The mysterious death of actress Natalie Wood has long been a Hollywood mystery. An HBO documentary features interviews with her family, friends, and colleagues along with home movies and never-before-seen photos.
The documentary focuses on the weekend that Wood died off the coast of Catalina Island while on a boating trip with her husband and friend Christopher Walken. A number of theories have emerged about what happened that night. Keep reading the article below to learn more about Natalie Wood Death.
The mystery of Natalie Wood’s death rages on, almost thirty years after her drowning off the coast of California. Wood was sailing with her husband Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken, her co-star in the film Brainstorm, on November 29, 1981, when she disappeared from their yacht.
According to her sister, Lana Wood, who has spoken out on the matter several times in television interviews, the actress was utterly terrified of water and dark water. In fact, she refused to reshoot a scene in Splendor in the Grass that required her to go into a lake – even after Bette Davis threatened to quit the production over the actress’s fears.
After she was found floating off the coast of Catalina Island, investigators noticed that her body was covered with relatively fresh bruises on her arms and legs. Her blood alcohol level was recorded at 0.14, and she was discovered to have ingested motion sickness pills and painkillers. She also had a number of cuts on her face.
When investigators spoke with Wagner, Walken and Davern about the night of her disappearance, they initially believed that the actress slipped while trying to board a dinghy to return to the boat after having a champagne-filled dinner at Doug’s Harbor Reef on Catalina. However, her sister has claimed that the actress was unable to swim and that she was so scared of the water that she would never leave the boat alone in such a vulnerable state, wearing only a nightgown.
In addition, it seems as though there was a critical delay before anyone notified the authorities that Wood was missing. In her book, Finstad claims that Wagner and Davern did not notify the Coast Guard of her disappearance until 1:30 AM — more than six hours after she was found dead.
Alcohol and Pills
After a long and successful acting career that included her role in Miracle on 34th Street at age eight, and an Oscar-nominated performance in Rebel Without a Cause in 1957, Wood had reached the pinnacle of her fame. She had a solid resume with roles in films such as West Side Story, Splendor in the Grass, and Love with a Proper Stranger, as well as television miniseries such as From Here to Eternity.
She was a beloved star with a loyal following and a wide range of fans. When she died, it was a tragedy felt by millions.
It’s not entirely clear what happened to Natalie Wood that night, but it is known that she had taken both alcohol and pills. The toxicology report states that she had a high level of alcohol in her system along with traces of a painkiller and a pill for motion sickness.
The coroner also found fresh bruises on her body. Many speculate that this was a result of an assault onboard the yacht. There are rumors that Wagner and Wood had been fighting just before she disappeared. Captain Davern has stated in multiple interviews and in his book Goodbye, Natalie, Goodbye Splendour that he heard the couple arguing.
Interestingly, although the boat was close to shore when Wood disappeared, no one heard her calls for help. No lights were played across the water and no rescue boats were sent to look for her. The crew on the yacht didn’t even call the Coast Guard until 1:30 AM. There is no clear explanation for this long delay.
Fear of the Water
Actress Natalie Wood was a beautiful woman who became an icon for teenagers around the world. Her films like Miracle on 34th Street and Rebel Without a Cause portrayed her as the epitome of the troubled teen. However, she was also a devoted wife and mother who was committed to her family. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop her from being haunted by a terrible fear of water.
When the actress died from drowning on November 29, 1981, many people believed that she jumped off the yacht Splendour with husband Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken for no apparent reason. She had been drinking and taking Quaaludes, a type of sedative, at the time. She was found in a cove off of California’s Catalina Island, about a mile away from her yacht and dinghy. Her body was covered in two dozen bruises.
It was believed that the bruises had been inflicted before she fell into the water. The bruises may have been from an argument with Wagner, and the body was thrown into the water to punish her, according to an article written by Amy Finstad for Vanity Fair.
In addition to the bruises, her lungs were filled with saltwater, which contributed to her death. It was also discovered that she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.14.
She was just 43 years old when she died, and her tragic death is still a mystery. Her friends and family have called for authorities to reopen the investigation into her death, which was originally ruled accidental. Until there is a definitive answer, the fascination with her untimely death is likely to continue. Until then, we remember the star for her films and her dedication to her family.
Her Relationship with Christopher Walken
Several people have said that Wood and Walken were flirting with each other on the weekend of her death. But the documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind dispels the rumors of an affair. According to the director, it’s more likely that tension on the boat led to her leaving and drowning.
According to Dennis Davern, who captained Wagner’s 60-foot yacht Splendour over Thanksgiving 1981 with the actors and actor Richard Harris aboard, Wood stormed into her room after spending hours drinking ashore on Catalina Island. She told him she wanted to go to bed. But she was unable to sleep, he claims, because of the knocking dinghy. Davern claims that Walken and Wagner then got into a blazing argument over the issue. The argument turned physical and resulted in Wagner smashing a wine bottle over a table, according to Davern.
Two top secret new witnesses have come forward in the months since Brainstorm was released with eye and ear witness statements that point to Wagner in Wood’s final moments on the boat, 48 Hours reports. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Detective Ralph Hernandez cites these witnesses as the reason why investigators believe she was beaten and left to die on the boat.
Two years after Natalie Wood’s death, her brother publicly discussed the night of her disappearance for the first time in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. Then-actor Robert Wagner, who had been starring with Wood in the movie Brainstorm, also spoke to the cameras about the night of her disappearance in a memoir published in 2008. He maintains that she accidentally slipped off the boat and drowned. He refused to cooperate when the case was reopened in 2018. Walken has spoken very rarely about the incident.
Reopened Investigation
The death of Natalie Wood is a Hollywood mystery that has never been solved. Homicide detectives have reopened the investigation into her 1981 drowning after receiving new information. Police have not disclosed what the new information is, but they have said they believe it could lead to a more accurate timeline of events. They also believe that the reopened investigation may yield some answers to why her body was found in such poor condition.
The new information is thought to have come from Dennis Davern, the captain of the yacht that Wood was on when she died. He has changed his original account of what happened on the night of her death, claiming that Wood and Wagner had argued and that he refused to turn on search lights in order to keep her quiet. He also claims that Wood was not wearing her life preserver and that she would have been able to swim to shore if she had had it.
A forensic expert has also disagreed with the coroner’s report. She believes that the down jacket that Wood was wearing filled with water, weighing it down and making it more difficult for her to swim to shore. The jacket was also filled with motion sickness medication and painkillers, which could have increased her level of intoxication.
Several other new pieces of evidence have also been discovered. For example, Wood’s stomach contents suggest that she drank heavily on the night of her death. She had also taken anti-anxiety medications and a sleeping pill before going out on the boat. The boat’s radio log also shows that she didn’t call the Coast Guard until after 1:30 a.m. The rescue boat captain who helped find her body says that he did not receive the call to look for her until after she was already dead.