In this moving memoir, Robert J. Wagner opens his
heart to share the romances, the drama and the humor of
an incredible life. Under the mentorship of stars like
Spencer Tracy, he became a salaried actor in Hollywood's
studio system among other hot actors of the moment such
as his friends Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis. Working with
studio mogul Darryl Zanuck, Wagner began to appear in a
number of films alongside the most beautiful starlets -
but his first love was Barbara Stanwyck, an actress
twice his age. As his career blossomed, and after he
separated from Stanwyck, he met the woman who would
change his life forever, Natalie Wood. They fell
instantly and deeply in love and stayed together until
the stress of their careers - hers marching upward, his
inexplicably deflating - drove them to divorce. Trying
to forget the pain, he made more movies and spent his
time in Europe with the likes of Steve McQueen, Sophia
Loren, Peter Sellers, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Liz
Taylor and Joan Collins. He would meet and marry the
beautiful former model and actress Marion
Marshall.Together they had a daughter, and made their
way back to America, where he found himself at the
beginning of a new era in Hollywood - the blossoming of
television. Lew Wasserman and later Aaron Spelling would
work with Wagner as he produced and starred in some of
the most successful programs in history. Despite his new
found success, his marriage to Marion fell apart. He
looked no further than Natalie Wood, for whom he still
pined. To the world's surprise, they fell in love all
over again. Their life together was cut tragically
short, though, when Wood died after falling from their
yacht. For the first time, Wagner writes about that
tremendously painful time. After a serious bout with
depression, he finally resurfaced and eventually married
Jill St. John, who helped keep his family and his
fractured heart together. |
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