Natalie Wood was among the rare child actors who made the leap from moppet to adult movie star, but she was an actress of contradictions. Though perceived as a mediocre performer, Natalie Wood managed to garner three Oscar nominations; though a great beauty, her acting lacked a sensual fire; and despite her consistent popularity, she never achieved superstar status and was often overshadowed by her costars.
Born Natasha Gurdin to a Russian father and French mother, Natalie Wood grew up speaking several languages and studied dance (her mother had been a ballerina) at a very early age. When she was four years old, Happy Land (1943) was being filmed in her hometown of Rosita, California, and she landed a tiny role in the movie. The director, Irving Pichel, was impressed with her and cast her several years later when he needed a child actress who could play the part of a German refugee in Tomorrow Is Forever (1946). It was the start of the actress's career.
As a child star, Natalie Wood was no MARGARET O'BRIEN, but she was both pretty and sincere. Young Natalie made her mark in films such as Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and Scudda-Hoo! Scudda-Hay! (1948). In the early 1950s she tried television, starring in a series called Pride of the Family. She did not succeed on the small screen and returned to the movies, struggling through the awkward period of adolescence. It wasn't until Natalie Wood blossomed as a young adult and costarred with JAMES DEAN in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) that she emerged as a potential new star. Winning a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for her performance brought her increased visibility, though James Dean was the focus of most people's attention.
Full-fledged stardom did not come quickly. Just as Natalie Wood was overwhelmed in Rebel Without a Cause by the acting of James Dean and Sal Mineo, she passed through a succession of 1950s films such as Marjorie Morningstar (1958) without making a very great impression. Her films, though, were generally popular at the box office, and she was just 22 years old as the 1960s began, a decade in which she gave the lion's share of her best and most memorable performances.
Her career finally took off when she starred opposite WARREN BEATTY in ELIA KAZAN's production of Splendor in the Grass (1961) and received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. To the surprise of many, Natalie Wood was then cast as Maria in West Side Story (1961). Her childhood dance training came in handy for the film, but her singing voice was dubbed by Marni Nixon.
Those two hit films were followed by a nearly unbroken streak of box-office winners that lasted until the end of the decade. Natalie Wood was at the height of her career, starring in Love with the Proper Stranger (1963) with STEVE MCQUEEN and winning her third and final Oscar nomination, Sex and the Single Girl (1964) with TONY CURTIS, Inside Daisy Clover (1966) with ROBERT REDFORD, This Property Is Condemned (1966) with Redford again, and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) with Dyan Cannon, Elliott Gould, and Robert Culp.
The titles of most of her 1960s films were suggestive - and often controversial - but both the movies and Natalie Wood proved in the end to be rather tame. Married twice to actor Robert Wagner, Ms. Wood devoted most of the 1970s to home life. She made a few films for TV and theatrical release, the most notable being the underrated comedy with George Segal The Last Married Couple in America (1979). She nearly completed a big-budget thriller called Brainstorm when she drowned in a mysterious boating accident in 1981. Brainstorm was released posthumously in 1983 with little fanfare.
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