Quick Facts
- NAME: Natalie Wood
- OCCUPATION: Film Actress
- BIRTH DATE: July 20, 1938
- DEATH DATE: November 29, 1981
- EDUCATION: Van Nuys High School
- PLACE OF BIRTH: San Francisco, California
- PLACE OF DEATH: Santa Catalina Island, California
- Originally: Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko
Best Known For
Actress Natalie Wood starred in the films Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean and in West Side Story as Maria. She drowned during a boating trip in 1981.
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Play NowNatalie Wood. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:38, May 22, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/natalie-wood-9536320.
Natalie Wood. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/natalie-wood-9536320 [Accessed 22 May 2013].
"Natalie Wood." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 22 2013, 06:38 http://www.biography.com/people/natalie-wood-9536320.
"Natalie Wood," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/natalie-wood-9536320 [accessed May 22, 2013].
"Natalie Wood," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/natalie-wood-9536320 (accessed May 22, 2013).
Natalie Wood [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 22] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/natalie-wood-9536320.
Natalie Wood, http://www.biography.com/people/natalie-wood-9536320 (last visited May 22, 2013).
Natalie Wood. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/natalie-wood-9536320. Accessed May 22, 2013.
Mourners included Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Elia Kazan. Former colleagues and associates also shared their remembrances. Director Sydney Pollack said that Wood "was a sensational actress,
Contents
often underrated because she was a 'movie star' and as pretty as she was. She had a combination of vulnerability and a kind of aura."
Over the years, Wood's turbulent life and its unexpected end have been the subject of numerous books and television programs. Wood's younger sister, Lana Wood, and Dennis Davern, the captain of the Splendour have been especially outspoken about Natalie's death. Davern even co-authored a book about that fateful night, claiming that he had not told the authorities the truth. He later indicated he thought that Wagner was responsible for Wood's death. There were also reports of other boaters hearing a woman cry out for help late that night.
In November 2011, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced that it would be reopening the investigation into Wood's death. The department received new information about the case and would be following up on these new leads. While no specific details were released, authorities indicated that Wagner was not an official suspect. In June 2012, the mystery was further prolongued, when the official cause of Wood's death was changed from an "accident"—as originally noted by L.A. County coroner Thomas Noguchi—to "undetermined" on her death certificate.
In the more than 30 years since her passing, the public still remains haunted by Wood's untimely end.
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Name Changers
View groupIn entertainment, where the line between fiction and reality is often blurry, names are a crucial part of a celebrity's image. Stage names are often chosen to make an actor or musician's name easier to pronounce or remember, or simply to make it sounds more attractive. Here are famous celebrities who have changed their names.
Name Changers 236 people in this group
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Mysterious Deaths
View groupAn unsolved crime never fails to fascinate us, especially when it involves the death of a celebrity. Over the years many famous individuals, from movie stars to politicians to rockers, have died in mysterious circumstances. Conspiracy theories and accusations of foul play abound, but we may never know fact from fiction. Here's a look at some of the most famous mysterious deaths.
Mysterious Deaths 28 people in this group
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- In this group:
- Natalie Wood
- Robert Wagner
Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner 2 people in this group

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