Natalie Wood

Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko (July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981), better known as Natalie Wood, was an American film actress. She was the sister of actor and producer Lana Wood.

Trivia

• When she was nine she had an accident on a movie set which left a slight but permanent bone protrusion on her left wrist. For the rest of her life, on camera or in public, she wore a bracelet to cover it.
• Among the men she dated were singer Elvis Presley and actors Raymond Burr, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty and Nick Adams.
• In her book Elvis and Gladys, author and film insider Elaine Dundy wrote that actress Shelley Winters (usually considered a reliable source for Hollywood goings-on and who portrayed Gladys Presley in the 1979 made-for-TV movie Elvis) claimed the relationship between Presley and Natalie Wood developed into something much more serious than what was generally reported in the media.
• Contrary to popular notions, Wood biographer Gavin Lambert wrote that Wood's casting in Rebel Without a Cause did not lead to a romance with co-star James Dean: "Like many people, she was fascinated by his charm; he had this magnetic quality on the screen and in life... They got on very well, they liked each other a lot." He added that both Dean and "Rebel" director Nicholas Ray (with whom Wood reportedly had an affair) helped renew her passion for acting after a diet of unchallenging roles in movies like Chicken Every Sunday, Dear Brat and Father Was a Fullback.
• She is reported to have had lifelong fears of dark water and drowning.