Natalie Wood will always be remembered as the beautiful, sad little girl who learned to believe in Santa Claus in The Miracle on 34th Street (1947). In that movie, she was flanked by such outstanding talents as Edmund Gwenn and Maureen O'Hara, yet she held held her own. Later, Wood proved her talents as an adult, starring in such notable films as Rebel without a Cause, West Side Story, and Splendor in the Grass.

Born Natasha Virapaeff on July 20, 1938, to poor Russian immigrants, Wood was destined to become a star. Her mother was a classic stage mother, aggressive, obstinate, insistent, and convinced that others should recognize her daughter's beauty and talent. Although five-year-old Natalie failed to impress at her first screen test, her mother nevertheless convinced producer Irving Pichel to give her a part in his 1943 film Happy Land. In 1946 she had a small part...