15 Tragic Facts About Actress Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood was groomed for a Hollywood career by her mother from the age of four. Her mother was obsessed with her success and raised her with strict discipline and psychological pressure. According to accounts, she once tore apart a butterfly in front of young Natalie so she would cry convincingly on set. This left Natalie with lifelong anxiety and insecurity, despite her success.

Natalie Wood had an extreme fear of deep, dark water from childhood. According to her family, a fortune teller had once warned her mother to 'beware of dark water'. As a child she was injured during a scene near a river when a bridge collapsed, which only deepened her fear. Tragically, she drowned in 1981 under mysterious circumstances.

Natalie Wood drowned on 29 November 1981 off Catalina Island while on a yacht with her husband Robert Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and the boat's captain. Her death was initially ruled an accident, but questions remained: why would she go out in a dinghy at night, given her fear of water, and where did the bruises on her body come from? In 2011 the case was reopened, the cause of death was changed to 'drowning and other undetermined factors', and in 2018 Wagner was named a 'person of interest'. He has always denied involvement and has never been charged.

Natalie and Robert Wagner were Hollywood's golden couple. They married in 1957, divorced in 1962 and remarried in 1972. Despite their perfect image, their relationship was marked by jealousy and drama, and many still wonder what role tensions that night played in her death.

Around the end of her first marriage to Robert Wagner, Natalie had an intense relationship with Warren Beatty, her co-star in Splendor in the Grass (1961). The relationship was passionate but turbulent, and its end left Natalie emotionally devastated during one of the darkest periods of her life.

Natalie Wood and James Dean starred together in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and their bond on set was intense. She was just sixteen and deeply admired him. His sudden death shortly before the film's release shook her badly, and she remained protective of his memory.

Natalie Wood told friends she had been sexually assaulted as a teenager by a powerful Hollywood figure, whom she never named publicly. In 2018 her sister Lana suggested it had been Kirk Douglas, who never publicly responded before his death in 2020. According to accounts, Natalie kept silent at the time out of fear for her career, and the trauma stayed with her all her life.

Natalie Wood and Elvis Presley had a short-lived romance in 1956. She visited him at Graceland and rode on the back of his motorcycle, but the relationship fizzled out quickly; she later said he was sweet but too wholesome for her.

At the height of her career, Natalie Wood was one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. With hits like West Side Story, Splendor in the Grass and Gypsy, she was one of the few child stars who successfully made the leap to adult superstar.

Despite her huge talent and iconic roles, Natalie Wood never won an Academy Award. She was nominated three times: for Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). Many critics feel she deserved to win at least once.

During her turbulent love life, Natalie Wood was also romantically linked to Frank Sinatra, whom she had known since she was a teenager. The relationship never became serious, and they remained close friends.

Natalie Wood worked hard on her singing for West Side Story and believed her own voice would be used. But during post-production nearly all her vocals were replaced by those of singer Marni Nixon, which came as a painful surprise to her.

Natalie Wood spent years at the top of lists of Hollywood's most beautiful women and was often compared to icons like Elizabeth Taylor. Her unique mix of classic beauty and mysterious charm made her irresistible to fans and fellow actors alike.

At a time when psychological problems were taboo, Natalie was relatively open about being in psychoanalysis and about her struggles with depression and anxiety. She spoke about the pressure Hollywood put on her, something almost unheard of at the time.

More than 40 years after her death, her case remains one of the most mysterious deaths in Hollywood history. New testimonies and documentaries continue to appear, and many people believe the full truth has never come to light.