Natalie Zacharenko Wood was born on July 20, 1938 to Russian/Ukrainian immigrant parents Maria and Nikolai who barely spoke a word of English. At the time, the family lived in Santa Rosa, California, but when Natalie won a bit part in a film called Happy Land at the age of four the family moved to Los Angeles. Although Natalie's part was a short scene in which she played a crying child who'd dropped her ice cream cone, the director considered her a natural, but more parts would not come until two years later.
When Natalie tested for a role in Tomorrow Is Forever , at only seven years of age at the time, her screening did not go well and the part was given to someone else. Distraught, her mother, who always had stars in her eyes, begged the heads of the studio to give Natalie another chance. Thankfully, Natalie's screen test for Miracle on 34th Street proved to be just what they were looking for and she was cast in the part. To this day, the movie is considered a Christmas classic that has won the hearts of movie patrons around the country.
Other performance would lead her to 18 more films where she played opposite actors like James Dean, Sal Mineo, Dennis Hopper and many more.
At age ten, Natalie saw Robert Wagner walking down the hall at 20th Century Fox and immediately became smitten, even going so far as to tell her mother she was going to marry him when she got older. Nine years later, Wagner proposed to her and they married. Their love story was a loving one that would slowly disintegrate by 1962 when they would divorce claiming mutual immaturity and career conflicts.
The sixties would turn out to be Natalie's most productive decade, professionally and personally. Her performances were stellar and reflected the times in which they were made. Although she had conflicts on the set of West Side Story (1961) she won an academy award for her performance.
During Natalie's separation from Gregson, she turned to her first love, Robert Wagner where they re-discovered how much they loved and meant to one another. They re-married in 1972 aboard the very yacht where she died.
Then on November 28, 1981, the 60-foot yacht Splendor set out for Santa Catalina Island, a rocky island off the coast of California, 22 miles from Los Angeles. Aboard were Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood and the boat's skipper, Dennis Davern. The couple also brought Wood's newest costar, Christopher Walken, to celebrate the completion of filming of 'Brainstorm,' a science fiction thriller.
Wood, Wagner and Walken departed the yacht and rode a dingy to shore and had dinner at the Harbor Reef Restaurant on the island. Waitresses reported all three had consumed a lot of alcohol which made them rude and boisterous. At 10:15 pm, they departed for the yacht. What happened after that is a total mystery.
At 8 o'clock the next morning, Natalie Wood's body was found floating in the water about a mile from the yacht. At that time, the coroner determined her death to be a combination of drowning and hypothermia. However, during the initial reporting of the autopsy the coroner neglected to report everything he saw on Woods' body, namely bruising. Reports that her blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit for driving, plus medication for motion sickness and pain killers were found in her system. But what is so confusing is why hadn't her disappearance been reported right away instead of six hours later? Multiple reports, each having their own theory have run rampant.
At the time, Wagner was staring in the popular television series Hart to Hart where rumors followed that their onscreen romance continued off screen as well. Now that they are married today, maybe those rumors were true after all, but then why was Wagner so jealous of the attention Natalie was giving to Walken on board the yacht?
Dennis Davern, the captain of the Splendor for many years said Natalie's biggest fear was drowning, so why was she floating in the water dressed in her nightgown, a down jacket over top and socks on her feet. It was a known fact that she feared the water, especially the dark water. Having Davern sail the boat at 10 miles an hour instead of the 30 pleased her. The director from Splendor in the Grass reported there was a scene in the movie where Natalie had to stand in water. She didn't want to do it even though he'd assured her she would be able to stand. She finally did do the scene, but she was horribly shaken afterward.
Dennis Davern changed his story in 2011 and the case was reopened. He believes Wagner is responsible because they'd had a terrible argument prior to her drowning. He felt she wasn't likely to drop the chord of the dingy attached to the yacht and get into it by herself. Wagner says she slipped, but the bruising on her body doesn't indicate that. A couple from a nearby yacht said they heard someone calling out for help but they ignored it because there was a party boat nearby and they thought someone was joking. What they didn't understand and have reported is if they heard her shouting for help from where they were anchored, why didn't someone on the yacht hear her?
When the LA police reopened the case, Wagner refused to talk. It would seem to me that there should be something they can do to make him talk, but they seem to be reluctant.
As of this date, no one else is talking and the case is still unsolved. So who do you think killed her? Or do you think it was an accident?
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