Biography
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Born
20 July 1938
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Born In
California, United States
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Died
29 November 1981 (aged 43)
Natalie Wood (born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko (Russian: Наталья Николаевна Захаренко); July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress.
Wood began acting in movies at the age of four and became a successful child actor in such films as Miracle on 34th Street (1947). A well received performance opposite James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and helped her to make the transition from a child performer. She then starred in the musicals West Side Story (1961) and Gypsy (1962). She also received Academy Award for Best Actress nominations for her performances in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963).
Her career continued successfully with films such as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). After this she took a break from acting and had two children, appearing in only two theatrical films during the 1970s. She was married to actor Robert Wagner twice, and to producer Richard Gregson. She had one daughter by each: Natasha Gregson and Courtney Wagner. Her younger sister, Lana Wood, is also an actress. Wood starred in several television productions, including a remake of the film From Here to Eternity (1979) for which she won a Golden Globe Award.
Wood drowned near Santa Catalina Island, California at age 43. She had not yet completed her final film, the science fiction drama Brainstorm (1983) with Christopher Walken, which was released posthumously.
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Natalie Wood was yachting with her husband and a friend, when she disappeared.
- Comments by Lana Wood and the captain of the yacht "Splendor" have caused LA police to reopen the case.
- Wood's sister Lana is interested in "the truth coming out," but no new implications have yet been made.
US police reportedly are to re-open an investigation into the death of screen legend Natalie Wood, the "West Side Story" star who died in mysterious circumstances while yachting in 1981.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) on Thursday said new information had come to light over the death, which was deemed an accident at the time but which has long fueled speculation.
Wood drowned aged 43 while boating off of Catalina Island, near Los Angeles on November 29, 1981. Her death was investigated by the LASD and the LA County Coroner's Office, who ruled it was an accident.
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"Recently, Sheriff's Homicide Investigators were contacted by persons who stated they had additional information about the Natalie Wood Wagner drowning," said an LASD statement.
In response, the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau "has decided to take another look at the case," it added.
Wood – born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko to Russian emigre parents in San Francisco – enjoyed a glittering Hollywood career, and is best known for classic movies including "West Side Story," and, "Rebel Without a Cause."
Wood and husband Robert Wagner – whom she had married for a second time in 1972 – were spending the Thanksgiving weekend on their yacht the "Splendour," with actor friend Christopher Walken as their guest.
They had eaten at a dockside restaurant before returning to the boat to drink, when a heated row erupted between Wagner and Walken.
Wood left to go to the master cabin, and eventually the two men calmed down – but when Wagner returned to the cabin she was not there. She was believed to have come up on deck to tie a loose dinghy.
She was later found drowned about a mile away from the yacht. Police reports said she was wearing a long nightgown, socks and a down jacket, and had multiple bruises on her body and arms, and an abrasion on her left cheek.
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"I have gone over it so many millions of times with people. Nobody heard anything," said Wagner, quoted by the LA Times.
Last year the actress' sister Lana Wood and the captain of the yacht, Dennis Davern, asked the sheriff's office to re-open the case, although it was not clear if Thursday's announcement was in response to that.
Lana Wood told CNN last year that she believes a fierce argument between her sister and husband on the yacht's back deck preceded Wood's drowning, but said she does not suspect foul play.
"I just want the truth to come out, the real story," she said, according to the broadcaster.
LA County Sheriff Lee Baca told the newspaper that that homicide detectives want to talk to the captain based on comments he had made recounting the case on its 30th anniversary.
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