
Died at 87
female
Natalie Wood (née Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring role at age 8 in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), followed by a role in John Ford's The Searchers (1956). Wood starred in the musical films West Side Story (1961) and Gypsy (1962) and received nominations for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). Her career continued with films such as Sex and the Single Girl (1964), Inside Daisy Clover (1965), and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). During the 1970s, Wood began a hiatus from film and had two daughters: one with her second husband Richard Gregson, and one with Robert Wagner, her first husband whom she married again after divorcing Gregson. She acted in only two feature films throughout the decade, but she appeared slightly more often in television productions, including a remake of From Here to Eternity (1979) for which she won a Golden Globe Award. Wood's films represented a "coming of age" for her and for Hollywood films in general. Critics have suggested that her cinematic career represents a portrait of modern American womanhood in transition, as she was one of the few to take both child roles and those of middle-aged characters. Wood died off the coast of Santa Catalina Island on November 29, 1981, at age 43, during a holiday break from the production of her would-be comeback film Brainstorm (1983) with Christopher Walken. The events surrounding her death have been the subject of conflicting witness statements, prompting the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, under the instruction of the coroner's office, to list her cause of death as "drowning and other undetermined factors" in 2012. Description above from the Wikipedia article Natalie Wood, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Natalie Wood

Cynthia Weston
for Cynthia Weston in Bad Dreams (1958)
Suggested by dynastiprimosfan

In the 40's, the members of the Unity Fields cult commit mass suicide when their leader Harris burns the old house where they are with gasoline. The only survivor is Cynthia Weston, who is in coma. Thirteen years later, Cynthia awakes from her coma and is interned in a mental institution to adapt herself to the life in the 50's and physiotherapy in her muscles. She joins the group therapy of Dr. Alex Karmen for borderline personality disorder under the instructions of the psychologist Dr. Berrisford, but Dr. Karmen believes the treatment is not adequate for her. Soon Cynthia has visions of Harris trying to force her to commit suicide. She does not accept, and Cynthia sees Harris killing the other patients in the hospital.
