Her life was far too short, but Natalie Wood left an indelible mark on the world. Every day, those who loved her remember her brilliance. “She was incredibly funny, fiercely talented, and radiated happiness,” says her daughter, Courtney Wagner. “That’s the Natalie I carry in my heart.”
Born Natasha Zakharenko to Russian immigrants in San Francisco, Natalie was groomed for Hollywood stardom almost from the moment she took her first breath. “Our mother was born in Russia but spent much of her childhood in China, starting at age five,” explains Lana Wood, Natalie’s younger sister. “Our mom believed deeply in prophecies. A gypsy once told her she’d have a child who’d be known across the globe, and that someone close to us would die by drowning. That warning kept us away from water growing up.”
Her mother, Maria Zakharenko, was a superstitious and strong-willed woman who seemed to will Natalie’s rise to fame. As Suzanne Finstad, author of Natalie Wood: The Complete Biography, explains to Closer, “Maria groomed Natalie to succeed at all costs, teaching her to please others and do whatever directors, producers, or even co-stars demanded.”
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Natalie herself admitted she belonged to a generation that didn’t question authority. “To me, my parents were gods whose every wish had to be obeyed. Disobeying them meant guilt and anguish,” Natalie once confided.
And the prophecy came true sooner than anyone expected. Natalie made her acting debut at just four years old. She quickly became a scene-stealer, even outshining legends like Orson Welles in the 1946 film Tomorrow Is Forever. By the age of eight, she was already a household name as the little girl questioning Santa Claus’s existence in Miracle on 34th Street.
“Our mom was completely immersed in Natalie’s career,” recalls Lana. “Even after Natalie turned 18, our mom was still calling the shots.”
Behind the Scenes: Natalie Wood’s Hidden Struggles
Maria’s relentless pursuit of success came at a steep price. “Natalie’s mother brought her to Frank Sinatra’s house, essentially offering her virginity to boost her career,” Finstad reveals. “It was inappropriate, but it sparked a lifelong, almost paternal bond between Frank and Natalie. Natalie’s own father struggled with alcoholism and was overshadowed by Maria, leaving Frank to fill the role of protector.”
Unfortunately, Sinatra’s support couldn’t shield Natalie from other traumas. “She was raped by a well-known star at 15,” Finstad discloses. “At 16, the director of Rebel Without a Cause pressured her into having sex with him, claiming he wasn’t convinced she could convincingly play a bad girl.”
Lana, who named Kirk Douglas as the perpetrator in her book Little Sister: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood, says Natalie eventually opened up about the assault years later. “It shaped her perspective on right and wrong, making her more guarded than she should have been,” Lana reflects. “It weighed heavily on her.”
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A New Dawn for Natalie Wood
By 18, Natalie was living the dream as Hollywood’s brightest star. She successfully transitioned from child star to adult actress, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Rebel Without a Cause. Gossip columns linked her romantically with legends like James Dean, Elvis Presley, and Elizabeth Taylor’s ex, Nicky Hilton.
But true happiness eluded Natalie until she began confronting the secrets she’d carried for so long. “An actor named Scott Marlowe introduced Natalie to Freudian therapy,” Finstad explains. “It helped her see the manipulation her mother had subjected her to.”
Natalie became an early advocate for therapy, attending sessions daily. “She turned down the role of Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 because she couldn’t leave her therapist to film on location,” Finstad notes. “Therapy was that important to her.”
Lana emphasizes Natalie’s commitment to self-discovery. “She was determined to understand herself and others better, hoping to change things she wasn’t happy with,” Lana says.
Natalie’s career flourished in the 1960s with films like Splendor in the Grass, West Side Story, and Gypsy. But nothing compared to the joy she felt when she became a mother for the first time. “I had no idea motherhood could be so fulfilling until I had Natasha,” Natalie once exclaimed.
Though Natalie wasn’t the domestic type and couldn’t cook, she poured her heart into raising her children—Natasha from her marriage to Richard Gregson, Courtney Wagner with Robert Wagner, and Katie Wagner, whom Natalie treated like a daughter.
“For my mother, having children was a second chance, a way to give her daughters the childhood she missed,” writes Natasha Gregson Wagner in her 2020 memoir More Than Love: An Intimate Portrait of My Mother, Natalie Wood.
In 1981, Natalie seemed to have found peace in her personal life and a renewed passion for acting. Production on her final film, 1983’s Brainstorm, was nearly complete when tragedy struck. Natalie drowned off the coast of Catalina Island, seemingly fulfilling the prophecy her mother had used to frighten her as a child.
But her daughter Natasha rejects the notion of superstition or conspiracy surrounding her mother’s death. “My mother wasn’t tragic or doomed,” she insists. “Her life was about her art, her family, her love. That’s how she should be remembered—not defined by her death, but celebrated for her life.”
