Natalie Wood Biography

Natalie Wood

Dark-haired, browned eyed smoldering beauty who began acting at age four in the 1943 movie, Happy Land. Wood acted steadily until her accidental drowning death in 1981. Wood was nominated for three Oscars, but may be best known for her role as Maria in the film version of West Side Story (1961). She earned her first nomination, as best supporting actress, for her portrayal of Judy in the classic Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and followed that with best actress nominations for her role as Wilma Dean Loomis in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and for her role as Angie Rossini in Love with the Perfect Stranger (1963). She married actor Robert Wagner in 1957, divorced in 1962, and remarried him in 1972. The couple had one daughter, Courtney Brooke, in 1974.