# Natalie Wood
**Natalie Wood** (born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began performing as a small child, became a star with *Miracle on 34th Street* (1947), and received three Academy Award nominations by age 25 for *Rebel Without a Cause*, *Splendor in the Grass*, and *Love with the Proper Stranger*.[1](https://nataliewood.co/the-woman/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-05-05/documentary-and-book-look-at-natalie-wood) She drowned off Santa Catalina Island at 43, and the unresolved circumstances of her death have since competed with her film work for public attention.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/wood-natalie) • [4](https://time.com/5832394/natalie-wood-what-remains-behind-review/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth name and date | Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko, July 20, 1938, San Francisco, to first-generation Russian immigrant parents Nikolai Stepanovich and Maria Stepanovna Zakharenko[1](https://nataliewood.co/the-woman/) |
| Breakthrough role | Susan Walker, the Santa skeptic in *Miracle on 34th Street* (1947), at age 9[4](https://time.com/5832394/natalie-wood-what-remains-behind-review/) |
| Oscar nominations | Three by age 25: *Rebel Without a Cause* (1955), *Splendor in the Grass* (1961), and *Love with the Proper Stranger* (1963)[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-05-05/documentary-and-book-look-at-natalie-wood) |
| Signature films | *Rebel Without a Cause*, *Splendor in the Grass*, *West Side Story* (1961), *Gypsy* (1962), *Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice* (1969)[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/wood-natalie) |
| Marriages | Robert Wagner (1957, divorced 1962), producer Richard Gregson (1969, divorced 1972), Wagner again from 1972[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/wood-natalie) |
| Death | Drowned off Santa Catalina Island, California, November 29, 1981, at 43, during a break from filming *Brainstorm*[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/wood-natalie) |
| Aftermath | Case reopened in 2011; officials deemed the death suspicious and named Robert Wagner a person of interest; cause of death amended from "accident" in June 2012[5](https://time.com/5131096/natalie-wood-robert-wagner/) |
## Origins and the stage name
Wood was born in San Francisco to Russian immigrant parents Nikolai Stepanovich and Maria Stepanovna Zakharenko.[1](https://nataliewood.co/the-woman/) Her mother enrolled her in ballet class and introduced her to the director Irving Pichel when she was four.[1](https://nataliewood.co/the-woman/) Her film debut came in *Happy Land* (1943), a bit part in a production shooting in [Santa Rosa, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/santa-rosa-california), where the family was then living; Encyclopedia.com dates the debut to age five, while Biography.com says she landed the role at four.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/wood-natalie) • [6](https://www.biography.com/actors/natalie-wood)
It was Pichel who guided her early career, getting her signed with Twentieth Century-Fox and suggesting the name change: he anglicized Natasha to Natalie and borrowed the surname of his friend, the director Sam Wood.[7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/wood-natalie-1938-1981) Her mother, described by *The Guardian* as an enterprising, domineering "mom-ager," moved the family to Los Angeles to pursue the acting career, and by her teens Wood was a studio child star, "a doe-eyed well of emotion on screen and a seasoned professional off it."[8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/04/what-remains-behind-the-life-and-death-natalie-wood)
## From child star to leading lady
The role that fixed her in the public imagination was Susan Walker, the child who does not believe in [Santa Claus](https://www.edgepedia.org/santa-claus), in *Miracle on 34th Street* (1947).[4](https://time.com/5832394/natalie-wood-what-remains-behind-review/) The transition to adult roles, which ends many child actors' careers, succeeded for Wood: at 16 she was nominated for an Academy Award for *Rebel Without a Cause* (1955), playing Judy opposite [James Dean](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-dean).[5](https://time.com/5131096/natalie-wood-robert-wagner/)
Her star status rose further with *West Side Story* (1961), in which she played Maria, and [Elia Kazan](https://www.edgepedia.org/elia-kazan)'s *Splendor in the Grass* (1961), in which her bathtub breakdown scene became a noted example of her screen intensity.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/wood-natalie) • [9](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-new-natalie-wood-documentary-doesnt-have-the-answers) In *West Side Story* her singing voice was dubbed by [Marni Nixon](https://www.edgepedia.org/marni-nixon) in all of the film's songs, a casting practice later criticized because non-Latino actors, including Wood, portrayed many of the film's Hispanic characters.[10](https://fametown.com/en/celebrity/natalie-wood/) • [11](https://time.com/6107408/west-side-story-latino-representation/) She used her own singing voice in *[Gypsy](https://www.edgepedia.org/gypsy-1962-film)* (1962), though the remainder of the vocals in that film were dubbed by a professional singer.[12](https://11east14thstreet.com/2013/04/23/natalie-wood-inside-daisy-clover/)
**Independence from the studio system.** Wood rebelled against studio control, battling Jack Warner for the right to choose her own projects; the project she chose was *West Side Story*.[9](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-new-natalie-wood-documentary-doesnt-have-the-answers) She also used her standing to advance other actors: [Robert Redford](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-redford) recalled how she fought the studio to get him cast in his first lead role, opposite her in *Inside Daisy Clover* (1965).[13](https://goldenglobes.com/articles/natalie-wood-what-remains-behind/)
Unlike James Dean and [Marlon Brando](https://www.edgepedia.org/marlon-brando), Wood did not train in [Method acting](https://www.edgepedia.org/method-acting), but she spent years in Freudian analysis and learned to use what she called her "demons" onscreen.[9](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-new-natalie-wood-documentary-doesnt-have-the-answers)
