Nat Ginzburg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nat Ginzburg aka "Natalie" is an inmate on the HBO drama Oz played by Charles Busch. A homosexual HIV positive inmate, Ginzburg is isolated from the general population in Unit E, the AIDS ward. After killing Italian inmate Antonio Nappa on orders of Chucky Pancamo, he pleads guilty to murder attempting to die at the hands of the State before he dies due to HIV complications. Ginzburg nevertheless dies of causes related to AIDS.
[edit] Season 3
Ginzburg appears in the AIDS ward as Antonio Nappa's cellmate. When introducing himself, he finds Nappa to be homophobic and then states that his nickname "Nat" is short for Natalie, not Nathaniel. As Nappa wishes to write memoirs of his time as a mobster, Ginzburg agrees to be his secretary. Ginzburg however alerts the fellow Gay inmates in Emerald City about this who then go to the Italian inmates with this information. The Italians led by Chucky Pancamo are at danger of having the entire mob brought down according to Nappa's memoirs and once it is confirmed he is indeed publishing these memoirs, Pancamo is to have Nappa executed. Ginzburg upon hearing this waits for Nappa to finish the memoirs offering to mail them out after going to the hospital. In the hospital however, Ginzburg gives the memoirs to a fellow Gay inmate confirming the publication to Pancamo who then pays the Gays to murder Nappa. That night, Ginzburg celebrates the book with Nappa making him dinner and then killing him immediately afterwards. Ginzburg then pleads guilty to murder as a means of dying at the hands of the state instead of HIV.
[edit] Season 4
Moved to death row, Ginzburg occupies the old cell of Shirley Bellinger alongside Moses Deyell and Mark Miles. When Bellinger returns to death row, she offers Ginzburg sex for the old cell, but as Ginzburg is gay, he turns down the offer. Ginzburg's condition on death row deteriorates and he then asks Sister Peter Marie to help move up the execution date. Nat is later seen crying when Bellinger is finally executed. Despite Sister Pete's beliefs about the death penalty, she agrees to help as she feels in this case ending Ginzburg's life would be more beneficial than harmful. The night before the death penalty, Ginzburg dresses up like Susan Hayward as he is happy to be executed early rather than dying at the hands of the disease. At dawn before his execution, he dies due to HIV complications however preventing him from going to the gas chamber.
