Rumors that a young Natalie Wood had been raped by a much older actor have persisted for years. Until now, no one had been named in the alleged crime, but that's changed now that Lana Wood has released her memoir and publicly named Kirk Douglas as the perpetrator.
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Lana also claims that the alleged rape took place while a teenaged Natalie was filming The Searchers in 1955.
Lana writes, "I remember that Natalie looked especially beautiful when Mom and I dropped her off that night at the Chateau Marmont entrance."
She explains that she and their mother had dropped Natalie off for a meeting that was supposed to help her career.
Lana continues, "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 looked awful. 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," Lana continues. "Something bad had apparently happened to my sister, but whatever it was, I was apparently too young to be told about it."
Lana adds that Natalie didn't tell her what happened until years later, when they were both adults. She says that Natalie described how she was brought to Kirk Douglas' room. "And, uh … he hurt me Lana," Natalie confessed, adding, "It was like an out-of-body experience. I was terrified, I was confused."
Unfortunately, their mother was of little help. Lana describes Maria Zakharenko as essentially telling Natalie to just deal with the situation, and adds that she and Natalie were worried speaking about it could impact her career.
Lana says that she promised Natalie she wouldn't talk about the assault, but as The Guardian also notes, Douglas' name began trending in conjunction with Natalie's after the actor died in 2020. Lana believes Natalie would support her decision to come forward, saying, "With no one still around to protect, I’m sure she’ll forgive me for finally breaking that promise."
