A glamorous thirties star, Natalie Wood grew up surrounded by nannies and PAs as her parent figures. As she got older, the actress yearned for adult parts.
In Rebel Without a Cause, she got her big break. Her chemistry with a young James Dean sealed her career. But her personal life was also a source of fascination. Finstad uses family home movies and interviews to explore these aspects of Wood’s life. Learn more about Natalie Wood Death as you continue reading.
1. Her Mother Maria Gurdin
Natalie Wood was a beautiful, talented actress who made four films that were selected for the National Film Registry as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” – Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and The Searchers (1956). However, while her career was headed for greatness, her personal life was in utter turmoil. She suffered from mental health issues and attempted suicide three times, swallowing a cocktail of sleeping pills in June 1961, November 1964, and January 1966. She ultimately ended up in semi-retirement, only appearing in four more films before her death at the age of 43.
Born Natalia Zacharenko to Russian immigrants in San Francisco, Maria Gurdin pushed her daughter into the acting business at a very young age. She signed her to a 20th Century Fox contract before the girl was 10 and she quickly became one of the most recognizable child stars in the history of movies. Wood was a darling in films like 1943’s The Moon is Down and 1950’s Never a Dull Moment, but it was her role as the adorable Susan Walker in 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street that propelled her to superstardom.
As she grew into her teenage years, Natalie began to rebel against her overbearing mother and Hollywood’s rigid standards. She wanted to be a serious actress, not just a pretty face with a set of big eyes and a smile that could sell anything. Her desire for quality work led her to director Nicholas Ray, who she had an inappropriate liaison with while underage. He cast her in the edgy role of Judy Anderson in Rebel Without a Cause, but her troubled psyche would prevent her from becoming the cinematic antihero she wanted to be.
Even though she had a string of relationships with men including actor Robert Redford (with whom she was married twice) and producer Richard Gregson, who was the father of her daughter Natasha, Wood was primarily focused on her career. She was reportedly also involved in a brief romance with singer Elvis Presley in 1956. The documentary doesn’t flinch from examining the emotional and romantic debris in her precarious psyche, as well as her erratic behavior on the set of some of her movies.
2. Her Ex-Husband Robert Wagner
After the success of her starring roles in Rebel Without a Cause and Splendor in the Grass, Natalie Wood was a Hollywood star to be reckoned with. The movie legend was adored by her fans and had a picture-perfect family life. She was a good wife and mother, and seemed to have worked out her demons. She had therapy and attended psychoanalysis sessions five days a week. Then the tragedy struck.
While most people knew Wood for her acting talents, not many know that she was a talented singer as well. She had a beautiful soprano voice that helped her make a name for herself in musical theatre.
In 1957, the young actress met and married actor Robert Wagner. The couple separated in 1961 and divorced. Wood had a daughter with her first husband and three stepchildren from her relationship with Wagner’s first wife, Marion Marshall.
Wood and Wagner married again in 1972, reuniting the two of them and their daughters. But it was a different relationship this time. According to her sister Lana, Wagner was controlling and abusive to her. He was also a heavy drinker and took sleeping pills, which made him difficult for her to live with. In one incident, she walked in on him in flagrante with a male butler and was so upset that she smashed a glass vase on her hand. That led to her addiction to sleeping pills and a suicide attempt in 1966.
After remarrying Wagner, she started to work less and less on film projects. In 1971, she starred in the sex romp Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, but her career faded throughout the 1970s. By 1981, when she was found dead off the coast of Catalina Island while making the sci-fi thriller Brainstorm with co-star Christopher Walken, she had all but retired from acting.
After her death, Dennis Davern, the yacht’s skipper during the incident, began to call Lana. He told her that Wagner and Walken got into a fight on the boat’s deck before she disappeared, and that he overheard Wagner accuse Walken of wanting to f-k Natalie.
3. Her Daughters Natasha Gregson Wagner and Courtney Wagner
When Natalie Wood starred in films such as Rebel Without a Cause and Splendor in the Grass, her beauty, talent and good nature were widely recognized. But in her personal life, the actress struggled. She had a hard time adjusting to marriage and motherhood. And her volatile personality made her prone to alcohol and drug abuse.
Her first marriage was with actor Robert Wagner, who was eight years older than she. The couple met at a party and were instantly attracted to each other. The starlet and her new husband were married in 1957, but they divorced a few years later.
Two years after their divorce, Wood married screenwriter Richard Gregson and had a daughter named Courtney. The marriage was more stable than her previous one with Wagner, and she seemed to devote more of her time to her family. Wood also appeared in several more theatrical films before her death.
Natasha Gregson Wagner has written a memoir called More Than Love, which was published in 2012. She writes about her difficult childhood and how she tries to honor her mother by giving her daughter the best life she can. The book isn’t without its faults, but it’s an interesting read about the life of a Hollywood star.
During the years leading up to her drowning off of Catalina Island, Wood was struggling with depression and anxiety. She had tried to kill herself in 1966, but failed. The tragedy prompted her to seek professional help, and she began attending therapy sessions. She even wrote a letter to the police chief about her fears for her safety.
The book also reveals how much Natasha and Courtney loved their mother. The two women always tried to give her the best life they could, despite her struggles. Throughout the years, Natasha and Courtney were her most cherished companions.
It’s a shame that in the decades since her death, Wood has been remembered more for her drowning than for her film career and three Oscar nominations. She was a talented and beloved actress who left behind an amazing legacy.
4. Her Friends
While Wood had a number of celebrity friends who helped her during her time on screen, it was arguably her relationship with Raymond Burr that made the biggest impression upon her family and friends. According to her daughter, Wood had a crush on the actor ever since she first saw him in A Place in the Sun. When she was cast in the film, Wood jumped at the opportunity to work with him and developed a close bond during production. Wood was reportedly infatuated with him and it is believed that he reciprocated her feelings.
In addition to her relationships with Burr and Wagner, Wood also had a love for her friends. As her stardom grew, she was often seen hanging out with the likes of James Dean and Elvis Presley. However, she was never one to let her friendships get ahead of her career. She would frequently spend her off-screen time with her mother and sisters as well as friends such as Mia Farrow, who acted in several films with Wood.
After a string of failed marriages, Wood married producer Richard Gregson in 1969 and the couple welcomed a daughter Natasha the following year. It was during this period that Wood began to find the acting business more difficult. The pressures of the industry coupled with her role as a wife and mother started to take a toll on her mental health. She suffered from a number of psychological issues including multiple attempts at suicide, daily psychoanalysis and a fear of being alone at night that stemmed from a prophecy that had been told to her superstitious Russian mother.
While the documentary doesn’t give us any answers about what happened during the evening of the mysterious boating accident, it does provide a more in-depth look into the life of Natalie Wood. From the many roles she took on to her personal relationships, this docu is a beautiful tribute to an actress and mother who was much more than what tabloids had led us to believe. This is a must-see for fans of the late actress.