Here is the biography of Lana Wood:
Lana Wood was born Svetlana Gurdin on March 1, 1946, in Santa Monica, California, to Nick Gurdin and Maria Gurdin, émigrés of Ukrainian and Russian descent. Her parents' families fled their Russian homeland following the Communist takeover and the couple met and married in San Francisco.
Lana's more famous acting sister was christened Natalia eight years earlier, and the eldest girl in the family was an Armenian half-sister named Olga Tatuloff, their mother's child from a 1920s marriage.
Young Natalia became a child star in the late 1940s, with such classics as Miracle on 34th Street, and younger sis Lana would inevitably be drawn into films as a result of Natalie's overwhelming success. She made her "debut" as a baby in Natalie's "B" film Driftwood only to have her cute bit cut from the picture.
In an effort to break away from her sister's looming shadow and find her own place in Hollywood, Lana set out to secure TV roles and did quite well on such popular programs as Playhouse 90, Have Gun - Will Travel, Dr. Kildare, and The Fugitive, while continuing her minor appearances in such films as Marjorie Morningstar, Five Finger Exercise, and The Girls on the Beach.
In 1965 she earned a contract at Twentieth Century-Fox and was cast in her first television series, The Long, Hot Summer, playing the Southern belle role Lee Remick had played in the 1958 film. Better yet was her 1966 breakthrough role as hash-slinging waitress "Sandy Webber" on the original prime-time soap opera smash Peyton Place, which she played for two seasons.
After Peyton Place, Lana continued to exude sex appeal in such films as For Singles Only and Scream Free!, a drug tale that reunited Natalie's West Side Story co-stars Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn. She kept her name alive on TV as well, making the guest rounds on The Wild Wild West, Bonanza, The Felony Squad, and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
In April 1971, Lana posed for Playboy in an attempt to gain added exposure. It worked. A major career boost presented itself in the form of producer Albert R. Broccoli, who caught the spread and offered her the role of Bondian femme fatale "Plenty O'Toole" in Diamonds Are Forever opposite Sean Connery.
Although she stayed fairly active throughout the next decade or so with such TV movies as Black Water Gold, QB VII, and Nightmare in Badham County, and the films Grayeagle and Demon Rage, her star began to diminish.
Marriages during the 1970s included a union with actor/co-star Richard Smedley, whom she met on the set of A Place Called Today. They produced her only child, daughter Evan, in 1974. She later married producer Allan Balter after meeting him during the filming of Captain America.
In the mid-'80s she appeared for a time on the daytime soap opera Capitol but made a decision to move away from the acting arena after this period. Following the tragic drowning death of sister Natalie in 1981, Lana penned the controversial tell-all book "Natalie, A Memoir by Her Sister". What was meant as a candid, caring and cathartic expose on Lana's part was denounced by both critics and family alike as self-serving and hurtful.
Later years included behind-the-camera work as a producer, which included co-producing the ABC-TV special The Mystery of Natalie Wood. She also had her own casting company at one point.
After an extended absence, Lana was seen again on the screen into the millennium. Independent features include Deadly Renovations, Donors, Bestseller, Killing Poe, Subconscious Reality, Wild Faith, and The Marshal. A devoted animal lover, the still-stunning grandmother-of-three occasionally appears at celebrity conventions and continues to work in films.
