South side of the 7000 block of Hollywood Boulevard
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Natalie Wood
Born Natasha Gurdin on
July 20, 1938
in San Francisco, CA
Died
Nov. 29, 1981
of drowning in Catalina Island, CA
Natalie Wood was a child actress who transitioned her early fame into a long and successful acting career. Wood's first film role, at the age of 4, was in "Happy Land" for 20th Century Fox. Her mother was working for the studio, and Wood landed a silent bit role in the movie dropping an ice cream cone and bursting into tears. The director remembered her and called her two years later for a role in "Tomorrow Is Forever" with Orson Welles and Claudette Colbert. By the mid-1950s she was entering what would—for most child actors—have been the "awkward age" verging on young adulthood. But the awkwardness seemed to miss Wood. In 1955 Warner Bros. cast her opposite James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause," and she was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar. Her next few pictures, "The Searchers," "A Cry in the Night," "The Burning Hills" and "The Girl Left Behind," were of a type—thin script, uninspired characterization—that were to plague her throughout her career. In 1957 she was chosen, over such competition as Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn, for the lead in "Marjorie Morningstar." In 1961 she made "West Side Story" for United Artists and "Splendor in the Grass" for Warners. She won her second Oscar nomination for "Splendor." Wood was paired with actor Robert Wagner in several films and the two began dating. They married in 1956, divorced in 1965, and remarried in 1972. She continued to get parts in films such as "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice," "Peeper," "The Last Married Couple in America" and "Meteor." She also did several TV movies, receiving an Emmy nomination. The last film she worked on was "Brainstorm," an MGM production that was nearly complete when she died in a drowning accident.
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Points of interest
Academy Awards
| Year | Category | Work | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Best Supporting Actress | Rebel Without a Cause | Nomination |
| 1961 | Best Actress | Splendor in the Grass | Nomination |
| 1963 | Best Actress | Love With the Proper Stranger | Nomination |
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Three thoughts about Natalie Wood
Happy birthday, Natalie.
Maybe this will finally be the year the truth about your death comes out.
Natalie wood was Americas favorite sweetheart we all love her as being her her charm and staying clean cut and lovely for hollywood in those years we cried for you and bleeded our hearts out for you when your life got short we will always love you rest in peace sweetheart
Natalie more than deserves her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Who else had 3 Oscar nominations before the age of 25? Natalie had skills that could do drama, comedy and she could dance and sing. In her short lifetime she acted her heart out from the age of 4. "Rebel Without a Cause" was and is an iconic film, considered among the 500 best films the U.S. ever made. "Splendor in the Grass" and "Westside Story" will never be forgotten. Natalie did 56 films in her short 43 years!
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