Natalie Wood | 1938-1981

Natalie Wood, shown as a teenager in 1955, began her career at age 4, when director Irving Pichel gave her a small role in “Happy Land” (1943). By age 8 she was making $1,000 a week. In 1950, she was the queen of fan magazines and the second biggest actress after Elizabeth Taylor.

(AFP / Getty Images)

Jan. 14, 2013 2:41 PM PT

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The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is reopening its case into the 1981 death of actress Natalie Wood. Officials then ruled her drowning death while boating off Santa Catalina Island was an accident. But there has been much speculation about what happened in the boat. Full coverage: Natalie Wood investigation reopened

Natalie Wood was about the yacht Splendour with her husband Robert Wagner and others before she disappeared.

(Harrington / Associated Press)

Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood were grand marshalls of the Hollywood Christmas Parade in 1979. Wood starred as a child in the 1947 Christmas movie “Miracle on 34th Street.”

(Hollywood Chamer of Commerce / Associated Press)

Edmund Gwenn, left, as Kris Kringle, greets Natalie Wood in a scene from the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street.” (Fox Home Entertainment / Associated Press)