Natalie Wood, star of West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause, was found dead near Santa Catalina Island on November 21, 1981. She was on a yacht with her actor husband Robert Wagner, Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken and the captain.
The film opens with a fascinating discussion of forensic evidence led by expert Christina Stanley, including unexplained bruising and scratches. It is eye-opening and convincing. Keep reading the article below to learn more about Natalie Wood Death.
Wood’s last days were a tumultuous affair involving alcohol, accusations of infidelity and accusations of physical abuse. In the end, she drank herself to death. It’s hard to know what exactly happened on the night she died, but it has been alleged that she was involved in a physical altercation with her husband before she went into the water.
Wood, the Oscar-winning actress for her performances in West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause, and her husband, actor Robert Wagner, were spending the weekend aboard their yacht Splendour off the coast of Catalina Island. Her Brainstorm costar Christopher Walken and the ship’s captain, Dennis Davern, were also on board.
The pair were on a break from filming, and Wood had invited many friends to join them on the boat, but most declined due to bad sailing weather that weekend. Walken and Davern were the only people who accepted, according to several interviews conducted after her death.
Originally, investigators believed that Wood was bruised when she fell overboard from the yacht and struggled to get into a rubber dinghy. The dinghy had scratch marks on it that matched the actress’s. However, nail clippings were never taken from her body to determine if she made the scratches herself. Also, the dinghy was no longer available for examination, so investigators could not make sure the dinghy had not been moved after her body was recovered from the water.
When she was found, her body was bruised all over. The medical examiner said it was impossible to rule on an accidental entry into the water, but he attributed her death to drowning and other undetermined factors.
Since then, the case has resurfaced multiple times. In 2011, 30 years after her death, Los Angeles sheriff’s officials reopened the investigation and classified her death as a murder-suicide. They called 87-year-old Wagner a person of interest, but he has always denied any involvement in his wife’s death. He was also a suspect in a separate case in Hawaii, where his home was raided for illegal mooring fees. He has been in jail on several occasions for similar violations.
What Happened?
Actress Natalie Wood was an American icon, a Hollywood darling who appeared in countless films and swept the world with her beauty and talent. While her film career had its ups and downs, the star of West Side Story, Rebel Without a Cause and Splendor in the Grass was also a devoted family woman. Her real life, however, was a much darker tale.
In 1981, at age 43, the movie legend was found dead of an apparent drowning off the coast of California’s Catalina Island. The case has never been solved, and even after 35 years, the mystery of how Wood died is still shrouded in a certain amount of secrecy.
While it is known that the star was on a boat trip with her husband, Robert Wagner, her Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken and Dennis Davern, captain of the couple’s yacht Splendour, some of the details surrounding her death remain unclear. In a book published in 2018, author Marti Rulli cites an interview with Davern in which he claims that after spending hours at a bar with Walken and Wood, the pair went back to their yacht and argued. When Wood departed for her state room, Wagner followed her and the two began a loud argument.
A few minutes later, Wagner called the radio to report Wood was missing. After waiting for a response, the captain of a rescue boat searched the waters near Blue Cavern Point, and spotted her red down jacket floating nearby.
After the recovery of Wood’s body, investigators ruled her death accidental, but the case was never closed. One theory is that she fell out of the boat while trying to get into a rubber dinghy that was nearby. This was supported by the fact that Wood had several bruises, and the dinghy did bear scratch marks. Walken has since denied this, and a new theory has emerged, supported by a witness who heard the couple fight. For more on what’s known and unknown about the star’s death, HBO’s documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind is a must-see.
Why Was She Disappeared?
Natalie Wood was a child star who rose to fame after costarring in the 1947 Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street. She starred in several other classics as well, including Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story. She was also nominated for three Oscars, though she struggled with insecurity and depression. She sought psychoanalysis and suffered from bipolar disorder.
In 1981, she was 43 years old when she disappeared from the deck of her family yacht, Splendour, off the coast of Catalina Island in California. Her body was found the next day in the water, floating in a down jacket and cotton nightgown. The Los Angeles coroner ruled her death accidental.
She was on a boating trip with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, her Brainstorm costar Christopher Walken, and the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern. She had invited other friends to join them, but they all turned down the weekend boating trip due to the less-than-ideal sailing weather. Besides Wagner and Walken, Wood’s close friend Davern was on board as well. He has long maintained that she argued with Wagner shortly before her disappearance and that the fight led to her accidentally falling into the water.
After a lengthy search, her body was discovered floating in the water at 7:44 a.m, almost three hours after she was reported to have slipped and drowned. Her body was wearing her down jacket, nightgown and socks. The socks didn’t come off in the water, and a local islander, Doug Bombard, says that if she had been alive, her feet would have been above the surface of the water.
After her death, rumors of foul play abounded, but investigators eventually concluded that she slipped while trying to board a dinghy and drowned. However, a forensic pathologist has raised serious questions about the case and investigators have recently amended her death certificate to reflect this uncertainty. Moreover, the captain of the boat she was on has now revealed that he lied to investigators during the original investigation and that he believes Wagner killed her. He is now a person of interest in the case.
What Happened Next?
Actress Natalie Wood’s life seemed to be a Hollywood fairy tale, but that dream turned into a nightmare on a yacht trip around Catalina Island in November of 1981. Wood was 43 years old when she drowned on the yacht Splendour, clad only in a down jacket and nightgown. Her body was found the next day floating in the ocean, but her cause of death has never been definitively determined.
The night before she died, Wood was partying with husband Robert Wagner and co-star Christopher Walken on the couple’s 60-foot yacht. At one point, the three got into an argument about whether personal lives should be sacrificed for careers. When the fight ended, Wagner went to bed and when he woke up, Wood was nowhere to be seen. He told investigators that she must have taken the dinghy out on the water for a quick cruise after the dispute, and that he assumed she would return shortly. But when ten to 15 minutes passed and she didn’t come back, Wagner radioed Harbor Patrol.
A search commenced, but after hours of looking, the authorities were unable to find her. A small dinghy was beached nearby, but no sign of Wood was anywhere to be found. The dinghy had been left in neutral with the engine off, and it wasn’t clear if anyone in the crew had heard her call out for help.
In the years following her death, various theories were advanced about what really happened to Wood. Her volatile marriage to Wagner and insinuations that she had a relationship with her co-star on the film Brainstorm added to the speculation. Wood’s daughter from her second husband, Natasha Gregson Wagner, has released an HBO documentary that takes a strong and clear-eyed look at the facts of the case, and dispels some of the innuendo.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recently announced that it was reopening the investigation into Wood’s death, 30 years after her disappearance. Investigators are now focusing on her two-time husband, who is considered a person of interest in the case.