Natalie Wood was a talented actress who started her career as a child star. She moved on to teenage roles and young adult roles before she died on November 29, 1981 at the age of 43. Her death remains a mystery.

The film includes interviews with people who knew her well. It also features home movies and photographs. It explores Wood’s volatile personal life.

Maria Gurdin, the mother of Natalie Wood, was determined to make her daughter Natasha a star. She would do anything to ensure that her daughter was discovered, cast in a movie, and signed to a major studio. When she saw that her older daughter had a role in a movie and was making money, Maria sped up her plans. She made sure that Natalie got a chance to be in the same film and began sending the child actress to auditions.

Wood’s career took off after her appearance in the Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street. This film earned her a contract with 20th Century Fox and became a commercial and critical hit. Following the success of the film, she appeared in numerous family films. In these films, she played the daughters of such stars as Fred MacMurray (Father Was a Fullback and Dear Brat), Margaret Sullavan (No Sad Songs for Me and The Jackpot), James Stewart (The Blue Veil and The Jackpot), Joan Blondell (The Star and The Blue Veil), and Bette Davis (The Searchers).

As Natalie grew older, she found that it was becoming difficult to find roles suitable for her age. She was forced to play teen parts and was often paired with teen heartthrob Tab Hunter. However, she received her first Academy Award nomination for her performance in Splendor in the Grass in 1957. The following year, she won an Oscar for her role in Rebel Without a Cause, which also earned her a Golden Globe Award.

While her acting career continued to flourish, her personal life was unstable. Her marriage to Robert Wagner fell apart in the 1950s, and she later divorced him. She dated British producer Richard Gregson for several years and had a daughter named Natasha. The couple later remarried and had a second daughter, Courtney.

Throughout the 1970s, Wood appeared in several television films and received positive reviews for her performances. Her comedic role in Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice was well-received, and she also starred in a televised version of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. In 1978, Wood suffered from a series of strokes and died on January 25, 1980. The Los Angeles County coroner ruled her death accidental drowning and hypothermia.

She was a child actress

Natalie Wood’s early years were a series of harsh traumas. As a child actress, she was robbed of a normal childhood, abused by directors and studio bosses who ignored her plight, and ultimately drowned off Catalina Island in 1981 at the age of 43. However, her talent and persistence allowed her to overcome this tragedy. In her later years, she starred in films such as Splendor in the Grass and West Side Story.

She was born in San Francisco on July 20, 1938, to Russian immigrant parents Maria Gurdin (nee Zoodiloff), who used multiple aliases, and her second husband Nicholas Zacharenko, who worked as a janitor and prop builder. Her mother was obsessed with making her daughter a star, and would often take her to the movies so she could watch other Hollywood child stars.

At the age of four, Wood began to make regular film appearances. Her first speaking role was in the 1946 drama Tomorrow Is Forever, directed by Pichel. She soon became popular after appearing in multiple films that year and 1947, including Miracle on 34th Street, starring opposite Maureen O’Hara. After she was cast in Rebel Without a Cause, she signed a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers for $400 a week. Despite her popularity, many of her films did not showcase the depths of her acting abilities.

After her early success, Wood was a hit in supporting roles and began to play teen leads. Her performance as Judy in Rebel Without a Cause was a breakthrough and launched her into superstardom. However, her later films did not receive the same critical acclaim. She was frequently cast as the girlfriend of a male lead and received few roles that required her to develop her acting skills.

In the 1960s, Wood gave memorable performances in classic films that reflected the times they were made. She appeared in a number of films that dealt with racial prejudice, such as West Side Story. She also starred in the musical Gypsy Rose Lee and made several films that highlighted the hardships of fame, such as Inside Daisy Clover.

She starred in Splendor in the Grass

After a few minor film roles, Natalie Wood cemented her reputation as one of Hollywood’s most popular actresses in two high-profile films. She first tugged at audiences’ heartstrings as a small-town girl distraught over her romantic relationship in Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass, which earned her an Oscar nomination. Then she starred in the musical film adaptation of West Side Story, earning another Oscar nomination for her role as Maria. Wood’s other film roles included modern romances Love with a Proper Stranger (1963) and Sex and the Single Girl (1964), in which she played writer Helen Gurley Brown.

During her early years in the ’50s, Wood struggled to convince studio bosses that she could make the transition from child star to screen siren. She was given few lead roles, and her movies were largely box office bombs. The exception was Rebel Without a Cause, which was an overwhelming success and helped her gain the respect of critics and audiences.

She also earned critical praise for her performances in a few television shows and a made-for-television movie, The Green Promise. The movie marked a turning point in her career, and she soon started receiving more leading roles.

However, she was no longer a child star, and her acting talents did not translate well to adult films. She was often given thin scripts and uninspired characterization, which made her appear mediocre. Despite her success, she was still a fixture in gossip columns for her romantic interests. She dated a string of older men, including the director of Rebel Without a Cause, Nicholas Ray. She also dated Elvis Presley and Dennis Hopper.

She eventually married actor Robert Wagner in 1956 and had a daughter, Lana, before divorcing him in 1966. During the course of her life, she had several other relationships and was involved in numerous legal battles over her finances and custody rights. She died in 1981 at the age of 43 when she drowned on a boat trip off the coast of California. Her death has remained one of Tinseltown’s greatest mysteries.

She starred in West Side Story

Natalie Wood had an illustrious film career that lasted for over four decades. Her first major film was the 1955 western Rebel Without a Cause, which earned her an Oscar nomination for supporting actress. After that, she was cast in several films of varying quality. In some of these pictures, she was paired with teen heartthrob Tab Hunter. Unfortunately, these movies did not do well at the box office. They were also riddled with a thin script and uninspired characterization.

Her next big role was in the 1961 musical West Side Story. Her character, Maria, represents the restlessness of youth in a story about gangs and juvenile delinquents. The film is considered one of the greatest films ever made and it gave Wood her third Academy Award nomination for best actress. Her other Oscar nods came for her roles in The Green Promise and Gypsy.

After her success in the 1950s, Wood starred in numerous family films. She also received a number of television roles. She was a favorite of directors like Fred MacMurray, James Stewart, Joan Blondell, and Bette Davis. She was also a regular on the Broadway stage and appeared in over twenty-five plays.

In the late ’70s, she began to focus on her family life. She married screenwriter Richard Gregson and had a daughter with him. She went on to have a series of unsuccessful movies, including the sci-fi flick Meteor and the 1980 comedy The Last Married Couple in America. Towards the end of her life, she was working on a science-fiction film called Brainstorm. Unfortunately, the project was interrupted by her death.

She had a long struggle with mental illness, including multiple suicide attempts and daily psychoanalysis. She also suffered from a severe fear of water. She was reportedly terrified by the fact that she could die in deep water. Her son Natasha said she was a loving and dedicated mother who never let her illness stop her from pursuing her dreams. Her daughter Courtney told PEOPLE that her mother fought for what she believed in and was an inspiration to everyone who knew her.