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Natalie Wood was an award-winning Hollywood actor and a 43-year-old mother of two when she died by drowning. She had been sailing off of Catalina Island outside Los Angeles along with her husband, Robert Wagner, when she is believed to have fallen into the water by accident on November 29, 1981.
As per CBS News, the captain of the boat, Dennis Davern, and Christopher Walken, Wood’s co-star in the film Brainstorm, were also onboard. The drowning was ruled as accidental. The details of the death and how she fell into the water remained a mystery for the decades to come.
Natalie Wood had a consistent acting career that began at the age of 4. Wood reportedly started by playing minor roles. She then got her big break with the film Miracle on 34th Street. After that, she became a prominent teen star and went on to play a supporting role in Rebel Without a Cause. According to People Magazine, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role.
As per CNN, Natalie Wood’s stardom lasted for decades. She managed to be part of both Oscar-nominated and commercially successful films. West Side Story and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice were her other popular films.
Natalie Wood married Robert Wagner in 1957 when she was just 18 years old and he was 27. However, the couple separated in 1962. After four years, she reportedly attempted suicide in 1966. Later, Wood married Richard Gregson in 1969. In 1963, she was named the “Star of the Year” by theatre owners and went on to star in Gypsy, The Great Race, and Sex and the Single Girl in the 1960s.
Was Natalie Wood’s drowning death ever solved?
In November 2011, officials reopened Natalie Wood’s case, claiming to have come across some new and vital evidence 30 years after her death. ABC News reported that authorities had altered her autopsy reports. They changed the manner of death to “drowning and other undetermined factors” and the cause of death to “undetermined.”
The autopsy also revealed a four-inch bruise on her right forearm and several bruises on her arms and legs. Officials also found several one-inch fresh bruises on her left thigh. Similar fresh bruises were found on the back of her legs. Her left forehead, her left eyebrow, and her left upper cheek area had signs of superficial abrasions. Medical experts suggest the bruising likely occurred before Natalie Wood was in the water.
In 2018, BBC reported that Robert Wagner was named by authorities as a “person of interest” in Natalie Wood’s death. He allegedly kept altering his account of what happened on the night Natalie died. A lot of his versions reportedly did not stay consistent with each other.
According to NBC News, as Wagner stated, he and Natalie Wood got into a fight. She then took off and he assumed she left on a smaller inflatable boat. However, he contacted Harbor Patrol when she did not return for a long time. Her body was found briefly after that, floating about a mile from their yacht. Nevertheless, the drowning still remains a mystery.
“Natalie Wood: Death in Dark Water” is an episode of 48 Hours that follows the evidence that led to the reopening of the case and all the possible things that preceded Wood’s drowning.
