Here is the biography of Natalie Wood:
Natalie Wood was an American actress of Russian and Ukrainian descent, born on July 20, 1938, in San Francisco, California. She was the daughter of Russian immigrant parents, Maria Gurdin (née Zoudilova) and Nicholas Zacharenko, a janitor and prop builder. Wood's parents had to migrate due to the Russian Civil War, and her paternal grandfather was killed in a street fight between Red and White Russian soldiers.
Wood started her career as a child actress, making her film debut in Happy Land (1943) at the age of five. She went on to appear in over twenty films as a child actress, including Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and Tomorrow Is Forever (1946). Wood received her primary education on the studio lots, receiving three hours of school lessons whenever she was working on a film.
As she transitioned into teenage roles, Wood found success with the role of Judy in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and played the role of abduction victim Debbie Edwards in The Searchers (1956). She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Rebel Without a Cause.
Wood's early adulthood saw her starring in several successful films, including West Side Story (1961),Gypsy (1962),and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). She received three Academy Award nominations for her performances in these films.
In the late 1960s, Wood took a three-year hiatus from acting and returned to the screen in the comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). She went on to appear in several more films, including Peeper (1975),Meteor (1979),and The Last Married Couple in America (1980).
In the late 1970s, Wood found success in television roles, appearing in several made-for-TV movies and the mini-series From Here to Eternity (1979). Her project received high ratings, and she had plans to make her theatrical debut in a 1982 production of Anastasia.
Tragically, Wood's life was cut short when she drowned off Catalina Island on November 29, 1981, at the age of 43. The circumstances surrounding her death remain unclear, and the case was officially closed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department nine days later. Wood was buried on December 2 at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
