She was a child actress who effortlessly pulled off a transition to adult fare, and delighted all she met along the way. LIFE followed her at the Cannes Film Festival in 1962, where the 23-year-old Wood remained her charming self even as the paparazzi "pursued her like jackals": "At a party given by the Russian delegation, Natalie, the daughter of Russian emigrants, delighted her hosts by conversing fluently in their language and even joining in folk songs."