Editing Natalie Wood (section)

===Early roles===
[[File:Natalie Wood 1947 photo.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Wood in 1947]]
Wood's first appearance on screen came when she was just four years old in the March 1943 release of ''[[The Moon Is Down (film)|The Moon Is Down]]'' based on the [[John Steinbeck]] book of the same name.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Amelio |first=Anthony |title=Bibliographia Dystopia: Volume 1, John Steinbeck's The Moon Is Down |publisher=Primedia |year=2020 |isbn=9781636491110 |edition=2nd revised |pages=163}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, she was cast again in a fifteen-second scene in the film ''[[Happy Land (film)|Happy Land]]'' (1943). Despite the brief parts, she became a favorite of the director of both films, [[Irving Pichel]].{{sfn|Lambert|2004|pp=25–26}} He remained in contact with Wood's family for two years, advising them when another role came up. The director telephoned Wood's mother and asked her to bring her daughter to Los Angeles for a [[screen test]]. Wood's mother became so excited that she "packed the whole family off to Los Angeles to live," writes Harris. Wood's father opposed the idea, but his wife's "overpowering ambition to make Natalie a star" took priority.{{sfn|Harris|1988|p=25}} According to Wood's younger sister Lana, Pichel "discovered her and wanted to adopt her."{{sfn|Wood|1984|p=50}}

Wood, then seven years old, got the part. She played a post-[[World War II]] German orphan, opposite [[Orson Welles]] as Wood's guardian and [[Claudette Colbert]], in ''[[Tomorrow Is Forever]]'' (1946). When Wood was unable to cry on cue, her mother tore a butterfly to pieces in front of her to ensure she would sob for a scene.<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Moore | first1 = Paul | title = Natalie Wood's life of beauty, agony |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2001-07-08-0107080329-story.html | access-date = July 5, 2019 | work = The Baltimore Sun | date = July 8, 2001 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705044432/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2001-07-08-0107080329-story.html | archive-date = July 5, 2019 | url-status = live }}</ref> Welles later said that Wood was a born professional, "so good, she was terrifying." He also said "Natalie doesn't act from the script, she acts from the heart."<ref name=OConnerJ-NYT->{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/08/arts/tv-weekend-a-documentary-remembrance-of-natalie-wood.html | title = TV Weekend; A Documentary Remembrance of Natalie Wood | author = John J. O'Connor | date = July 8, 1988 | work = [[The New York Times]] | access-date = September 19, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110102423/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/08/arts/tv-weekend-a-documentary-remembrance-of-natalie-wood.html | archive-date = November 10, 2012 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Wood acted in another film directed by Pichel, ''[[The Bride Wore Boots]]'', and went on to [[20th Century Fox]] to play [[Gene Tierney]]'s daughter in ''[[The Ghost and Mrs. Muir]]'' (1947).