Hollywood is notorious for having a dark and sordid history. I’ve covered such a case before, in The Mysterious Death of Thelma Todd. This week, I’m bringing you another mysterious Hollywood death – the death of Natalie Wood.
(For clarity, there is a lot of rumour and speculation surrounding her time as an actress. I will not be touching these rumours.)
Natalie Wood was born Natalia Zacharenko in San Francisco, California, on July 20th, 1938. At a very young age, her mother, Maria, instilled all her hopes and dreams on little Natalia. First, she enrolled her in ballet classes by the age of 3. Then, she would take her young daughter to the movies. However, these weren’t mother-daughter outings. They were training sessions.
Through the magic of the big screen, Natalia learned how to perform. Her mother instilled in her the importance of absolute perfection at all times, at all costs, and how to properly comport herself as an actress. Maria put a lot of pressure on young Natalia, and that pressure only grew as her daughter did.
In 1942, the family moved to Santa Rosa, closer to Los Angeles, to afford Natalia more opportunities. There, she was noticed by the crew working the set of a film nearby, just as her mother had hoped would happen.
Soon, Natalia was signed up as a child actress with RKO. They changed her name to Natalie Wood, an homage to the filmmaker Sam Wood, which they believed would be more palatable to an American audience. As she was starting out, her younger sister, Svetlana, was born. Svetlana would later change her name to Lana Wood for her own acting career.
Natalie was cast in a few films, but didn’t truly become a household name until 1947, when she was cast in Miracle on 34th Street. The film became a huge hit, and Natalie was considered one of the top child stars in Hollywood.
Maria was very, very quick to capitalize on Natalie’s success. She never failed to remind her young daughter that their entire family relied on her income and her talent.
Through her career as a child and a teenager, Maria kept Natalie completely under her control. She was known to use insidious methods of manipulation to ensure Natalie acted a certain way, and used fear tactics to keep her in line. It was through her mother that Natalie developed an intense fear of water.
Before Natalie had been born, a psychic told Maria that her daughter would be celebrated the world over, but that there would also be a death involving dark waters. Maria took these warnings extremely seriously, and used them to manipulate Natalie at every turn. Fear, intimidation, superstition, and manipulation were Maria’s tools for keeping her children – especially Natalie – exactly where she wanted them.
As Natalie’s portfolio grew, so did her talents. She easily moved from angelic child star to teen heartthrob, taking on a role in the film Rebel Without a Cause, alongside James Dean, in 1955. From there, Natalie signed a long-term contract with Warner Brothers, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Natalie continued to razzle and dazzle, earning a solid reputation as a versatile actress. Even as she slowed her career, earning reprimands from Warner Brothers, Natalie Wood remained a household name, as her personal life was broadcast all over the media.
In a highly publicized event, Natalie Wood married actor Robert Wagner on December 28th, 1957. Natalie was 18, and Wagner was 26. At the time, Natalie’s career was still booming, while Wagner was just starting to break through. In another highly publicized event, the couple separated in 1961, and then divorced in 1962.
The cause of the separation has been the subject of rumour that doesn’t bear repeating. However, it is known that Natalie’s mental health struggled as a result, though it could be argued this was her breaking point after a long history of trauma.
She went into treatment, and was able to begin working through all of the years of trauma she suffered at the hands of Hollywood, and her mother.
Following this, Natalie took time away from acting, and married another man in 1969, with whom she had a daughter. The couple filed for divorce in 1971, and it was finalized in 1972.
In July of 1972, Natalie and Wagner found their way back to each other, and remarried. Natalie gave birth to their daughter in 1974.
At this time, the power dynamics in their marriage had shifted – Wagner’s career had picked up, and Natalie stayed home, taking care of the children. Though her career didn’t completely peter out.
In 1981, she appeared in her final film, Brainstorm, opposite Christopher Walken.
During Thanksgiving weekend in 1981, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner, and Christopher Walken all boarded Wager’s yacht, the Splendour, to spend the weekend near Catalina Island. The yacht’s captain, Dennis Davern, was on board with them, manning the yacht while the others spent their time relaxing.
On the evening of November 28th, 1981, Natalie disappeared from the boat. Her body was found around 8:00 AM the following morning, on November 29th. An inflatable dinghy was found beached near her body.
As the investigation began, Wagner informed authorities that when he went to bed, Natalie wasn’t in the room with him. He went on to say that at around midnight, he grew more and more concerned that she hadn’t come down to bed yet. He then placed a radio call reporting her missing around 1:30 AM. However, an L.A. County rescue boat captain indicated that he didn’t receive any calls about Natalie being missing until after 5:00 AM.
The autopsy indicated that that Natalie showed signs of bruising on her body, arms, and an abrasion on her left cheek. The autopsy also indicated that her time of death was likely around midnight the night she went missing from the yacht. The autopsy also indicated that Natalie had a blood alcohol level of 0.14%, and traces of a motion sickness pill as well as a painkiller in her bloodstream.
