Natalie Trundy
From The Sacred Scrolls
| Natalie Trundy | |
 | |
| Born | August 5th, 1940 |
| Died | |
| Gender | Female |
| Roles | Albina; Stephanie Branton; Lisa |
| Appearances | |
| First Appearance: Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Last Appearance: Battle for the Planet of the Apes | |
Natalie Campana Trundy Jacobs Lopez (b. August 5th, 1940) is an American actress from Boston, Massachusetts currently residing in Los Angeles, California. Making her TV acting debut at the age of eleven, Natalie Trundy went on to a succession of Broadway appearances during her teens. She was named 'Debutante of the Year', and the New York Post printed a headline story about her on each of five consecutive days describing her life and activities. In 1963, she was struck by a car, and spent a year recovering from a severe back injury, after which she travelled to London. In 1966, her roommate recognized publicist-turned-film producer Arthur P. Jacobs sitting alone at a table in London's Playboy Club. He was in England working on the filming of Dr. Doolittle. 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." After an intense courtship, they were married in 1968 in London, a gala occasion attended by Hollywood royalty, as well as London's elite.[1]
Jacobs was also busy in production of his classic movie Planet of the Apes (1968) at this time. During production of it's 1970 sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Jacobs cast Natalie in the role of Albina - a disfigured mutant living beneath the ruins of New York City. Although Trundy's character died prior to the end of the film, the actress found a new role to play in the 1971 sequel, Escape from the Planet of the Apes. This time she played the role of the kind-hearted Dr. Stephanie Branton - a character who served a function similar to that of Kim Hunter's Dr. Zira in previous films.
In 1972, Trundy returned to the POTA franchise, this time playing an ape for Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Natalie portrayed the character Lisa, a timid chimpanzee who worked as a book courier. She remembered in particular, the ordeal of the makeup for the role: "It took 4 1/2 hours to apply the makeup, and two hours to remove it. 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. Although for the actors the makeup was miserable, it was the talents of Jack, John Chambers, and Dan Striepeke that brought the [first] film the Oscar nomination for makeup and costuming, for which we were all so proud."[2] Trundy had minimal screen time and even less dialogue, but she reprised the role for the final Apes project, the 1973 movie Battle for the Planet of the Apes. In Battle, the character of Lisa was now Caesar's (Roddy McDowall) wife, and mother to their son, Cornelius; she was also shown to be just as intelligent and articulate as her ape contemporaries. "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."[3]
Trundy was then cast in another of Jacobs' projects, as Mrs. Loftus in the musical adaptation of Mark Twain's novel, Huckleberry Finn. She was on location in Mississippi in 1973 when she received the news that Jacobs had passed away from a sudden heart attack. Following the death of Arthur P. Jacobs, Natalie took control of her late husband's business enterprise, APJAC Productions. After a brief second marriage, which produced a son and daughter, she devoted several years of her life to volunteer work at Mother Theresa's hospice in Calcutta and spent time caring for India's poor and sick. Natalie Trundy is now semi-retired, and lives in Los Angeles with her children and her beloved pets.[4]
In 1998, Natalie appeared as one of the many speakers on the documentary, Behind the Planet of the Apes.
[edit] Trivia
- For years, rumors had circulated amongst fans that Natalie played the role of Stewart - an ANSA astronaut featured in the beginning of Planet of the Apes. However, this was later shown to be false. The role of Stewart was actually played by actress Diane Stanley. [5]
- She is the only actor from the film series to play a mutant, ape, and human character. She is also one of two actors to have played in 4 of the 5 POTA films (the other being Roddy McDowall).
[edit] External Links
- Natalie Trundy article at Wikipedia
- The Official Natalie Trundy Website
- Natalie Trundy filmography at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
- Lisa makeup article at themakeupgallery
