Natalie Wood

Child star of 'Miracle on 34th Street' at age eight who became a three-time Oscar-nominated actress.

Natalie Wood began her professional career at age four, making her screen debut in the 1943 film The Moon Is Down. Over the following decades, she evolved from a prominent child performer into a sought-after adult lead, earning multiple Academy Award nominations and securing a place as a fixture of mid-century American cinema.

Early Career and Education

Born in San Francisco in 1938 to Russian immigrant parents, she was originally named Natalie Zacharenko. Her family later adopted the surname Gurdin before she transitioned to the stage name Wood. She attended the Hollywood Professional School and Van Nuys High School while working as a child actor. Early roles included parts in Happy Land and Tomorrow Is Forever, the latter featuring Orson Welles. Her performance as a cynical child in the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street established her as a major presence in Hollywood, leading to roles in over twenty films throughout her youth.

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Transition to Adult Roles

Wood successfully navigated the difficult shift from juvenile parts to complex adult characters. She received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in Rebel Without a Cause in 1955. Her filmography expanded to include John Ford's The Searchers and musical features such as West Side Story and Gypsy. Throughout the 1960s, she appeared in titles including Splendor in the Grass, Love with the Proper Stranger, Sex and the Single Girl, and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.

Professional Honors and Later Work

Throughout her career, she was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1957, she received a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year. Later, in 1980, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her work in television, specifically the production of From Here to Eternity. She took a partial hiatus from film during the 1970s while raising two daughters, one with husband Robert Wagner and one with husband Richard Gregson.

Circumstances of Death

On November 29, 1981, Wood died by drowning at Santa Catalina Island at age 43. She had been on a break from filming Brainstorm and was in the company of her husband, Robert Wagner, and co-star Christopher Walken. In 2012, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department listed her cause of death as drowning and other undetermined factors. In 2018, Wagner was identified as a person of interest in the ongoing investigation.