Natalie Wood - A Vogue Cover Image

She was born in San Francisco on July 20, 1938, and took ballet classes at the age of four. She landed her first film role, a bit part in Happy Land at the age of five, and at the age of eight, Wood won over the audiences with her small role as an orphan in the drama Tomorrow Is Forever with Claudette Colbert and Orson Wells. The next year she became a star with her first major role in Miracle on 34th Street. In 1955 at age 16, she co-starred with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and in 1961 she played Maria in West Side Story. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Splendor in the Grass. Wood earned a lot of press not just for her acting roles, but also for her personal life. She had numerous relationships—both public and secret—with her co-stars, colleagues and other stars. She dated actor Dennis Hopper, hotel dynasty heir Nicky Hilton, and even singer Elvis Presley. Her first marriage at the age of eighteen was to actor Robert Wagner, eight years her senior. The pair split up soon after, and she became involved with Warren Beatty. After another failed marriage to Richard Gregson, a writer and producer she decided to remarry Wagner. They had one child named Courtney and stayed together until Wood's death in 1981.