## Later career
Wood married the actor [Robert Wagner](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-wagner) in 1957, when she was 19; they divorced in 1962, and she married the producer [Richard Gregson](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-gregson) in 1969.[5](https://time.com/5131096/natalie-wood-robert-wagner/) • [3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/wood-natalie) She semi-retired at 32 after marrying Gregson and becoming pregnant with her first child, Natasha, devoting herself to motherhood and appearing in only four theatrical films thereafter.[1](https://nataliewood.co/the-woman/) She and Wagner resumed their relationship in 1972 and remarried that year, remaining married until her death.[5](https://time.com/5131096/natalie-wood-robert-wagner/)
Her late-career work turned more toward television, including the mini-series *From Here to Eternity* (1979) and a televised *Cat on a Hot Tin Roof* (1976) as Maggie.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/wood-natalie) *[Brainstorm](https://www.edgepedia.org/brainstorm-1983-film)* (1981), a science-fiction film with [Christopher Walken](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-walken), was part of her comeback after years of staying home to raise her children.[9](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-new-natalie-wood-documentary-doesnt-have-the-answers)
## Death and investigation
On the evening of November 28, 1981, Wood was on a boating trip to Santa Catalina Island with Wagner and her *Brainstorm* co-star Christopher Walken, aboard the couple's yacht, the *Splendour*. She somehow wound up in the water; her body was found the next morning, a mile from the boat, near an inflatable dinghy.[9](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-new-natalie-wood-documentary-doesnt-have-the-answers) Encyclopedia.com records the date of death as November 29, 1981; she was 43.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/wood-natalie)
The case was reopened in 2011 after new witnesses came forward with a different account of her final hours. [Los Angeles County](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-angeles-county) officials deemed the death "suspicious" and named Wagner, then 87, a "person of interest." In June 2012 the official cause of death was changed from an "accident," as originally noted by Los Angeles County authorities.[5](https://time.com/5131096/natalie-wood-robert-wagner/) • [6](https://www.biography.com/actors/natalie-wood)
## Legacy
Wood's daughter, the actress [Natasha Gregson Wagner](https://www.edgepedia.org/natasha-gregson-wagner), has worked to refocus attention on her mother's life and career, producing the 2020 HBO documentary *Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind*, directed by Laurent Bouzereau, and writing the memoir *More Than Love*. The film pairs excerpts from Wood's filmography from age 5 to 43 with family photos, documents, diaries, home movies, and audio recordings, and includes interviews with Robert Wagner, Mia Farrow, George Hamilton, and Robert Redford.[14](https://amblin.com/tv/natalie-wood-what-remains-behind/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-05-05/documentary-and-book-look-at-natalie-wood)
Commentators have noted that speculation about her death has overshadowed her work: as *TIME* put it, Wood "may now be better known for her mysterious death than for her work as an actor."[4](https://time.com/5832394/natalie-wood-what-remains-behind-review/) *The Guardian* described her as "a titan of mid-century American film, a rare model of child stardom who muscled through the old studio system into mature success."[8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/04/what-remains-behind-the-life-and-death-natalie-wood) Suzanne Finstad's comprehensive biography, *Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood*, first published in 2001 and rereleased in 2020 with new information about the death, remains a central reference.[9](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-new-natalie-wood-documentary-doesnt-have-the-answers)
## References
1. [The Woman – Natalie Wood, nataliewood.co](https://nataliewood.co/the-woman/)
2. [Intimate portraits piece together the puzzle of Natalie Wood, Los Angeles Times (May 5, 2020)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-05-05/documentary-and-book-look-at-natalie-wood)
3. [Wood, Natalie, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/wood-natalie)
4. [Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind Illuminates a Star Who Believed in Her Craft and Fought for Her Privacy, TIME (May 5, 2020)](https://time.com/5832394/natalie-wood-what-remains-behind-review/)
5. [Natalie Wood's Death Has Been Ruled Suspicious. Here's What to Know About the Actor's Mysterious Drowning, TIME (February 2, 2018)](https://time.com/5131096/natalie-wood-robert-wagner/)
6. [Natalie Wood – Death, Movies & Husband, Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/actors/natalie-wood)
7. [Wood, Natalie (1938–1981), Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/wood-natalie-1938-1981)
8. ['A short but vibrant life': revisiting the life and death of Natalie Wood, The Guardian (May 4, 2020)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/04/what-remains-behind-the-life-and-death-natalie-wood)
9. [HBO's New Natalie Wood Documentary Doesn't Have the Answers, The New Yorker (May 5, 2020)](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-new-natalie-wood-documentary-doesnt-have-the-answers)
10. [Natalie Wood Biography, Fametown](https://fametown.com/en/celebrity/natalie-wood/)
11. ['We Need To Be in the Room.' West Side Story's Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose on Latino Representation in Film, TIME (2021)](https://time.com/6107408/west-side-story-latino-representation/)
12. [Natalie Wood: Inside Daisy Clover, 11 East 14th Street (2013)](https://11east14thstreet.com/2013/04/23/natalie-wood-inside-daisy-clover/)
13. [Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, Golden Globes](https://goldenglobes.com/articles/natalie-wood-what-remains-behind/)
14. [Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, Amblin](https://amblin.com/tv/natalie-wood-what-remains-behind/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Actors and actresses by country or nationality › American actors and actresses › Surnames P to Z*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license