With numerous nominations for major awards including Oscars and Golden Globes, Natalie Wood was one of the best-known actresses of the American star system. With a debut in show business from a very young age, we discover the details of her career up to the maximum success.
Who was Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood, stage name of Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko (San Francisco, July 20, 1938 – Santa Catalina Island, November 29, 1981), was an American actress. She grows up with Ukrainian parents who migrated to the United States who encouraged her to enter the world of entertainment since she was a child. It makes its debut in “Happy Land” just five years old soon collaborating with well-known names in the industry including Orson Welles.
There are many projects from this period, including “Conta solo l’Avvenire” from 1946, “The ghost and Mrs. Muir” from 1947 and one of the timeless classics of the Christmas period: The miracle of the 34th street. With this film she obtained great international fame which allowed her to obtain other important parts alongside famous actors of the period.
The film success of Natalie Wood
However, her childhood fame does not remain just a sweet memory, but rather prepares her for what will be an even greater success.
In fact, in 1955 he acted alongside James Dean in “Wasted Youth” getting his too first Oscar nomination. Later he took part in John Ford’s project entitled “Wild Paths” collaborating with actor John Wayne. Subsequently he also stars alongside Frank Sinatra in the film “Ash under the sun” and with Gene Kelly in “Vertigine”.
However, he made the big leap in quality in 1961 with the famous musical “West Side Story” which gets 10 Academy Awards. After this success he took part in other well-known films of various kinds including “Splendore nell’erba”, “Strano Incontro” or “Donne, I teach you how to seduce a man”. In some projects he also has the opportunity to show his own singing skills, as in “Penelope, the magnificent thief” or di dancer as in “The woman who invented the strip-tease”. In the following years, he struggled more and more to find suitable roles, making himself remembered for some rare successes such as “An affair of the heart”, “From here to eternity” with which he also obtained a Golden Globe, or “Meteor” the blockbuster alongside Sean Connery and Karl Malden.
Natalie Wood between private life and mysterious death
As for his private life, his is well known story with actor Robert Wagner celebrated with a wedding in 1957. After five years the two divorced and subsequently the actress married the writer Richard Gregson with which she gives birth to her first daughter. The love between the two ends because the love between Wood and Wagner breaks out again and this time they join in marriage loving each other until her death.
Of her disappeared it was investigated for a long time after the announcement on November 29, 1981 stating that the actress died by drowning near Santa Catalina Island, where she was on vacation with her husband and actor Christopher Walken. The investigations they have been closed and reopened numerous times over the years in the hope of understanding if there was an attempted murder by her husband or not, but for the absence of evidence it will never be definitively charged.