Natalie and R.J.

Harris ( Gable & Lombard , etc.) here presents a dual biography, of Natalie Wood and Robert J. Wagner, describing their lives up to the actress's death by drowning in 1981. Natasha Gurdin, daughter of poor Russian immigrants, was pushed into professionally performing soon after she was born in 1938 and became a child star in the film Miracle on 34th Street. R.J., however, grew up in a well-off family and chose to be an actor. The two performers married in 1957; he was 27, she was 19. The so-called ideal couple's divorce three years later surprised the film colony. Each re-wed and divorced, then remarried each other again in 1972, ``this time for good.'' Embellished by gossip, the text nevertheless offers solid information about the two stars' careers. Readers will feel renewed sadness over the tragedy that caused Wood's untimely death. (July)