-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Natalie Wood was terrified of the water . As an 11-year-old shooting `` The Green Promise , '' she was thrown off a bridge during a storm scene and nearly drowned . The incident scarred her for life . Thirty-two years later , Wood died after falling into the ocean off Catalina Island in California . Wood 's life is full of such curiosities . She was that rare child performer to make the transition to adult movie star , but her rise to success was marked by troubled relationships . She had beauty and talent , but she suffered from alcohol abuse and once tried to commit suicide . And then there 's her death , coming just as she was restarting her movie career . Wood , who died in 1981 , is back in the news after police reopened the case involving her drowning at age 43 . Police : Robert Wagner not a suspect in new probe of Natalie Wood 's death The story surrounding Wood 's death has long been one of Hollywood 's great mysteries . She was making a motion picture comeback in a highly touted science-fiction film , `` Brainstorm , '' and was on her yacht with her husband , Robert Wagner , and her co-star , Christopher Walken . Aspects of Wood 's life have only heightened the speculation . How could someone so young , with a good marriage and revitalized career , die just like that ? Captain describes Wood cover-up story Wood had been a top star for decades , both a box office draw and Oscar-nominated actress . Among her films were some of the biggest and most influential of the 1950s and '60s , including `` Rebel Without a Cause , '' `` West Side Story '' and `` Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice . '' `` It was as if she had movie star stamped on her birth certificate , '' Wagner once said . Indeed , she seemed fated for stardom from the beginning . Wood was born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko , daughter of Russian immigrants , in San Francisco in 1938 . The family later changed their last name to Gurdin . At age 4 , she had a bit part in 1943 's `` Happy Land '' after a production company spotted her in nearby Santa Rosa . Her mother , intent on her daughter making it in the movie business , moved the family to Los Angeles , and young Natalia , renamed Natalie Wood by the studio , soon earned a role in the 1946 Orson Welles film `` Tomorrow Is Forever . '' Welles was impressed with the scene-stealing youngster . `` She 's terrifying ! '' he 's said to have described her . -LRB- Wood 's sister , Lana , also did well , later playing Plenty O'Toole in the James Bond film `` Diamonds Are Forever . '' -RRB- From the late '40s until the mid - '50s , she was one of the most active child performers in the movie business , appearing in such films as 1947 's `` The Ghost and Mrs. Muir '' and 1950 's `` Never a Dull Moment . '' But for several years she was best known as the Santa Claus-believing child in 1947 's `` Miracle on 34th Street , '' opposite Maureen O'Hara and Edmund Gwenn . She later looked back at her childhood years with pain and a little fury . `` I spent practically all my time in the company of adults . I was very withdrawn , very shy , I did what I was told and I tried not to disappoint anybody . I knew I had a duty to perform , and I was trained to follow orders , '' she once said . Her relationship with her mother was often bitter . Glamour to spare It was n't until the groundbreaking `` Rebel Without a Cause '' -LRB- 1955 -RRB- , also starring James Dean and Sal Mineo , that she broke through into mature roles . The film featured Wood as the girlfriend of Dean 's angst-ridden Jim Stark in the role that made Dean a generational symbol . Wood was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for her performance . But it was two 1961 films , the film version of the Broadway smash `` West Side Story '' and the romantic tragedy `` Splendor in the Grass , '' that made her a top-tier movie star . In `` West Side Story , '' a version of `` Romeo and Juliet '' set among New York 's gang culture , Wood played Maria , the ill-fated heroine . Though her singing voice was dubbed , her performance earned her good reviews in what became one of the most lauded movies of all time . `` Splendor in the Grass '' was no slouch , either ; for her performance opposite Warren Beatty , Wood picked up an Oscar nomination for best actress . The press paid attention . Wood had glamour to spare ; she was often touted , along with Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren , as one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood . She also had a photogenic marriage to the hunky Wagner , whom she had married in 1957 when she was 18 and he was 27 . The marriage was one of the most celebrated of its time . `` We drove a Corvette across the country . Radio stations would announce we had just passed through , and people would wait for us in every little town , '' Wood told People magazine in 1976 . But that marriage to Wagner did n't last ; the pair divorced in 1962 . She married her second husband , agent Richard Gregson , in 1969 . The two had a daughter , Natasha . There were some dark moments -- Wood attempted suicide in 1966 -- but on the whole she gained confidence as an actress in the '60s . -LRB- Hardcore psychoanalysis -- she went almost daily for several years -- did n't hurt . -RRB- She was named `` Star of the Year '' by theater owners in 1963 and appeared in a series of popular films , including `` Gypsy '' -LRB- 1962 -RRB- , `` Sex and the Single Girl '' -LRB- 1963 -RRB- and `` The Great Race '' -LRB- 1965 -RRB- . Though she turned down some challenging roles , including one in `` Bonnie and Clyde , '' she bounced back with the wife-swapping comedy `` Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice '' -LRB- 1969 -RRB- , for which she earned a reputed $ 3 million -LRB- thanks to shrewdly taking a cut of the profits -RRB- . However , except for a handful of roles , `` Bob & Carol '' also marked the end of a chapter in Wood 's film career . She divorced Gregson in 1972 and , having reconciled with Wagner , remarried him later that year . She told People that she had few qualms about putting her career on the back burner . `` If a woman decides to get married and have children , other parts of her life are just going to have to be put aside , '' she said . By many accounts , she and Wagner had a stronger marriage the second time around . They had a daughter , Courtney , and stood out as one of Hollywood 's power couples . Wood stayed busy with the occasional TV movie . Troubled production , mysterious end `` Brainstorm '' earned coverage not only for Wood 's casting -- it was just her third theatrical movie since `` Bob & Carol '' -- but also for its technological trappings . The director , Douglas Trumbull , was renowned for his special-effects work on `` 2001 : A Space Odyssey '' and `` Close Encounters of the Third Kind , '' and the movie was being shot in a special format . But `` Brainstorm '' was plagued by production troubles , and rumors started circulating about Wood and Walken 's relationship , as TCM.com notes in its writeup of the film . Wagner , who visited the North Carolina set during a break from his TV series `` Hart to Hart , '' had suspicions . `` The bell was n't exactly clanging , but I was aware that I did n't have her full attention , '' he wrote in his 2008 memoir . `` She was more involved with the movie than she was with her family , and the thought occurred to me that Natalie was being emotionally unfaithful . '' Filming continued in Hollywood , and during the Thanksgiving holiday , Wagner and Wood invited Walken to relax on their boat , Splendour , named for `` Splendor in the Grass . '' The rest is lost in the murky water off the California coast on November 29 , 1981 , when Wood died . At her funeral , her pallbearers included Frank Sinatra , Fred Astaire , Laurence Olivier and Gregory Peck . The aftermath affected lives well away from the boat . The studio wanted to shut down filming ; Trumbull had to find other financing to complete the movie . Upon its 1983 release , `` Brainstorm '' was a box office dud , and Trumbull never directed another film . Dr. Thomas Noguchi , the Los Angeles County coroner , was demoted in 1982 after an investigation by the county board of supervisors over issues with his job , including publicity-seeking after the deaths of celebrities . Wagner mourned Wood 's death for years before marrying Jill St. John , one of Wood 's closest friends , in 1990 . Though her image has faded in comparison with some of her contemporaries , such as Taylor or Dean , she 's still looked up to by young actresses . Vanessa Hudgens , the `` High School Musical '' star , calls Wood her `` idol . '' Wood herself was blunt about her impact . `` Let 's face it , acting is not important . Einstein is important . Jonas Salk is important . I know they 're not going to send my latest movie up in a time capsule , '' she once said . What she desired , apparently , was more out of life . Some time before her death she gave an interview and was asked if she was satisfied . After all , she had two children , a terrific husband , fame , money and beauty . What more could she want ? She did n't hesitate : `` I want yesterday . ''