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Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood from the cover of Natasha:The Biography of Natalie Wood by Suzanne Finstad
Born: July 20, 1938
San Francisco, California, USA
Died: November 29, 1981
Catalina Island, California, USA
Occupation: Actress
Spouse: Robert Wagner
Natalie Wood (born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko) (July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981), was an American film actress.
Child and adult actor
She was born in San Francisco, California to Russian Orthodox immigrants, Nikolai and Maria Zakharenko. Her parents changed their surname to the less cumbersome Gurdin, and by the age of 4 she was billed as Natasha Gurdin. As a child actor, her mother tightly managed and controlled the young girl's career and personal life from her start in films at the age of five. She starred in multiple films as a child including Miracle on 34th Street in 1947. Her father is described by Wood biographers as a passive alcoholic who went along with his wife's demands.
Natalie Wood and James Dean in a screenshot from Rebel Without a Cause.At the age of 16 Natalie celebrated her release from child-star status by winning the role of Judy in Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause, co-starring James Dean, Sal Mineo, and Dennis Hopper. She was one of the relative few who made a successful transition to adult stardom. By the time she was 28, she was already a three-time Oscar nominee, with nominations for Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass and Love With the Proper Stranger.
Another of her widely noted films was the Leonard Bernstein musical West Side Story, in which she played Maria. Wood was initially signed to do her own singing but in the end she was dubbed by professional singer Marni Nixon, which is said to have disappointed her. Nonetheless she enjoyed worldwide celebrity, comparable to that of Elizabeth Taylor. As a restless on-screen companion of James Dean and an off-screen date of Elvis Presley, she was much admired and envied by the young girls of the day.
Drowning at Catalina Island
Wood's two marriages to actor Robert Wagner were publicized and stormy, but they were reconciled at the time of her death. In 1981, at the age of forty-three, Wood drowned while their yacht The Splendor was anchored at Catalina Island. An investigation by Los Angeles coroner Thomas Noguchi resulted in an official verdict of accidental drowning, although speculation about the circumstances continued. Wood was on board the yacht with Wagner and actor Christopher Walken. There were reports Wagner and Walken had a loud argument and Wood apparently tried to either leave the yacht or to secure a dinghy that was banging against the hull when she accidentally slipped and fell overboard. A woman on shore said she heard cries for help from the water that night, along with voices replying "we're coming." Wagner, Walken and the pilot of the Splendor said they heard nothing. Noguchi revealed that Wood was legally intoxicated when she died and there were marks and bruises on her body, which could have been received as a result of her fall.
At the time of her death Wood was filming Brainstorm and preparing to make her stage debut in a Los Angeles production of Anastasia, opposite Dame Wendy Hiller.
She is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. She was survived by her husband Robert Wagner and daughters Katie Wagner (from Wagner's previous marriage to Marion Marshall), Natasha Gregson Wagner (from her marriage to Richard Gregson), and Courtney Wagner, as well as her sister Lana Wood, and her mother.
Trivia
When she was nine she had an accident on a movie set which left a slight but permanent bone protrusion on her left wrist. For the rest of her life, on camera or in public, she wore a bracelet to cover it.
Among the men she dated were singer Elvis Presley and actors Raymond Burr, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty and Nick Adams.
Contrary to popular notions, Wood biographer Gavin Lambert wrote that Wood's casting in Rebel Without a Cause did not lead to a romance with co-star James Dean: "Like many people, she was fascinated by his charm. He had this magnetic quality on the screen and in life... They got on very well, they liked each other a lot." He added that both Dean and Rebel director Nicholas Ray (with whom Wood reportedly had an affair) helped renew her passion for acting after a diet of lackluster movies like Chicken Every Sunday, Dear Brat and Father Was a Fullback.
She is reported to have had a lifelong fear of dark water and drowning. During the filming of This Property is Condemned, she was so scared of performing a skinnydipping scene that co-star Robert Redford held her feet underwater to help steady her while shooting it.
Along with Tatum O'Neal, Elizabeth Taylor, Dean Stockwell, Ben Affleck and Jodie Foster she is one of only six former child actors to have been nominated for an Oscar.
