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It's unclear whether Natalie Trundy chose her destiny as an actress and
celebrity, or if it chose her.
The oldest of two daughters, she was born in Boston, Massachusetts to
parents Frank and Natalie Trundy Campana. Young Natalie showed a precocious
poise as well as an innate affinity for the camera from an early age.
Modeling by her ninth year, she won her first acting job at the tender
age of eleven. While taking dance lessons at a studio in the Ed Sullivan
Theatre in New York, she caught the eye of respected talent agent Bob
Banner, who was searching for a youngster to play the part of Red Riding
Hood in a Fred Waring live television broadcast. After interviewing her and
two classmates, he settled on Natalie, perhaps in part because of her
natural strawberry blonde hair, certainly because of her already evident
ability to hold her own in the entertainment world.
Natalie gave a flawless performance in the Sunday evening broadcast,
singing, dancing, and delivering lines alongside adult professionals. This
might have seemed unusual to those who didn't know her, considering that
this was her first television appearance, but to her friends and family it
was hardly surprising at all. That broadcast opened the door to numerous
television commercials for leading companies such as General Electric and
Westinghouse, which further led to regular appearances on many of the live
television programs that were so common to the New York acting industry at
the time.
Although she was in the top of her class at the Catholic parochial school
she attended, Miss Trundy was anything but subdued. After reading in the NY
Herald Tribune about an open casting call for a Broadway production,
thirteen-year-old Natalie smuggled some of her mother's clothing out of the
house, determined to attend the audition. With the help of her schoolmates,
she changed in the ladies room of a coffee shop after school. After padding
her mother's bra, she finished her ensemble with a grown-up dress and high
heels, and using her school bus pass, rode to her destiny.
When she arrived, it was to note that the other hopefuls she was
auditioning against ranged in age from 18 to 28. Not one to be discouraged,
Natalie told the casting director that she was 16. After narrowing the
selection down to two girls, Miss Trundy was chosen for her first stage
role, appearing opposite Janet Blair. Because the interview had run late,
she phoned her surprised mother to explain that she had no cab fare with
which to return home. Fortunately, Janet Blair and her husband Nick Mayo,
assured Mrs. Trundy that they would give her a ride. The play ran for 4
months. It was during this time that the demanding schedule of 8 weekly
performances forced Natalie to transfer from parochial school, to New
York's Professional Children's School.
Following this invaluable introduction to stage work, Miss Trundy returned
to her career in live television, and further branched out into radio
broadcasts, where she once performed with the legendary Helen Hayes.
Although still very young, Natalie had established a reputation in the
business for professionalism and talent, which brought her many opportunities.
The coming summer led her to steady roles in summer stock, appearing in
plays such as "Our Wilderness", with notables Mildred Dunnock and Gene
Lockhart. Her next Broadway production was a musical opposite Shirley
Booth. Natalie was brought in to replace the ingenue who had originally
performed the role, but was forced to step down due to ill health. On her
way to work during a hurricane one evening, Miss Trundie's rain-slicked
feet slipped out from under her, and she fell, cutting her forehead open
very badly. At the hospital her mother refused to allow the intern to
stitch the wound. Instead, she tracked down a talented plastic surgeon who
was attending a party, to care for her daughter. The injury forced Natalie
to relinquish her role to her understudy, but after a four-day recovery,
(during which she attended every performance), Natalie was back on the
boards. It was during this exciting Broadway production that Miss Polly
Bergen came backstage to compliment her on a wonderful performance. Natalie
went on to perform the same role in two subsequent summer productions of
the same play.
It was in one of these summer performances that she was seen by Sam
Taylor, who was searching for someone to play Arthur O'Connell's daughter
Jane, in his upcoming film "The Monte Carlo Story". Although she was a mere
15, Natalie and her mother were flown to the exotic location of Monte
Carlo, where she found herself working with Marlene Dietrich and Vittorio
De Sica. Once again, destiny raised its head. It was here that Miss Trundy
was introduced to Arthur Jacobs, who was representing Miss Dietrich, one of
his many notable clients, of which Grace Kelly was also included. Arthur
told Mrs. Trundy that he was going to marry Natalie when she grew up.
