview, natalie wood dick cavett, natalie wood dick cavett interview, dick cavett, the dick cavett show, natalie wood documentary hbo, west side story, maria west side story, natalie wood west side story, west side story 2020, natalie wood what remains behind, kirk douglass natalie wood, natalie wood movies, natalie wood oscars

Id: kN7AZsI6TCE

Length: 8min 34sec (514 seconds)

Published: Fri May 29 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/whatifniki23]

She was so lovely.