Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

I mentioned that I am reading a biography of Natalie Wood, whose given name was Natasha Zacharenko, the daughter of Russian immigrants. And I just learned something about her that I did not know until now: 

Right before the filming of Rebel Without A Cause when she was 16, Natalie Wood was brutally raped by an A+ Hollywood actor. He invited her to his hotel room, ostensibly to discuss a script, and he attacked her. And it was at the extreme of violence, where she was badly torn and bleeding from the rape.

She told her family and close friends, but she never went to the police, and it was because of the power that this man wielded in Hollywood. She feared that it would ruin her career. 

The author of this biography, Natasha, is Suzanne Finstad, and I must say that it is very well written. But, in the book, Ms. Finstad does not reveal who this A+ actor is who raped Natalie Wood. And I say "is" because he is still alive. You can tell that she knows who he is, but she withholds his name. And, it must be because of fear of litigation.

But, she does say in the book, which came out in 2001, that Natalie's younger sister Lana has sworn that she is going to make public the name of this man who raped her sister as soon as he dies. 

Does it mean that the estate of a deceased person cannot sue for libel? I'm not a lawyer, and I don't claim to know. 

But, it occurred to me that the Internet is probably abuzz with ideas on who the man is who raped Natalie Wood. And so I started searching. And I was shocked at what I found. First, I was shocked because the judgment of the internet community is so unanimous. There is only one name being bantered around that I've seen.  And second, I'm shocked because of who the man is: Kirk Douglas, the father of Michael Douglas.  

Of course, I don't know if Kirk Douglas is guilty or not, but I am reminded of something from the show, Who Wants To Be A Millioinare.  On the show, the contestant has the one-time option of asking the audience to help him. So, everyone votes electronically. I have seen the show many times over many years, and every time that option has been played, the contestant has taken the majority opinion of the audience, and it proved to be right. It has NEVER failed in the times that I have watched the show. And, the opinion of the audience has never been unanimous there, as it is in this case with the rape of Natalie Wood.  

What does this have to do with the JFK assassination? Absolutely nothing, but, there are parallels.  They both involve violent crimes for which the pursuit of justice is a passion for a lot of people. And, I would very much like to see justice obtained for Natalie Wood, just as I do for John Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald. And, both cases seem to be hurling towards a very public denouement.