Natalie herself took little notice of Arthur, so absorbed was she in her
work.
After the filming was finished on "The Monte Carlo Story", director
Roberto Rossellini approached Mrs. Trundy about casting Natalie in a
pending production, but Natalie's mother declined, and they returned to New
York, where Natalie continued her career in stage work.
Her next Broadway play was in the production of "Girls of Summer", with
Shelley Winters. The play was fated for a short run, but it was after
seeing her perform in it that Kirk Douglas who had recently started his own
production company called "Bryna Productions", decided to cast her in a
leading role opposite Dean Stockwell in the upcoming film, "The Careless
Years". This was the first film directed by Arthur Hiller. Natalie's
performance as a troubled teenager was critically acclaimed, and she was
dubbed a "rising star". Within four years of that first audition in her
mother's heels, 17-year-old Natalie Trundy had her foot firmly in the door
of Hollywood's film industry.
Miss Trundy's work with Arthur Hiller led to a number of live television
roles on Hollywood's "Matinee Theatre", which was an Arthur Hiller/Walter
Graumann production at NBC. She commuted between New York and Hollywood,
supported and chaperoned by her mother, until it was time for her to emerge
as a debutante in New York society and begin her education at New York's
Briarcliff College. Acting work was put on hold during this hectic year,
while she attended the lavish social functions that were designed to
educate & present the daughters of that city's elite. While being
presented at one of the four glamorous debutante balls she attended during
the season, Natalie was named "Debutante of the Year", and the New York
Post sent noted society reporter Doris Lilly to accompany her for five
consecutive days to describe Natalie's life and activities. During this
period, a headline story about her was printed each day in the Post.
In 1963, Natalie was struck by a car, and suffered a severe back injury
that disrupted the momentum of her acting career. She spent a year
recovering in a back brace, after which she travelled to London, where
lived with roommate Vanessa Mitchell-Clyde.
Vanessa was with a date at the opening night of Londons Playboy Club in
1966, when she recognized Arthur Jacobs sitting alone at a table. Arthur
resided in London at this time, and was working on the filming of his
musical "Dr. Doolittle". By sheer chance Vanessa mentioned that her
roommate was single. As the story goes, Arthur's face lit up at the mention
of Natalie's name and he said, "She is the only girl I ever wanted to
marry." Without consulting Natalie, Vanessa arranged for the three of them
to meet for lunch the next day at the Claridge Restaurant, an establishment
known for its glamorous clientele and gourmet menu. While the girls were
waiting for Mr. Jacobs, a bottle of champagne was brought to their table, a
romantic gesture that he had arranged before his arrival. The attraction
was immediate between the now grown-up Natalie, and Arthur, who had turned
his interest to producing films. After an intense courtship, they were
married in 1968. The wedding, held in London, was a gala occasion, attended
by Hollywood royalty, as well as London's elite.
Shortly after, production began on the first of the 5 apes movies, "Planet
of the Apes". Arthur had spent many years attempting to find financial
backing for the film. He had recently connected with Richard Zanuck of 20th
Century Fox, who had agreed with his estimate of the script, and offered
the support of his studio in filming the movie.
Although Natalie did not appear in "Planet of the Apes", her husband did
find a part for her in each of the 4 subsequent ape films that followed. In
the first sequel "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", which was released in
1970, she played the part of Albina, the radiation scarred mutant leader
who mentally tortured Brent (James Franciscus), and Nova (Linda Harrison)
during their search for the lost Taylor. In recalling the most memorable
aspect of that role, Miss Trundy particularly remembers the ordeal of
wearing the mutant mask. "It took 4 1/2 hours to apply the makeup, and two
hours to remove it," she said. " Taking it off was agony. Jack Barron, the
talented makeup artist, would use a hairdryer and acetone to remove the
mask. It was so painful I would cry. After that, Carol Pershing, the lead
hairdresser would wash my hair. We would leave the studio at 9 pm, and be
back at 2 am to do it all again." Natalie went on to say, "Although for the
actors the makeup was miserable, it was the talents of Jack, John Chambers,
and Stan Striebeck that brought the film the Oscar nomination for makeup
and costuming, for which we were all so proud."
