Natalie Wood Was Raped by Kirk Douglas, Her Sister Alleges in a New Book In her memoir Little Sister, Lana Wood recalls the night of Natalie’s assault—and details why now is the time to name her sister’s alleged assailant.
“I remember that Natalie looked especially beautiful when Mom and I dropped her off that night at the Chateau Marmont entrance." Douglas raped Natalie in the summer of 1955.
Their mother, Maria Zakharenko, had reportedly scheduled Natalie’s meeting with Douglas, hoping that “many doors might be thrown open for her, with just a nod of his famous, handsome head on her behalf.” Lana, then about eight years old, remembers “it seemed like a long time passed before Natalie got back into the car and woke me up when she slammed the door shut.” She writes that Natalie “looked awful,” adding, “She was very disheveled and very upset, and she and Mom started urgently whispering to each other. I couldn’t really hear them or make out what they were saying. Something bad had apparently happened to my sister, but whatever it was, I was apparently too young to be told about it.”
According to Lana, she and Natalie never discussed what had happened until they were both adults. It was at that point that Natalie detailed her rape, telling her sister, “And, uh ... he hurt me Lana.… It was like an out-of-body experience. I was terrified, I was confused.” According to Lana, her sister and mother had decided that it would tarnish Natalie’s Hollywood standing to publicly accuse Douglas. “Suck it up,” were Maria’s words of advice to her daughter, per Lana.
In the past, Lana has shielded Natalie’s secret from the world. Now that Douglas and Natalie have both died, she believes the time is now to share it. “With no one still around to protect, I’m sure she’ll forgive me for finally breaking that promise,” Lana writes. Kirk’s son, Michael Douglas, responded to the allegation in a statement to the AP: “May they both rest in peace.”
Natalie Wood Was Raped by Kirk Douglas, Her Sister Alleges in a New Book In her memoir Little Sister, Lana Wood recalls the night of Natalie’s assault—and details why now is the time to name her sister’s alleged assailant.
“I remember that Natalie looked especially beautiful when Mom and I dropped her off that night at the Chateau Marmont entrance." Douglas raped Natalie in the summer of 1955.
Their mother, Maria Zakharenko, had reportedly scheduled Natalie’s meeting with Douglas, hoping that “many doors might be thrown open for her, with just a nod of his famous, handsome head on her behalf.” Lana, then about eight years old, remembers “it seemed like a long time passed before Natalie got back into the car and woke me up when she slammed the door shut.” She writes that Natalie “looked awful,” adding, “She was very disheveled and very upset, and she and Mom started urgently whispering to each other. I couldn’t really hear them or make out what they were saying. Something bad had apparently happened to my sister, but whatever it was, I was apparently too young to be told about it.”
According to Lana, she and Natalie never discussed what had happened until they were both adults. It was at that point that Natalie detailed her rape, telling her sister, “And, uh ... he hurt me Lana.… It was like an out-of-body experience. I was terrified, I was confused.” According to Lana, her sister and mother had decided that it would tarnish Natalie’s Hollywood standing to publicly accuse Douglas. “Suck it up,” were Maria’s words of advice to her daughter, per Lana.
In the past, Lana has shielded Natalie’s secret from the world. Now that Douglas and Natalie have both died, she believes the time is now to share it. “With no one still around to protect, I’m sure she’ll forgive me for finally breaking that promise,” Lana writes. Kirk’s son, Michael Douglas, responded to the allegation in a statement to the AP: “May they both rest in peace.”
By Savannah Walsh November 4, 2021