Photo of Natalie Wood
Acting

Natalie Wood

Profession
Acting
Born
July 20, 1938 · San Francisco, California, USA
Died
November 29, 1981

Biography

Natalie Wood (née Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring role at age 8 in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), followed by a role in John Ford's The Searchers (1956). Wood starred in the musical films West Side Story (1961) and Gypsy (1962) and received nominations for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). Her career continued with films such as Sex and the Single Girl (1964), Inside Daisy Clover (1965), and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). During the 1970s, Wood began a hiatus from film and had two daughters: one with her second husband Richard Gregson, and one with Robert Wagner, her first husband whom she married again after divorcing Gregson. She acted in only two feature films throughout the decade, but she appeared slightly more often in television productions, including a remake of From Here to Eternity (1979) for which she won a Golden Globe Award. Wood's films represented a "coming of age" for her and for Hollywood films in general. Critics have suggested that her cinematic career represents a portrait of modern American womanhood in transition, as she was one of the few to take both child roles and those of middle-aged characters. Wood died off the coast of Santa Catalina Island on November 29, 1981, at age 43, during a holiday break from the production of her would-be comeback film Brainstorm (1983) with Christopher Walken. The events surrounding her death have been the subject of conflicting witness statements, prompting the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, under the instruction of the coroner's office, to list her cause of death as "drowning and other undetermined factors" in 2012. Description above from the Wikipedia article Natalie Wood, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

West Side Story poster
West Side Story
Film · 1961 · ★ 7.2
Rebel Without a Cause poster
Rebel Without a Cause
Film · 1955 · ★ 7.5
The Searchers poster
The Searchers
Film · 1956 · ★ 7.7
Miracle on 34th Street poster
Miracle on 34th Street
Film · 1947 · ★ 7.4
The Great Race poster
The Great Race
Film · 1965 · ★ 7.1
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir poster
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Film · 1947 · ★ 7.5
Splendor in the Grass poster
Splendor in the Grass
Film · 1961 · ★ 7.5
Brainstorm poster
Brainstorm
Film · 1983 · ★ 6.2
The Candidate poster
The Candidate
Film · 1972 · ★ 6.5
Meteor poster
Meteor
Film · 1979 · ★ 5.2
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice poster
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Film · 1969 · ★ 6.3
This Property Is Condemned poster
This Property Is Condemned
Film · 1966 · ★ 6.5

Filmography