Her First Major Part
This move was just the beginning of Maria’s reign as a stage mom. After Natalie received a few small parts in Hollywood, Maria was determined to make her daughter a star. She had her eyes on a part in Irving Pichel’s 1946 film Tomorrow is Forever. Natalie was up for the part of an emotionally fragile orphan, but in order to win the part, the child actress was going to have to cry on cue.
Film Stills of ‘Tomorrow Is Forever’ With 1946, George Brent, Claudette Colbert, Irving Pichel, Orson Welles, Natalie Wood in 1946. Photo By Snap/Shutterstock
Maria didn’t trust her daughter’s abilities and took to a more extreme route to turn the waterworks on. Seconds before the screen test, Maria whispered into the seven-year-old’s ear to think about their family dog dying. But Natalie’s crying wasn’t up to Maria’s standards.