In the early morning hours of Nov. 29, 1981, Hollywood’s "princess" perished in the chilly waters off Catalina Island. Authorities believed Natalie Wood accidentally slipped into the water while attempting to transfer aboard a small dinghy attached to her 55-foot yacht.
Natalie Wood was born Natasha Gurdin on July 20, 1938, to two Russian immigrants. She had appeared in her first movie at the age of 4. Her most notable role in her early years was in the Christmas holiday standard Miracle on 34th Street. By the time she was 18, she had already appeared in over 30 movies.
Wood’s big break as an adult actress was in 1955’s Rebel Without A Cause, alongside such young actors as James Dean, Sal Mineo and Nick Adams. She was nominated for a "Best Supporting Actress" Academy Award for her work in the film. She was only 17.
Wood’s success in Hollywood could not be stopped, on screen or off. She appeared in such major Hollywood productions as West Side Story, The Searchers, Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice, Splendor in the Grass (for which she received a "Best Actress" Oscar nod), and Love With a Proper Stranger (which garnered her second "Best Actress" nomination).
During Wood’s ascendancy to the top of the Hollywood throne, it was hinted that she liked to delve into the pleasures of the flesh off screen. She was rumored to have dated practically every leading man in her day from Frank Sinatra to Warren Beatty to Elvis Presley.
Despite her alleged wild ways with Hollywood’s leading men, her closest friends knew that Wood wanted something much simpler. Even though she loved acting, she wanted nothing more than to be married and to raise children.
In 1957, Wood’s wish came true when she married actor Robert Wagner. The young couple, however, felt pressured by outside influences, and eventually divorced in 1962.
Wood married again in the late '60s. She and her new husband, producer Richard Gregson, had a daughter, Natasha. Her marriage to Gregson, however, was ill-fated and they were soon divorced.
Subsequently, Wood and Wagner realized that they were meant to be together. The couple reunited and married a second time in 1972, in a small ceremony on a boat in Malibu. Theirs was a seemingly peaceful marriage the second time around. They also had their first child together, Courtney, in 1974.
By the early 1980s, both actors’ careers began to slowly fade. Wood did, however, land a role in the science-fiction thriller Brainstorm, which featured the hot young actor Christopher Walken. During filming of the movie, rumors spread that Walken had a thing for Wood and she had returned his interest. Walken denied any involvement with Wood.
On Nov. 29, 1981, just a few days after Thanksgiving, Wood, Wagner and Walken headed out to Catalina Island to celebrate the success of the shooting of Brainstorm. The trio decided to unwind at the Harbor Reef Restaurant on the island.
This is when things supposedly started to unravel.
