Natalie Wood was a doe-eyed well of emotion on screen and a seasoned professional off it. She was born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko in San Francisco on July 20, 1938. Her last name was changed to Wood by RKO executives so that she could be more easily understood by American audiences.

She was born in Ussuriysk

Wood was born in Ussuriysk, a town located on Russia’s northernmost coast in the country’s far east. She was named Maria by her mother, who adopted the stage name Natalie Wood after her daughter’s debut in the film industry. She also took the pseudonym Lana, which she used for her stage performances.

Wood’s mother played a major role in her career, coaching and micromanaging aspects of her acting as she grew older. She even took her to the cinema to study the films of other child actresses. By age nine, Wood was billed as “the most exciting juvenile motion picture star of the year” by Parents magazine.

While Wood’s early roles were generally lighthearted, she eventually became a major box office draw with her performance in the drama Rebel Without a Cause (1955). The film’s success helped her make a transition from child actor to ingenue. In the late 1950s, Wood starred as a leading lady in several films and appeared on television shows.

In the 1960s, Wood began to reevaluate her career. She hoped to return to the screen as a serious actress, but was unable to find suitable roles. Wood was also criticized for her appearances in box office flops, such as the comedy All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960).

After a period of decline, Wood made several comeback films in the 1970s. Her roles in the films Marjorie Morningstar (1958) and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) highlighted themes of sexual liberation and wife swapping, and were critical and commercial successes.

Although Wood’s later work often reflected her personal problems, she was still considered a bridge between Old Hollywood and New Hollywood. She continued to do television in the 1980s, notably as an antagonist in the thriller The Night of the Scorpions and as the title character in the TV series Hart to Hart.

In 2021, her sister Lana released a memoir in which she claimed that Wood was sexually assaulted as a teen by Kirk Douglas. She said that the rape occurred inside the Chateau Marmont and lasted for hours.

She was raised in Van Nuys

Natalie Wood was born in San Francisco to Russian immigrant parents. Her mother, Mary Tatuloff, a former ballet dancer, had unfulfilled dreams of stardom, and passed them on to her daughter. She and her husband, carpenter Nicholas Zacharenko, had emigrated to America from Ussuriysk in 1938.

After making her debut in Happy Land at the age of five, Wood began receiving significant media attention. By age nine, she had been named the “most exciting juvenile motion picture star of the year” by Parents magazine. She was cast in several more films, but the majority were unsatisfactory to her. Eventually, she found her niche in musicals and became one of Hollywood’s most popular child stars.

By the time Wood was 14, she had made the transition from child star to ingenue with her co-starring role in Miracle on 34th Street. She also starred in Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause and John Ford’s The Searchers, both of which earned her Academy Award nominations. In the later part of her career, she focused on more serious roles.

In 1958, she was given the lead in Marjorie Morningstar, which was a film about a Jewish girl trying to forge her own identity and separate from her family. The film was a critical success and fit well with other films of the era that explored the restlessness of youth.

After the box office flop All the Fine Young Cannibals, Wood lost some momentum. She continued to guest star on TV shows like Chevron Theater and Kraft Theatre, but she had no leading roles in the foreseeable future.

Wood’s disappearance in 1972 was a mystery that baffled the police for years. In February 2018, she was added to the list of people whose deaths have been reopened by the Los Angeles coroner’s office, and Wagner is a person of interest in the investigation. In a statement, Wagner denied that he was responsible for her death. The case has been reopened partly because of the fact that there were unexplained fresh bruising on her arm, wrist, and knee, as well as a scrape on her neck.

She married Robert Wagner

Natalie Wood was a child actress and teen idol who made the transition to serious acting as an adult. Her career was a bridge between Old Hollywood and New Hollywood, with roles in films such as Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass, and West Side Story. Despite her success, her personal life was troubled. She was married three times, and her death in 1981 was a mystery that remains unsolved.

On November 29, 1981, Wood was found dead of drowning off the coast of Catalina Island in California. She was 43 years old at the time of her death. She was sailing with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, and his co-star Christopher Walken aboard their family yacht Splendour. The night before her death, a row broke out between the couple. In the middle of the fight, a wine bottle was smashed against a table, and Wood disappeared from the boat. She had been found floating in the Pacific Ocean a few hours later, near Blue Cavern Point.

Wagner was initially a person of interest in the investigation, but the case has never been solved. He has denied any involvement in her death. A police official told CBS News that Davern had told investigators that he overheard Wagner and Wood having an argument and blamed him for whatever happened.

In 1973, Wood and Wagner divorced. She remarried in 1976, and they had a daughter named Courtney together. They also appeared in a number of television shows, including the detective series Switch and Hart to Hart. During this time, she was nominated for several Emmy Awards.

After the divorce, Wood continued to work in movies and on television. She starred in the film Peeper in 1975, and the sex comedy The Last Married Couple in America with George Segal the following year. Her performance in the latter was praised by critics, and her character was considered to be groundbreaking because she used the word “fuck” in a frank marital discussion with her husband.

After her death, a wave of tributes poured in from Wood’s former co-stars. She was remembered by stars such as James Stewart and Fred MacMurray, who had played her fathers onscreen. Her daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner, also launched a crisp, citrusy fragrance in her mother’s honor in 2016.

She died in 1981

Natalie Wood was one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, and a beloved star of both film and television. She was nominated for three Oscars, winning for her role in Miracle on 34th Street and receiving honorable mention for West Side Story. She also starred in Splendor in the Grass and Love with a Perfect Stranger. During her career, she appeared in 56 films for cinema and television.

Despite her fame, Wood had a difficult personal life and suffered from depression. She was often lonely and struggled to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Her first marriage to Robert Wagner lasted just five years, but she remarried him in 1972. She had a daughter, Courtney, with her second husband.

On the night of November 29, 1981, Wood was found floating in the ocean off the coast of California’s Catalina Island. She was wearing a flannel nightgown and a down jacket. Her body was discovered by the harbor patrol at about 8 a.m., about a mile away from her yacht, Splendour. She had a small dinghy beached nearby.

The cause of her death was initially ruled accidental drowning, but it was later revealed that fresh bruises on her arms and legs were evidence of a traumatic injury. She also had a scrape on her neck and scratch on her forehead. In 2013, county coroner officials reopened the investigation, and changed her official cause of death to “drowning and other undetermined factors.”

By the end of her career, Wood had become a household name and was a popular spokesperson for RainTree beauty products. She was known for her wholesome image, but she was also willing to use her status as a celebrity to speak out against abuse of women in Hollywood. In a 1971 interview, she told Time magazine that she had been abused by her mother and that she was a victim of the studio system.

During the final years of her career, Wood’s health began to deteriorate. She spent a lot of time with her psychiatrist, and she turned down a number of important roles. She starred in only six films between 1966 and 1981, including flops such as This Property Is Condemned and the disaster movie Meteor.