--- title: Natalie Wood: Rare Photographs of a Movie Star Who Died Too Young description: LIFE presents rare and classic photos, never published in the magazine, of the lifelong movie star. canonical: https://time.com/3673669/natalie-wood-rare-photos/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-11-29T16:08:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:06:08.819Z og:title: Natalie Wood: Rare Photographs of a Movie Star Who Died Too Young og:description: LIFE presents rare and classic photos, never published in the magazine, of the lifelong movie star. og:url: https://time.com/3673669/natalie-wood-rare-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta99107a113640ff9/69877aaee20a87f6bda8496f/150119-natalie-wood-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Natalie Wood og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Natalie Wood: Rare Photographs of a Movie Star Who Died Too Young twitter:description: LIFE presents rare and classic photos, never published in the magazine, of the lifelong movie star. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta99107a113640ff9/69877aaee20a87f6bda8496f/150119-natalie-wood-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Natalie Wood: Rare and Classic Photos of the Lifelong Movie Star > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=20a837e9-9c9a-40c4-a719-55f63538522e&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Nov 29, 2013 4:08 PM UTC  Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen, 1963. Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen, 1963. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Nov 29, 2013 4:08 PM UTC At nearly every stage of Natalie Wood’s career — the early days as a cute studio-contract moppet; her teenage Method experiments inspired by her work in _Rebel Without a Cause_; and her emergence as a powerful leading lady who could more than hold her own with Warren Beatty and Steve McQueen — LIFE’s photographers were there, capturing Wood’s talent and beauty as they blossomed over the years. But not every picture from those many rolls of film could make it to print, of course. Here, LIFE.com presents a selection of the best photos of the late, radiant star which were not originally published in LIFE magazine. Natalie Wood died, far too young, in 1981\. She was just 43 years old. She drowned near Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of California. In 2012, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner reclassified the cause of her death as “drowning and other undetermined factors.” _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen, 1963. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood, 1945. Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood, 1945. Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood practices as her 16-year-old sister Olga plays a Chopin waltz, 1945. Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood, 1945. Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood waters the lawn as her mother, Maria Gurdin, supervises, 1945. Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood, age 18, sits poolside at her brand-new Laurel Canyon home in 1956. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood, Dennis Hopper and Nick Adams make dinner in 1956. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Dennis Hopper (lying on sofa) and Nick Adams listen intently as Natalie Wood reads aloud from Thomas Wolfe's The Hills Beyond in 1956. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Dennis Hopper, Nick Adams and Natalie Wood, 1956. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood (with Nick Adams and a partly hidden Dennis Hopper above), 1956. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood takes a call while sitting on her bed at home in 1956. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood and actor friends, Los Angeles, 1956. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Twenty-two-year-old Natalie Wood, 1960, at Beverly Hills home she shared with husband Robert Wagner. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty, 1961. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty, 1961. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood beams as assistants help her get glam for the Academy Awards on April 9, 1962. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood before the Academy Awards in April 1962. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood before the Academy Awards in April 1962. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood waves as a stylist reinforces her updo with hairspray before the Academy Awards in April 1962. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  An assistant helps Natalie Wood into a showstopping, skin-baring number in April 1962. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood smiles beside her date for the 1962 Oscars, Warren Beatty, inside the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Steve McQueen kisses Natalie Wood's hand as the actors meet to discuss their new project, 1963's Love With the Proper Stranger. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood, 1963. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen in 1963. 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