Natalie Wood inhabited the hopes, fears and dreams of a generation in some of cinema’s most enduring classics. She was endearing annually in Miracle on 34th Street and later a teen heartthrob in Rebel Without a Cause.
But she was also a fighter who stood up for herself against the exploitative fishbowl mind games that classic Hollywood tended to spring on its youngest stars. Her life ended tragically on a Thanksgiving weekend in 1981.
Natalie Wood became a film and television star after her breakout performance in Rebel Without A Cause (1955). Her beauty, intelligence, and sincerity made her a major box office draw. Her brown eyes registered a depth beyond her years and drew audiences into her character.
From her first film role as a little girl who doubted Santa Claus in the 1947 classic Miracle on 34th Street, to her last film Brainstorm (1983), Wood proved herself to be an accomplished actress. She had a knack for portraying nuanced interplays of sexual innocence and experience, as seen in films such as Splendor in the Grass and West Side Story.
Her personal life was tumultuous, from her divorce from producer Richard Gregson to her later remarriage to actor Robert Wagner. Nevertheless, she remained dedicated to her acting career. Her work was often praised by critics, scholars, and biographers.
Her first major role
At age 16, Natalie Wood achieved major stardom when she was cast as the lead in Rebel Without a Cause, a Nicholas Ray film about teenage rebellion. The role led to her first Academy Award nomination and cemented her status as a leading lady.
During this period, she starred in many films that reflected the social and political climate of the time. Her performances in films like West Side Story dealt with racial prejudice, while Inside Daisy Clover explored the harsh reality of stardom and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice tackled the issue of sexual liberation.
She also guest starred in several television shows and won critical acclaim for her performance in the televised version of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. However, the sixties were a difficult time for Natalie as she struggled with her image and personal demons.
Her first box office flop
Wood’s filmography marks a transitional period in the development of Hollywood movies, as she moved from child roles to teenage and young adult characters. She is seen in a wide range of films, including Rebel Without a Cause and The Searchers.
In 1961, Wood appeared in Splendor in the Grass, which received positive reviews. The movie’s director, Elia Kazan, cited her and Vivien Leigh as his inspirations. This performance helped Wood regain her career momentum after the box office flop All the Fine Young Cannibals.
In addition to her acting, Wood had a close-knit family. She was married twice and had two children with her first husband, Robert Wagner. She was also a frequent patron of the arts, and she embraced all genres of music, especially jazz and blues. She was also a shrewd businesswoman. She never took the sharks in Hollywood for granted.
Her second major role
After a bit part in 1943’s Happy Land, Natalie Wood gained recognition for her role as the wide-eyed little girl in 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street. She would go on to portray several more child stars and ingenues. Her breakout role came in 1955 with Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause, where she co-starred with James Dean and Sal Mineo.
In 1961, she landed Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass, a drama that showcased her acting range. She won an Oscar nomination for her performance and received Golden Globe and BAFTA award nominations.
Wood starred in television shows including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, for which she earned positive reviews. She also starred in the miniseries film From Here to Eternity and The Cracker Factory. During this period, Wood married twice and had one daughter.
Her third major role
Wood’s mother Maria was a stage mom and kept her daughter busy with numerous movies, often filming two at once. She also put a lot of pressure on her to take roles and perform. This would have a negative impact on her later life.
Her next major film was Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which made her one of the top child stars of the time. Director Irving Pichel was impressed by her performance and offered her a screen test for more substantial roles.
In 1965, Wood starred in the films Inside Daisy Clover and This Property Is Condemned. Both of these films garnered her Golden Globe nominations and brought a new level of prestige to her career. In 1969, she took a departure from serious drama in Paul Mazursky’s counterculture comedy Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.
Her fourth major role
With the release of a number of major films, Natalie Wood emerged as a serious actress. She starred in the 1955 drama Rebel Without a Cause, which earned her an Academy Award nomination. She also starred in the 1956 Western The Searchers and the musical West Side Story.
In the latter, she portrayed Maria, a restless Puerto Rican girl in the modern allegory of Romeo and Juliet. The film was a box office and critical success, and reflected the restlessness of youth in the 1950s, manifested through youth gangs, juvenile delinquency, and early rock and roll.
After several more successful television projects, Wood began to make fewer theatrical films. Her last roles were in the mystery comedy Peeper and the science fiction film Meteor, both in 1979. She paired with Christopher Walken in the 1980 comedy The Last Married Couple in America, but commercial and critical success eluded her.
Her fifth major role
The movie was a major success and marked the turning point of Wood’s career. She continued to be a major star with such films as Miracle on 34th Street, Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass and West Side Story.
In 1962, she starred in the musical Gypsy and in 1963’s Love with the Proper Stranger, which garnered her third Academy Award nomination at age 25. Her evocation of a small-town girl dreaming big in this movie won her much acclaim.
She gleefully subverted her wholesome good girl image in Paul Mazursky’s pointed satire of the free love generation. Wood stars as Carol, a Los Angeles sophisticate who participates in group therapy with her married friends Ted and Alice and encourages their libertine attitudes. The film was a critical and commercial success. During this period, she was married twice, and had a daughter with producer Richard Gregson named Courtney Wagner.
Her sixth major role
Natalie Wood made her first big-screen appearance at age nine in the 1947 holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street, in which she plays a precocious girl who knows Santa is real when she tugs at his beard. She went on to receive two more Best Actress Oscar nominations for the juvenile delinquent drama Rebel Without a Cause and the romantic melodrama Splendor in the Grass.
Wood credited director Nicholas Ray and her mother for changing her view of Hollywood films, from a mere form of entertainment to something she enjoyed and took seriously. She would appear in only three more theatrical films before her death, including the mystery comedy Peeper and the science fiction film Brainstorm, released posthumously. She also appeared in several television series and had two children with husbands Richard Gregson and Robert Wagner.
Her seventh major role
A fleeting screen role in the 1944 movie Happy Land brought Wood to the attention of director Irving Pichel, who gave her a larger role in the 1946 film Tomorrow Is Forever. In films like Inside Daisy Clover and This Property Is Condemned, she portrayed teenage girls with big dreams.
In 1961, Wood starred in the Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise musical West Side Story, which was a critical and box office hit. Tibbetts writes that she portrayed Maria to represent “the restlessness of the young, expressed by youth gangs and juvenile delinquency, and early rock and roll.”
By this time, Wood was a mother and married to producer Richard Gregson. Her personal life became volatile and she sought professional therapy. She appeared in fewer films in the 1970s, including the televised version of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and the television miniseries From Here to Eternity.
Her eighth major role
In the sixties, Natalie Wood took on roles that reflected the changing times. Her role in the racial prejudice drama West Side Story was her first big movie and she played a restless Puerto Rican girl in Splendor in the Grass. She also appeared in films that dealt with sex, youth gangs and juvenile delinquents such as Rebel Without a Cause.
She took on television as well and appeared in a number of series including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof which gave her the opportunity to work with Sir Laurence Oliver who she greatly admired. She also gave notable performances in the disaster film Meteor and in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice a sex comedy with George Segal and Valerie Harper. She believed that people who drew a line of distinction between movies and television were snobbish and that good work was good work regardless of medium.