Natalie Wood | |
|---|---|
 Wood in 1973 | |
| Born | Natalie Zacharenko July 20, 1938 |
| Died | November 29, 1981 (aged 43) |
| Cause of death | "drowning and other undetermined factors"[1] |
| Resting place | Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Other names | Natasha Gurdin |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1943–1981 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2, including Natasha |
| Relatives | Lana Wood (sister) Barry Watson (son-in-law) |
| Signature | |
 | |
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 eight in Miracle on 34th Street (1947).[2] 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), The Great Race (1965), 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.[3] 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.[4][5]
On November 29, 1981, at the age of 43, Wood drowned in the Pacific Ocean near Santa Catalina Island during a break from production of her would-be comeback film Brainstorm (1983). She was with her husband Wagner and Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken. The events surrounding her death have been the subject of conflicting witness statements,[6] 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.[1] In 2018, Wagner was named as a person of interest in the ongoing investigation into her death.[7]
- ^ a b "Natalie Wood's death certificate changed to reflect new uncertainty". The Guardian. Associated Press. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
- ^ Wilkins, Barbara (December 13, 1976). "Second Time's the Charm – Marriage, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner". People. 6 (24). Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Tibbettswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Lucia, Cynthia; Grundmann, Roy; Simon, Art, eds. (2015). 'Natalie Wood, Studio Stardom and Hollywood in Transition.' in American film history : selected readings. Chicester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 423–447. ISBN 978-1118475133. OCLC 908086219.
- ^ Sullivan, Rebecca (2016). Natalie Wood. London: British Film Institute. ISBN 978-1844576371. OCLC 933420525.
- ^ Kashner, Sam. "Natalie Wood's Death, Still Shrouded in Mystery – and the Clues That Remain". Vanities. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
- ^ Salam, Maya (February 3, 2018). "New Doubts in Natalie Wood's Death: 'I Don't Think She Got in the Water by Herself'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2019.