After that experience, Natalie was cast to play the less stressful human
role of attractive Dr. Stephanie Branton opposite good friend Bradford
Dillman in the second sequel, "Escape from Planet of the Apes". In this
film, her character was a sympathetic ally to the apes Cornelius (Roddy
McDowall), and Zira (Kim Hunter), who were mistakenly transported back in
time through the by now familiar time-warp that had laid the foundation for
the plots in the first two movies. Her next performance was in sequel
three, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes", in which she played the
chimpanzee Lisa, who evolved into Cornelius' wife in the fourth and final
sequel, "Battle for the Planet of the Apes." "Roddy, Arthur, and I had been
friends for a very long time before the "Planet of the Apes" films, and the
two of us listened to very different types of music," Natalie recalled, "He
enjoyed classical, while I always listened to rock and roll. We had an
agreement that whoever reached the makeup department first would win the
right to pick the music we would be listening to for the approximately 4
hours that it took to attach the appliances. It was a good-natured race
between us to see who would get to choose the music for the day."
After the final apes film was concluded, Arthur Jacobs cast his wife in
another of his projects. Natalie played the character Mrs. Loftus in
Jacob's musical adaptation of Mark Twain's novel, "Huckleberry Finn". Miss
Trundy was on location in Mississippi anticipating her daily phone
conversation with Arthur, when she received a call notifying her that he
had passed away at their home in Hollywood from a sudden heart attack.
Since they were shooting in a remote area of Mississippi, getting home was
difficult. Natalie was driven on the back of a policeman's motorcycle to
the governor's lear jet, which flew her to the airport, where she was able
to make a connection to Hollywood. Arthur Jacobs was widely respected in
the film industry for his talents, and beloved by all that knew him. His
funeral was attended by luminaries from every area of show business.
After Arthur died, Natalie assumed production duties of his film company,
APJAC productions.
After a brief second marriage, which produced her son and daughter, Miss
Trundy devoted several years of her life to volunteer work at Mother
Theresa's hospice in Calcutta, India. Encouraged by Fr. Herbert De Souza,
she travelled as often as twice a year, bringing medicine and supplies with
her. During her visits, she lived at the convent and spent her time caring
for India's poor and sick.
Natalie Trundy is now semi-retired, and lives in Los Angeles. She shares
her home with her children, and beloved pets.
FILMS (Link to IMDB)
Filmography
Huckleberry Finn (1974) - Mrs. Loftus
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) - Lisa
. aka Colonization of the Planet of the Apes (1973)
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) - Lisa
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) - Dr. Stephanie Branton
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) - Albina
. aka Planet of the Apes Revisited (1970) (USA: working title)
. aka Planet of the Men (1970) (USA: working title)
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) - Susan Carver
Walk Like a Dragon (1960) - Susan
Careless Years, The (1957)
Montecarlo (1956)
. aka Monte Carlo Story, The (1956) (USA)
Notable TV Guest Appearances
"Perry Mason" (1957) playing "Irma Hodge" in episode:
.. "Case of the Tandem Target, The"(episode # 7.29) 5/14/1964
"Perry Mason" (1957) playing "Sandra Keller" in episode:
.."Case of the Golden Oranges The" (episode # 6.20) 3/7/1963
"Wagon Train" (1957) in episode:
.."Naomi Kaylor Story, The" (episode # 6.19) 1/30/1963
"Twilight Zone, The" (1959) playing "Ellen" in episode:
.."Valley of the Shadow" (episode # 4.3) 1/17/1963
"Philco Television Playhouse, The" (1948) in episode:
.."Christmas 'til Closing" (episode # 8.8) 12/18/1955
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