Actress natalie wood photos photo gallery

Written By: Ben Cosgrove

Born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko in San Francisco at the height of the Great Depression, Natalie Wood (“Natasha” to close friends) was one of those rare stars who combined old-school glamor, powerhouse talent and smoldering sex appeal.

3,641 Natalie Wood Photos & High Res Pictures - Getty Images

Her death by drowning off the California coast when she was just 43 remains one of Hollywood’s enduring mysteries, and the source of unending rumors, investigations and speculation.

Here, LIFE.com presents a selection of photographs made by Bill Ray in 1963 a time in the 25-year-old Wood’s career when she had made the leap from actress to genuine movie star and, more importantly, to formidable Hollywood player.

Many of the photos in this gallery were not originally published in LIFE, but appear in Ray’s book, My Life in Photography.

For Ray, the most striking memory of the several weeks that he spent with Wood and her showbiz cohorts is, unsurprisingly, Wood herself or, more specifically, 2,345 Natalie Wood Photos Stock Photos & High-Res Pictures QIB