Natalie Wood

"The only time a woman is any good at changing a man is when he is a baby." ~ Natalie

Natalie Wood was born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko on July 20, 1938, in San Francisco, California. Her Russian mother moved them to Hollywood determined to make Natalie famous. At age nine she was cast as a cynical little girl in Miracle On 34th Street. It was a hit and she became one of the most popular child stars. In 1955 she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Rebel Without A Cause. She also began an affair with the film's forty-four year old director, Nicholas Ray. Later Natalie would claim that when she was a teenager an older movie star raped her. She married actor Robert Wagner in December 1957. Her success continued with starring roles in West Side Story, Splendor In The Grass, and Gypsy. She divorced Robert in 1962 and had a short-lived romance with actor Warren Beatty. Depressed over her failed relationships Natalie tried to commit suicide.

In 1969 she married producer Richard Gregson and had a daughter, Natasha. After divorcing Richard she rekindled her romance with ex-husband Robert Wagner. They remarried and in 1974 their daughter, Courtney, was born. Natalie began to work less so she could spend more time with her family. Although she suffered from a lifelong fear of dark water she and Robert owned a yacht called "The Splendor". On November 29, 1981 Natalie fell overboard and drowned. According to sources she had been drinking that night and had a fight with Robert. Natalie was just forty-three years old. She is buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California. Her daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner, also became a successful actress. In 2012 the investigation into Natalie's drowning was reopened and her official cause of death was changed from accident to "drowning and other undetermined factors".