The documentary features interviews with her family, friends, and colleagues, along with personal home movies and previously unseen photographs. It also includes a heartfelt on-camera interview with her stepfather, Robert Wagner.
On the night of her death, Wood was with Wagner and Brainstorm co-star Walken on a yacht named Splendour. The four were drinking alcohol and had argued. Her body was found at 8 a.m. the next day, one mile from the boat. Keep reading the article below to learn more about Natalie Wood Death.
Natalie Wood was one of Hollywood’s most illustrious stars, a luminous beauty who rose to fame as little Susan Walker in 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street and went on to have a major career through the ’50s and ’60s with roles in Rebel Without a Cause, West Side Story and The Searchers. Her sudden death in 1981 at the age of 43 was a mystery that has never been fully solved and, even now, continues to spark speculation.
On November 29, 1981, the body of Wood was found floating in the Pacific Ocean off Catalina Island in Southern California. She was dressed in a flannel nightgown, socks and a down jacket. It was later learned that the actress had been on her husband Robert Wagner’s yacht Splendour with her Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken and the boat’s young captain, Dennis Davern. She had been drinking heavily that evening and had a blood alcohol level of 0.14 percent when she disappeared.
The initial investigation concluded that Wood slipped from the boat’s dock and fell into the water. However, there was evidence that she had been struggling in the dinghy and had tried to push it back to the yacht. The dinghy also bore scratch marks that could have been made by her nails.
Davern would later write a book, Pieces of My Heart, in which he claimed that the initial investigation was flawed and that he had withheld information to protect himself from prosecution. In the book, he alleged that Wagner had argued with Wood and then pushed her into the water. He also said that he had heard people from other boats talking about the argument but never spoken to them because he was afraid of being intimidated.
In a new documentary called 48 Hours, investigators have reopened the case and are calling Wagner a person of interest in her death. The news was met with outrage on social media, with many claiming that the show had disrespected the late actress and her family. Despite the controversy, the documentary offers an intriguing glimpse into what happened that night.
Her body was found in the water.
The saga of actress Natalie Wood – the Oscar-winning star of such iconic films as Miracle on 34th Street, West Side Story, and Rebel Without a Cause – ended with her drowning in the waters off California’s Catalina Island on November 29, 1981. For decades, her untimely death has been the subject of intense speculation and fervent conspiracy theories.
On the day of her disappearance, Wood, 43, set sail aboard her 60-foot yacht, Splendour, with her husband, actor Robert Wagner; her Brainstorm co-star, Christopher Walken; and her longtime friend and skipper, Dennis Davern. The trio was preparing to return to the Los Angeles harbor after spending Thanksgiving weekend on the popular pleasure island.
Hours after she disappeared, Wood’s body was found in a cove on the island wearing a nightgown and jacket. An autopsy found that she had suffered head injuries and was hypothermic, but a coroner ruled her death an accident, believing she had fallen overboard while trying to board the boat’s Zodiac dinghy.
But the case has never been closed, and new revelations are continuing to surface. Last week, authorities announced they were considering her widower, 87-year-old actor Robert Wagner, as a person of interest in the case.
As a former federal prosecutor and Adjunct Professor of White-Collar Crime and Trial Advocacy, Sam Perroni has delved into the case with the help of his legal team. He has interviewed many people involved in the case, including the lead detective on the investigation, and has also conducted an analysis of the evidence.
According to Perroni, the case is complicated by several factors. For example, Wood’s sister, Lana, has said that her sister was “terrified” of water and could not swim. He also points out that there are a number of holes in the official autopsy report. For instance, he says that the forensic pharmacology report doesn’t address the possibility of drugs being taken by Natalie before she died, and that her toxicology blood levels don’t match up with the time of her death.
He also discusses the issue of cold-water hypothermia, which has been alleged as one of the factors in Natalie’s death. He consults with a top hypothermia expert to examine the facts surrounding this theory, and he debunks claims made by the media and other authors.
The cause of her death is still unknown.
Natalie Wood was a successful actress who found fame in 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street, followed by roles in Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story. She went on to make several more movies throughout the ’50s and ’60s, and was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Splendor in the Grass. However, in 1981, she mysteriously drowned off the coast of Catalina Island. Her death has been a mystery ever since and the cause of her death is still unknown.
The case was initially ruled an accident, but in 2011, sheriff’s officials reopened the investigation. They say that they received new information about the case that they didn’t have access to previously. It is believed that this new information could potentially solve the mystery of how Wood died.
In the initial autopsy, it was discovered that Wood had high alcohol levels in her system. Also, there were bruises on her body that were deemed as evidence of assault. However, the police couldn’t determine if those bruises occurred before or after her death.
As the investigation into Wood’s death has progressed, many theories have been put forward as to how she ended up in the water. One theory is that she slipped off of her boat, the Splendour. Another theory is that she was pushed off of the boat by her husband, Robert Wagner.
However, Wagner denies any involvement in Wood’s death. In a memoir, he wrote that he believes Wood heard the dinghy banging against the yacht and she went outside in order to tie it up. She then slipped on the swim step and fell into the water.
Other theories have been proposed, including the possibility that Wood was killed by a drug smuggler. Despite the fact that there is no proof of this, the conspiracy theories have gained traction and led to multiple books and TV specials.
The investigation into her death is still ongoing.
In 2011, LA detectives reopened the investigation into Wood’s death. This time, they wanted to interview her husband, Robert Wagner, who was also an actor. They claimed they had received new information that they wanted to investigate. It was unclear what exactly that new information was, but it prompted detectives to name Wagner a person of interest in the case.
Despite this, investigators were unable to find anything to implicate Wagner in the murder. He has always denied any involvement in the incident, and he has never been charged with a crime related to Natalie Wood’s death. Nonetheless, the incident continues to spark debate about whether or not Wagner was involved in her death.
Wood was a popular star who became known for her roles in films such as West Side Story, Splendor in the Grass, and Rebel Without a Cause. She was also a successful actress off the screen, with a lengthy and storied personal life that included three marriages and two daughters, Natasha and Courtney.
According to reports, Wood was having trouble in her private life and was struggling with a substance abuse problem at the time of her death. She had a history of drug addiction, and she was dealing with emotional trauma that stemmed from the death of her first child in 1962. Eventually, she ended her acting career and went into semi-retirement to focus on her family.
The cause of Wood’s death has been a source of controversy for decades. The initial verdict from the Los Angeles coroner was that she drowned in her own blood after slipping overboard while getting into her dinghy. However, the medical examiner later changed his conclusion to say that she drowned after sustaining injuries from an undetermined cause.
Several people have offered conflicting accounts of what happened the night of Wood’s death, including her son, Robert Wagner, and her boat captain, Dennis Davern. In addition, there have been innumerable sensational tabloid articles and celebrity gossip shows that have tried to cast doubt on the case.
Sam Perroni is a former federal prosecutor and current Adjunct Professor of White-Collar Crime and Trial Advocacy at the William H. Bowen School of Law in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has written extensively about high-profile cases, and he has been a guest on dozens of national and international talk shows.