Quick Facts

Natalie Wood was one of Hollywood golden stars and a legend both on and off the silver screen. Born to Russian immigrants, Wood found herself in the spotlight as a child, capturing the audience’s hearts in the holiday classic, “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947). Maintaining a successful career as an adult, she went on to turn in Oscar-nominated performances in the films “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955) and “Splendor in the Grass” (1961), as well as charming audiences as Maria in the hit musical “West Side Story” (1961).

How much was the Net worth of Natalie Wood?

Natalie Wood was an American actress who had a net worth of $2.5 million at the time of her death, which is the same as around $6 million today. Natalie Wood was born in July 1938 in San Francisco, California, and died in November 1981. She began performing at the age of four, and at the age of eight, she co-starred in the movie Miracle on 34th Street.

Early Years and Bio

Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko was born on July 20, 1938, in San Francisco, California, to Russian parents, ballet dancer Maria Gurdin and architect Nikolai Gurdin. While Wood was still a baby, Wood’s parents later changed their last name to Gurdin. Wood, who spent her early years in Santa Rosa, California, was taken by her mother to an extra audition when she was four years old, which was her first exposure to the film industry. She was cast in a small role in the locally produced 1943 movie “Happy Land” as a young child who spills her ice cream.

Wood’s mother insisted that the family go to Hollywood so that Wood could pursue acting since she believed her daughter was destined for stardom. In 1946’s “Tomorrow is Forever,” Wood costarred with Claudette Colbert and Orson Welles in her first role to receive credit. She was given a new name by the studio, Natalie Wood, as was customary at the time. Before the movie’s release, Wood was hailed as Hollywood’s newest young star, and his career rapidly took off. The following year, she provided heartfelt performances in the holiday classic “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” (1947), the latter of which was her most well-known role as a child actress.

What was the Professional Career of Natalie Wood?

Natalie Wood’s debut leading role as an actress was at the age of 16 in the 1955 film “Rebel Without a Cause.” She co-starred with James Dean and received an Academy Award nomination for her outstanding performance as a rebellious youngster. She appeared in “The Searchers” the next year alongside John Wayne. Even though she had a minor role, it was a crucial one. In the same year, she also earned her high school diploma from Van Nuys. Despite experiencing a tough period due to several failures, her adult acting career took off with “Splendor in the Grass” in 1961. Elia Kazan, the director of the film, chose her for the part.

She starred in the Shakespearean classic “West Side Narrative,” a parody of the troubled love story “Romeo and Juliet,” the same year. In the film, Wood’s character develops feelings for a young man from a disadvantaged neighborhood. Gypsy (1962), Love with the Proper Stranger (1963), The Great Race (1965), Inside Daisy Clover (1965), This Property Is Condemned (1966), Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), etc. are some of Wood’s other films from the 1960s.

Wood took a semi-retirement in 1970 when pregnant with her first kid in order to focus more on her responsibilities as a mother. Later, she appeared on television in “The Affair” (1973), “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1976), and “Switch” (1978). By the late 1970s, Wood had begun to work more often. He appeared in films such as “Meteor” (1979), in which he costarred with Sean Connery, “The Last Married Couple in America” (1980), a sex comedy, “The Cracker Factory,” and “Here to Eternity” (1980), a TV series.

Where and When Natalie Wood died?

On a weekend boat trip to Catalina Island on Wagner’s yacht Splendour at the age of 43, Natalie Wood drowned while filming Brainstorm. Many of the details are unknown, and it is unknown how she got into the water. On the evening of November 28, 1981, Natalie Wood was in the company of her husband Robert Wagner, co-star from the film Brainstorm Christopher Walken, and Splendour’s skipper Dennis Davern. On November 29, around eight in the morning, authorities discovered her dead one mile from the boat, with a small inflatable dinghy of the Valiant brand beached nearby. She wasn’t there, according to Robert Wagner, when he went to bed. She had bruising on her body and arms, as well as an abrasion on her left cheek, according to the postmortem report.

Robert Wagner revealed that he had a disagreement with Natalie Wood prior to her disappearance in his autobiography Pieces of My Heart. The results of the autopsy revealed that she had a blood alcohol level of 0.14% (the legal limit in California at the time was 0.10%), as well as evidence of painkillers and motion sickness medications, all of which intensify the effects of alcohol. Thomas Noguchi, the coroner for Los Angeles County, determined that she died from accidental drowning and hypothermia. Noguchi claimed that Wood had been drinking and may have slipped as she attempted to board the dinghy again. Lana, Wood’s sister, expressed skepticism, claiming that Wood couldn’t swim, had always been “terrified” of the water, and never would have left the yacht by dinghy on her own.

Two witnesses who were on a neighboring boat claimed to have heard a woman yell for help in the middle of the night. Natalie Wood was laid to rest in the Los Angeles cemetery Westwood Village Memorial Park. While trying to attend her funeral, members of the public, photographers, and representatives of the international press were all asked to stay outside the cemetery’s perimeter. Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, Elia Kazan, and Laurence Olivier were a some of the famous people present. Olivier traveled by plane from London to be at the service.

How is the Personal Life of Natalie Wood?

Now let’s talk about Natalie Wood’s love life and private life. She was divorced when she passed away. In her lifetime, she wed twice. In 1957, she wed Robert Wagner for the first time; they later divorced in 1962. Additionally, in 1969, following their divorce from Robert, she wed Richard Gregson. After approximately 3 years of marriage, they once more parted ways in 1972. In the same year 1972, she afterwards wed Robert Wagner once more.

However, the couple split for a second time in 1981. She was a mother of two. They are Natasha Gregson Wagnor and Courtney Brooke Wagner. She doesn’t had any other affairs than that one. She is open-minded about gender issues. Additionally, she has not been involved in any contentious incidents as of yet.

Body Measurement

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