Brainstorm (1983) .... Karen Brace
The Memory of Eva Ryker (1980) (TV) .... Eva/Claire Ryker
The Last Married Couple in America (1980) .... Mari Thompson
Meteor (1979) .... Tatiana Nikolaevna Donskaya
Hart to Hart (1979) (TV) (as Natasha Gurdin) .... Cameo appearance
The Cracker Factory (1979) (TV) .... Cassie Barrett
"From Here to Eternity" (1979) (mini) TV Series .... Karen Holmes
"Switch"
- The Cage (1978) TV Episode .... Woman in the Bubble Bath
- The Cruise Ship Murders (1975) TV Episode .... Cameo
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) (TV) .... Maggie
... aka Laurence Olivier Presents: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (UK: series title)
Peeper (1975) .... Ellen Prendergast
... aka Fat Chance
The Affair (1973) (TV) .... Courtney Patterson
"Bracken's World"
- All the Beautiful Young Girls (1969) TV Episode .... Cameo
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) .... Carol Sanders
Penelope (1966) .... Penelope Elcott
This Property Is Condemned (1966) .... Alva Starr
Inside Daisy Clover (1965) .... Daisy Clover
The Great Race (1965) .... Maggie DuBois
... aka Blake Edwards' The Great Race (USA: complete title)
Sex and the Single Girl (1964) .... Helen Gurley Brown
Love with the Proper Stranger (1963) .... Angie Rossini
Gypsy (1962) .... Louise 'Gypsy Rose Lee' Hovick
West Side Story (1961) .... Maria
Splendor in the Grass (1961) .... Wilma Dean 'Deanie' Loomis
... aka Splendour in the Grass (UK)
All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960) .... Sarah 'Salome' Davis
Cash McCall (1960) .... Lory Austen
Kings Go Forth (1958) .... Monique Blair
Marjorie Morningstar (1958) .... Marjorie Morgenstern
Bombers B-52 (1957) .... Lois Brennan
... aka No Sleep Till Dawn (UK)
"Conflict"
- Girl on the Subway (1957) TV Episode
The Girl He Left Behind (1956) .... Susan Daniels
"The Kaiser Aluminum Hour"
- Carnival (1956) TV Episode .... Kathy Jo
The Burning Hills (1956) .... Maria Christina Colton
A Cry in the Night (1956) .... Liz Taggart
"Warner Brothers Presents"
- The Deadly Riddle (1956) TV Episode
The Searchers (1956) .... Debbie Edwards (older)
"Camera Three"
- The Deadly Riddle (????) TV Episode
"Kings Row"
- Carnival (1956) TV Episode .... Renee Gyllinson
- Wedding Gift (1955) TV Episode
"Studio One"
... aka Studio One Summer Theatre (summer title)
... aka Studio One in Hollywood (new title)
... aka Summer Theatre (summer title)
... aka Westinghouse Studio One
... aka Westinghouse Summer Theatre (summer title)
- Miracle at Potter's Farm (1955) TV Episode .... Jen Potter
"General Electric Theater"
... aka G.E. Theater (USA: informal short title)
... aka G.E. Theatre (USA)
- Feathertop (1955) TV Episode
- I'm a Fool (1954) TV Episode .... Lucy
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) .... Judy
One Desire (1955) .... Seely Dowder
"The Ford Television Theatre"
... aka Ford Theatre (USA: short title)
- Too Old for Dolls (1955) TV Episode .... Polly
"Four Star Playhouse"
... aka Four Star Theatre (UK: new title)
... aka Star Performance (USA: rerun title)
- The Wild Bunch (1955) TV Episode .... Louise
The Silver Chalice (1954) .... Helena, as a child
"Studio 57"
... aka Heinz Studio 57 (USA: alternative title)
- The Plot Against Miss Pomeroy (1954) TV Episode .... Sheila Mason
"The Public Defender"
- Return of the Dead (1954) TV Episode .... Renee Marchand
"The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse"
... aka Action Tonight (USA: syndication title)
- Playmates (1954) TV Episode
"The Pride of the Family" (1953) TV Series .... Ann Morrison (1953-1955)
The Star (1952) .... Gretchen
Just for You (1952) .... Barbara Blake
The Rose Bowl Story (1952) .... Sally Burke
"The Schaefer Century Theatre"
- Playmates (1952) TV Episode
The Blue Veil (1951) .... Stephanie Rawlins
Dear Brat (1951) .... Pauline
Never a Dull Moment (1950) .... Nancy 'Nan' Hayward
... aka Never a Dull Moment! (USA: promotional title)
The Jackpot (1950) .... Phyllis Lawrence
Our Very Own (1950) .... Penny Macaulay
No Sad Songs for Me (1950) .... Polly Scott
Father Was a Fullback (1949) .... Ellen Cooper
The Green Promise (1949) .... Susan Anastasia Matthews
... aka Raging Waters (UK)
Chicken Every Sunday (1949) .... Ruth Hefferan
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948) .... Bean McGill
... aka Summer Lightning (UK)
Driftwood (1947) .... Jenny Hollingsworth
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) .... Anna Muir as a Child
Miracle on 34th Street (1947) .... Susan Walker
... aka The Big Heart (UK)
The Bride Wore Boots (1946) .... Carol Warren
Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) .... Margaret Ludwig
Happy Land (1943) (uncredited) .... Bit Part