In the end, Los Angeles County coroner, Thomas Noguchi, ruled that Natalie’s cause of death was drowning and hypothermia as a result of falling off the yacht. Noguchi surmised that the painkiller and motion sickness pill exacerbated the effects of the alcohol, and that this may have caused Natalie to slip from the yacht as she was trying to board the dinghy.
Natalie’s sister, Lana, found this ruling to be highly suspect. Having grown up in the same manipulative household as Natalie, Lana knew well enough the terror their mother instilled in them. Natalie was so afraid of the water, there was no way she would have attempted to board a dinghy by herself, in the dark.
At the time, it seemed that the case had reached a speedy, and unsatisfying conclusion. However, that wouldn’t be the last word on the mysterious death of Natalie Wood.
In 2011, the case was reopened when new evidence was brought to the attention of investigators.
Dennis Davern, the captain of the Splendour at the time of Natalie’s death, came forward and stated that he’d lied to investigators during the course of the initial investigation. He indicated that he was intimidated and afraid of Wagner, and he feared for his own wellbeing if he spoke up. But now he was ready, and he had one hell of a story.
Davern told investigators that on the night Natalie went missing, she, Wagner, and Walken had all had dinner at Doug’s Harbor Reef Restaurant, where they indulged in champagne, two bottles of wine, and cocktails. Wagner was known to be a very jealous man, and he was absolutely certain that Natalie and Walken were having an affair. Wagner accused Walken of sleeping with Natalie in the restaurant. The argument escalated, and one of the men threw a wine glass at the other, breaking it in the process.
Around 10:00 PM, all four passengers boarded the dinghy, and returned to the Splendour, where Wagner’s mood had not gotten better. Davern told investigators that Wagner continued the argument, this time taking his anger and frustrations out on Natalie. He also continued drinking, which just enraged him more and more.
As the argument continued, Walken retreated to his own cabin, while Wagner raged on and on at Natalie, taking the argument to their own cabin. A shouting match ensued, and then suddenly Davern heard nothing but silence. When Davern cautiously made his way to the cabin to check on them, only Wagner could be seen in the cabin. He turned to Davern, and allegedly stated: “Natalie is missing”.
Another witness came forward around the same time. This woman stated that she had guests aboard her own boat, which was roughly 50 feet away from where the Splendour was anchored. Around 11:30 PM the evening of November 28th, 1981, the woman heard screaming coming from the water, as well as shouts for help. At the time, the woman thought nothing of it, thinking it was revellers from another boat nearby horsing around.
A few days after, the woman received a threatening note informing her to keep her silence on the matter. Out of fear, the woman hadn’t come forward, until now. With Dennis Davern’s brazen statements, she felt safe to tell her story.
For decades, rumours had run rampant about what had happened to Natalie Wood on the night of November 28th, 1981. Now, it seemed Dennis Davern had provided an answer. Allegedly.
In 2012, Natalie Wood’s death certificate was amended to state her cause of death as “drowning and other undetermined factors”.
In 2013, a 10-page addendum was made to Natalie Wood’s original autopsy report. The addendum stated that it was possible Natalie sustained some of the bruising to her body before she went into the water. However, the addendum was clear that this could not be definitively determined.
This addendum gained traction in 2020 when a former intern of Thomas Noguchi’s came forward and stated that they had seen the bruising on Natalie’s body. They pointed it out to Noguchi, who told them it was best to leave well enough alone, and that some things shouldn’t be said. To the intern, the bruising was indicative of someone being thrown out of a boat. The intern’s notes were never included in Noguchi’s original report.
In February of 2018, Robert Wagner was officially named as a person of interest in the death of Natalie Wood. Investigators were sure that Wagner was the last person to have been with Natalie before she went missing from the Splendour the night of her death. They surmised that Natalie was possibly assaulted before being thrown off the boat into the water, and the dinghy let go to make it look like an accident.
Robert Wagner has always maintained his innocence, stating that he was not involved in the death of Natalie Wood. He has not been arrested or charged for any wrongdoing in the case.
Without any new leads, there is very little investigators can do.
Lana Wood, Natalie’s sister, maintains that her sister was murdered, and that Robert Wagner is the party responsible.
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Sources:
40 years later, the mystery over Natalie Wood’s death endures – Los Angeles Times
Natalie Wood’s Death And The Chilling Mystery Behind It – Marco Margaritoff; edited by John Kuroski – All That’s Interesting
“Natalie Wood’s Drowning Was Not an Accident”: A New Book’s Shocking Findings – Suzanne Finstad – Vanity Fair
Will we ever know what really happened to Natalie Wood? – Kelly McClure – Salon
Morbid podcast – Episode 229 – The Tragic Death of Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood Wikipedia page