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Natalie Wood

Celebrity

Natalie Wood: Biography

Birth Name: Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko
Birth Place: San Francisco, CA
Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: 07/20/1938, Cancer
Date of Death: 11/29/1981
Profession: Actor

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Natalie Wood Fast Facts:

The daughter of Russian immigrants who changed the family name to Gurdin after becoming US citizens. Stage name Natalie Wood was given by a Hollywood producer who thought it was more marketable. She never legally changed her name from Natasha Gurdin.
Began career as a movie extra at age four. At age eight, the child star captured the hearts of audiences in the memorable Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street.
As a teen actress ready to escape the child-star image, accepted a role opposite heartthrob and movie icon James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, and earned her first Academy Award nomination.
Associated romantically throughout her career with numerous high-profiled men, namely Rebel director Nicholas Ray, Elvis Presley, Warren Beatty and Dennis Hopper.
A publicity-staged date for her 18th birthday with handsome rising star Robert Wagner began a romance that resulted in marriage a year later.
Her fear of water rose to the surface when director Elia Kazan took advantage of her inability to swim and manipulated her into performing the reservoir scene in Splendor in the Grass (1961), instead of using a stunt double. The part earned her a second Oscar nomination.
While her songs in West Side Story (1961) were recorded by renowned vocalist Marni Nixon, Wood used her own voice the next year in Gypsy (1962). Threatened by the stature of the younger actress, seasoned star Rosalind Russell created an unpleasant working environment on the picture's set.
In 1962, filed for divorce from husband Wagner after a reported infidelity. Married producer Richard Gregson in May 1969 who fathered their daughter Natasha over a year later (who would also become a well-known actress).
Learning Gregson was having an affair, filed for divorce in 1971 and found comfort in the arms of first husband Wagner. They remarried in 1972.
The couple costarred in the 1976 made-for-TV version of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with Laurence Olivier and Maureen Stapleton.
Accidentally drowned at age 43 while spending a weekend on her yacht - named Splendor - with husband Wagner and friend Christopher Walken.
Having died in the midst of shooting what would be her final film, the sci-fi thriller Brainstorm, with costar Walken, a new ending was devised using pre-existing footage.
Following her death, sister and actress Lana Wood authored a tell-all memoir Natalie, A Memoir by Her Sister and later co-produced the 2004 television movie The Mystery of Natalie Wood, directed by Peter Bogdanovich.

Natalie Wood Relationships:
Courtney Wagner - Daughter
Lana Wood - Sister
Maria Gurdin - Mother
Natasha Gregson Wagner - Daughter
Nikolai Gurdin - Father
Olga Gurdin - Sister
Richard Gregson - Ex-husband
Robert Wagner - Husband
Natalie Wood Awards:
1957 Golden Globe: New Star of the Year - Actor - Winner
1980 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama - Winner
1966 Golden Globe: Henrietta Award (World Film Favorites) - Winner
1962 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
1963 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
1966 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
1967 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
1961 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
1963 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
1964 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
1955 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Nominee