Natalie Wood Photographed By Bill Ray For Life Magazine, 1963.

Natalie Wood rehearses “the Sweetheart Tree,” on set of “the Great Race,” 1965.

Dominick, I really owe you an apology, you know? I really do. All this time, I’ve been blaming you for everything. You ruining my life and all that. Well, that’s over now. You know why I’ve never been able to leave home? I just suddenly figured it out. Very complicated. I was scared. And I’m not scared anymore. I’m terrified. Funny?

NATALIE WOOD as Angie Rossini in Love with the Perfect Stranger (1963) dir. Robert Mulligan

Natalie Wood in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, 1957, photo by Charlotte Brooks

Natalie Wood in “Love With the Proper Stranger,” 1963.

“She continued to seek solace in her menagerie of pets, including a new bird she named “Gregory Peck-wood,” after her favorite actor.” Natalie Wood by Suzanne Finstad.

WEST SIDE STORY (1961) dir. Robert Wise

Natalie Wood in SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL (1964)  ↳ costume design by Edith Head

Natalie Wood videographed by David Wolper on set of “Sex and the Single Girl,” for his short film, “Hollywood’s Child,” 1964.

NATALIE WOOD: WHAT REMAINS BEHIND, 2020 | dir. Laurent Bouzereau

“I worked at least twelve hours a day in rehearsals, lost weight, and my body was sore from the rigorous training. But when I was judged worthy of joining the professional dancers, I felt pretty proud.”

Natalie Wood photographed in dance rehearsals for “West Side Story,” 1961.

“Natalie [Wood] started “Splendor” with the mingled fear and pleasure she had with “Rebel”... She would recall [Elia] Kazan encouraging her, “Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself,” to be bold, be free, to “shock herself.”

Natalie Wood and director Elia Kazan photographed behind the scenes of “Splendor in the Grass;” Excerpt from “Natalie Wood” by Suzanne Finstad.