Natalie Wood was born Natalie Zakharenko on July 20, 1938, in San Francisco to parents of Russian and Ukrainian heritage, and was raised in the Russian Orthodox faith. In 1942, her family moved to Santa Rosa, California, where a film crew spotted her during a downtown shoot. RKO executives changed her surname to Wood to appeal to English-speaking audiences and to honor filmmaker Sam Wood. Wood made her screen debut at age four in the 1943 film “The Moon Is Down” and appeared briefly in “Happy Land” the same year.
Director Irving Pichel became a mentor to the young actress and offered her family guidance for two years. He even asked Wood’s mother to bring her to Los Angeles for a screen test and expressed a strong desire to adopt her. At age seven, Wood secured a role in “Tomorrow Is Forever” in 1946, and when she struggled to cry on cue, her mother tore a butterfly into pieces to prompt her tears. Wood’s most famous childhood role came in the 1947 Fox film “Miracle on 34th Street,” which became a beloved Christmas classic and turned her into a top child star.
She appeared in more than 20 films during her childhood, including “Driftwood,” “Chicken Every Sunday,” “Father Was a Fullback,” and “Dear Brat,” alongside television appearances on “Kraft Theater” and “Chevron Theater. ” Despite California law requiring at least three hours of daily classroom time for child actors under 18, Wood excelled academically, earning straight A’s and becoming one of the few child actors to excel in math. At age nine, Parents Magazine named her the most exciting juvenile motion picture star of the year. Wood transitioned from child star to ingenue at 16, co-starring with James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause” in 1955.
The film’s depiction of teenage rebellion earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a long-term contract with Warner Brothers. She went on to star in John Ford’s “The Searchers” in 1956 and graduated from Van Nuys High School that same year. After landing the lead role in “Marjorie Morningstar” in 1958 and starring opposite Frank Sinatra in “Kings Go Forth,” Wood declined subsequent roles and received a year-long suspension from Warner Brothers. Her career experienced a decline after a series of unsuccessful films, including the box office flop “All the Fine Young Cannibals” in 1960.
However, she was cast in “Splendor in the Grass” in 1961 alongside Warren Beatty, earning nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA for Best Actress. Wood then portrayed Maria in the musical “West Side Story,” a role widely regarded as one of her most accomplished performances, though her singing was provided by Marni Nixon. She appeared in “Gypsy” in 1962 alongside Rosalind Russell and received her third Academy Award nomination for “Love with the Proper Stranger” in 1963. She starred with Tony Curtis in “Sex and the Single Girl” in 1964 and “The Great Race” in 1965.
Her performances in “Inside Daisy Clover” in 1965 and “This Property Is Condemned” in 1966, co-starring Robert Redford, earned Golden Globe nominations. After the disappointing reception of “Penelope” in 1966, Wood took a three-year break from acting before co-starring in the successful comedy “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” in 1969. Wood’s personal life drew significant public attention. She first married Robert Wagner in 1957, and the couple divorced in 1962 after Wood discovered Wagner was having an affair.
She subsequently had relationships with Warren Beatty and Michael Caine. In 1969, Wood married British producer Richard Gregson, with whom she had a daughter, Natasha, in 1970. The couple divorced in 1972, and Wood briefly dated future California Governor Jerry Brown before reuniting with Wagner. They remarried on July 16, 1972, and had a daughter, Courtney, in 1974.
A 2001 biography alleged that a powerful Hollywood actor had inappropriate physical contact with Wood when she was 16, and that she refused to report it to police out of fear. In 2021, a year after Kirk Douglas’s death, Wood’s sister Lana published the memoir “Little Sister: My Investigation into the Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood,” identifying Douglas as the alleged assailant. At the time of her death, Wood was filming the $15 million science fiction film “Brainstorm” in 1983, co-starring Christopher Walken and directed by Douglas Trumbull. On the evening of November 28, 1983, Wood was with Wagner, Walken, and the yacht Splendor’s captain, Dennis Davern.
Authorities retrieved her body at 8 a. m. on November 29, about a mile from the yacht, where a small inflatable dinghy was found beached nearby. The autopsy revealed bruises, a cheek abrasion, and traces of a motion sickness pill and painkiller in her system.
Her blood alcohol content was 0. 14 percent. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled Wood’s death accidental drowning and hypothermia, suggesting she may have slipped while attempting to reboard the dinghy. However, her sister Lana doubted this, claiming Wood was a poor swimmer and terrified of the water.
Two witnesses reported hearing a woman scream for help during the night. Wood was laid to rest at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles on December 2, and the case was closed three days later. In November 2011, the case was reopened after Davern admitted to lying to police. He claimed Wood and Wagner argued that evening and that Wood flirted with Walken, which enraged Wagner.
Davern alleged Wagner prevented him from turning on the search lights and notifying authorities, blaming him for Wood’s death. Walken hired a lawyer, cooperated with the investigation, and was not considered a suspect. In 2012, the chief coroner amended Wood’s death certificate, changing the cause of death from accidental drowning to drowning and other undetermined factors. The following year, the coroner’s office released a 10-page addendum suggesting Wood might have sustained bruises before entering the water, though this could not be confirmed.
In February 2018, Robert Wagner was named a person of interest, with police confirming he was the last person with Wood before she disappeared. Wagner was never charged with a crime in connection with her death.
