Natalie Wood (July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was a three time Academy Award nominated American film actress who died prematurely at the age of 43.

Born Natalya Nikolaevna Zakharenko, she starred in multiple films as a child including both Miracle on 34th Street and The Ghost and Mrs Muir in 1947.

At 16, Natalie began her adult acting career when she was awarded the role of Judy in Rebel Without a Cause, co-starring with James Dean, Sal Mineo, and Dennis Hopper. She was one of the relatively few child stars to make a successful transition to adult stardom.
By the time she was 28, she was already a three-time Oscar nominee, with nominations for Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass and Love With the Proper Stranger. Another of her widely noted films was the Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise musical West Side Story, in which she played Maria. Other films include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with her husband Robert Wagner and Sir Lawrence Oliver.

She received nominations for Academy and/or Golden Globe Awards for Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, Love with the Proper Stranger, Gypsy, and Splendour in the Grass ,amongst other films. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Actress for Here to Eternity.

At the time of her death Natalie Wood was filming Brainstorm and preparing to make her stage debut in a Los Angeles production of Anastasia, opposite Dame Wendy Hiller.