Early life

Wood was born Svetlana Gurdin to Russian emigrant parents, Nikolai and Maria Zakharenko, who themselves grew up far from their homeland. Her father lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, while her mother grew up in China. After her parents married, they settled in Santa Monica, California, where Svetlana, known as "Lana", was born. By this time her parents had legally changed their surname to Gurdin. Her elder sister, Natalie Wood, was named after director Sam Wood when Natalie first launched her child acting career. When Lana made her film debut in The Searchers (1956), their mother was asked under what last name Lana should be credited, and Maria agreed it would be best if she could be credited as "Wood", like Natalie. She has an older half sister, Olga Viripaeff, from their mother's prior marriage.

Career

In her early career, Wood usually played bit parts in films in which Natalie appeared. Starting in the 1960s, her own career took off. After appearing in the short-lived drama series The Long, Hot Summer, she landed the role of Sandy Webber in the soap series Peyton Place. She played the role from 1966-67. In 1970, Wood was approached to pose for Playboy by Hugh Hefner and agreed. The Playboy pictures appeared in the April 1971 issue, along with Wood's poetry. She was cast as a Bond girl, "Plenty O'Toole", in the 1971 James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever.

Wood has more than 20 other films and over 300 television shows to her credit, including The Fugitive, Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, Police Story, Starsky and Hutch, Nero Wolfe, Fantasy Island, and Capitol. After appearing in the horror film Demon Rage (1982), she retired from acting, concentrating on her career as a producer, but has since returned to acting in a number of low-budget films since 2008. Lana is a character in the 2009 Steve Alten book Meg: Hell's Aquarium. Wood wrote a memoir, Natalie, A Memoir by Her Sister, in 1984.

Personal life

Wood has been married four times:

1. Jack Wrather, Jr. - (1962; annulled when she was 16 years old)
2. Karl Brent - (1965-1966; divorced)
3. Steve Oliver - (1967; divorced)
4. Richard Smedley - (1973-1975; divorced); 1 child, Evan (born August 11, 1974), by whom she has three grandchildren.
5. Allan Balter - (1978-1981; divorced)

TV and filmography

• The Searchers - (1956), Debbie Edwards (younger)
• Have Gun - Will Travel - (1958), Becky Coldwell ("The Teacher")
• The Real McCoys - (1958), Marilyn Harwick ("The New Neighbors")
• Five Finger Exercise - (1962), Mary
• The Fool Killer - (1965), Alice
• The Girls on the Beach - (1965), Bonnie
• The Long, Hot Summer - (TV) (1965-1966), Eula Harker
• Peyton Place - (TV) (1966-1967), Sandy Webber - unknown episodes
• The Wild Wild West - (TV series) (1967), Vixen O'Shaughnessy ("The Night of the Firebrand")
• For Singles Only - (1968), Helen Todd
• Scream Free! - (1969), Karen
• The Wild Wild West - (TV series) (1969), Averi Trent ("The Night of the Plague")
• Black Water Gold - (TV) (1970), Eagan Ryan
• The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again - (TV) (1970), Katie Flavin
• O'Hara, U.S. Treasury - (TV) (1971), Fran Harper
• Diamonds Are Forever - (1971), Plenty O'Toole
• Justin Morgan Had a Horse - (1972), Kathleen
• A Place Called Today - (1972), Carolyn Schneider
• QB VII - (TV miniseries) (1974), Sue Scanlon
• Who Is the Black Dahlia? - (TV) (1975), Boarder
• Nightmare in Badham County - (TV) (1976), Smitty
• Corey: For the People - (TV) (1977), Janet Hanley
• Speedtrap - (1977) New Blossom
• Grayeagle - (1977) Beth Colter
• A Question of Guilt - (TV) (1978), Elizabeth Carson
• Captain America - (TV) (1979), Yolanda
• Captain America II: Death Too Soon - (TV) (1979), Yolanda
• Born to Be Sold - (1981) (TV) (assistant to executive producer)
• Satan's Mistress - (1982), Lisa
• Murder Me, Murder You - (TV) (1983) - associate producer
• Capitol - (TV series) (1983), Fran Burke - unknown episodes
• The Mystery of Natalie Wood - (TV) (2004) - co-producer
• Wild Michigan - (2008), Opal
• The Book of Ruth: Journey of Faith - (2009), Tani
• Last Wish - (short) (2010), Helen
• When Happy Met Froggie - (documentary) (2011), herself

Bibliography

• Wood, Lana (1984). Natalie Wood: A Memoir by Her Sister. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-399-12903-0.
• Finstad, Suzanne (2002). Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0609809570.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]