by Nathaniel R
Natalie and the Boys
Did you know that without Natalie Wood, the seminal gay play and subsequent film The Boys in the Band (1970) might never have existed? 1970 is our year of the month but the story began much earlier when Natalie met the playwright Mart Crowley on the set of Splendor in the Grass (1961). He was working as an assistant to Elia Kazan but Natalie immediately snatched him up for herself, taking him along for her West Side Story ride...
Natalie Wood with the cast of "Boys in the Band "
Natalie essentially bankrolled Crowley's writing and his emotional wellbeing; she also paid for six months of his psycho-analysis and encouraged his sobriety and career. Along the way she introduced him to agents and the Hollywood gliteratti as part of her inner circle.
She attended the play in California and London and New York. You can bet that if the superstar was still with us, they'd be interviewing her along with Mart Crowley (who is now 82) about the show's groundbreaking history with its all-star Broadway revival currently in previews.
Natalie and Mart early on 
Natalie and Mart some years later
Natalie at a party for the first day of filming of "Boys in the Band" in 1969
Natalie Wood was supporting the gays before Stonewall! Long before it was something straight people did and definitely before it was fashionable. Your faves could never.