A Premonition
Natalie's name was changed by studio executives shortly after she had been thrust into the limelight: Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko became Natalie Wood. Her mother, Maria, desperately wanted her daughter's career to take off. She knew Natalie was destined for great things—but she also was warned of her untimely demise.
Beware the Dark Water
When Maria herself was a young girl, she encountered a fortune teller who said her second child "would be a great beauty" and a famous celebrity. However, the fortune teller told Maria to "beware of dark water."
Wood rose to fame after securing a role in Miracle on 34th Street. At the age of 16, Wood's performance in Rebel Without a Cause earned her an Oscar nomination. While her life seemed picture-perfect from the outside, things were beginning to unravel behind the scenes.