CA - Natalie Wood, 43, drowned off California coast, 29 Nov 1981

[Cazzie]

Again if you lie down the captains assertions and really look at them they don't make sense.

Why WOULD Walken stay on board if RW was so incredibly hostile towards him. Also how could Walken if RW was so outrageously angry to the point of blows just walk into his stateroom and fall asleep???

Yes it could possibly happen but think about the reality of that. Someone is screaming in your face and threatening you and smashing things and then screaming at his wife so loud that the captain had to turn up the radio to blasting to tune it out, but Walken just went in his room and fell asleep.

Uh huh.

Why? 5 of I don't know how many possibilities...

Self-preservation? Being overcome by alcohol/drugs (being slipped something or voluntarily taking something you're not sure of the effects)? Being ordered to do so by RW (go to your room)? Denial that anything horrible could happen by doing so? Wanting to suck up to someone with power/celebrity in the industry that you are pursuing?

It's really hinky to me that CW has not been very forthcoming (in the media, at least) about that weekend. I would hope that he is, now, at least, telling everything he knows to LE. :twocents:

 

[Linda7NJ]

I heard on Judge Jeannie Pedro (something like that) that the captian passed a poly.

I personally don't put all that much stock in them..so take it for what it's worth.

IMO We will NEVER know exactly what happened to her.

 

[Chewy]

CW has come forward and talked about the incident. I don't know where people are getting their information but he has spoken several times about it.


http://www.etonline.com/news/116131_Christopher_Walken_Talks_Natalie_Wood_s_death/index.html

Christopher Walken was one of the few people there on the night Natalie Wood died, but he has remained tight-lipped about the evening -- with the exception of one revealing interview from 1997.

While talking with Playboy Magazine (via), Walken recalled the night's events and even offered up a theory as to what might have happened.

"Anybody there saw the logistics -- of the boat, the night, where we were, that it was raining -- and would know exactly what happened," he told Playboy Magazine. "You hear about things happening to people – they slip in the bathtub, fall down the stairs, step off the curb in London because they think that the cars come the other way – and they die. You feel you want to die making an effort at something; you don’t want to die in some unnecessary way."

"What happened that night only she knows, because she was alone. She had gone to bed before us, and her room was at the back. A dinghy was bouncing against the side of the boat, and I think she went out to move it. There was a ski ramp that was partially in the water. It was slippery – I had walked on it myself. She had told me she couldn’t swim; in fact, they had to cut a swimming scene from [Brainstorm]. She was probably half asleep, and she was wearing a coat."

Walken goes on to theorize that the actress hit her head before tumbling into the water.

The investigation into Wood's death was reopened this week after new evidence was brought to authorities about the night in question.

His statement matches Wagner's and makes sense. She had gone to bed before them. So when Walken went to sleep the boat was quiet and that's how he fell asleep.

So his story and Wagner's add up. So do the comments of the people on the other boat.

The Captain (and for the last time he WAS the captain) is the one who has a different story that doesn't make any sense.

People are speculating about all sorts of things to the degree they are suggesting that Walken and Wagner were having sex and Natalie walked in etc etc etc.

The investigator years ago said that the Captain lied even back then. He was drunk when the patrol showed up.

For all we know the Captain is the one who could have done all this. Maybe Natalie asked him to take her to shore and he made a move on her on the boat and then she fell in and he is the one who slurrily said "Don't worry we're going to come get you" and then passed out and when Wagner came to him he realized she was probably dead.



ETA I'm very curious if it was raining. I've never heard that mentioned before. And if it was raining then the Captain's story has even more holes in it, who is going to come to the deck of a boat in the rain and have a fight?

 

[Columbo]

Yet Natasha Gregson Wagner stayed in contact with RW and does not speak to her mothers side of the family even though she was not RWs daughter.

Lana Wood has done nothing since NW's death but sell her story.

Natasha and her half-sister, Courtney, were just children when this happened, and RW was their only parent left.

If you've observed other cases where one spouse died a suspicious tragic death, the children will often cut off contact with, and reject, the side of the family who believes the remaining parent has some culpability in the other parent's death. RW cut off contact with Lana after Natalie died, and I'm sure the children were very aware of this. They weren't going to seek out Lana if their dad convinced them she was bad ;they were trying to recover from the devastation of losing their mom.

Are you sure that Lana Wood has done nothing since Natalie's death but sell her story? I don't think so.

 

[Chewy]

Natasha and her half-sister, Courtney, were just children when this happened, and RW was their only parent left.

If you've observed other cases where one spouse died a suspicious tragic death, the children will often cut off contact with, and reject, the side of the family who believes the remaining parent has some culpability in the other parent's death. RW cut off contact with Lana after Natalie died, and I'm sure the children were very aware of this. They weren't going to seek out Lana if their dad convinced them she was bad ;they were trying to recover from the devastation of losing their mom.

Are you sure that Lana Wood has done nothing since Natalie's death but sell her story? I don't think so.

BBM what has she done?


Also this story has been in the news for 30 years pointing accusing fingers at RW. It's not a typical story. Even if she was a child when this happened, thinking that she not only rejects the accusations but is estranged from her Mother's sister speaks a lot to how she feels.

 

[Columbo]

BBM what has she done?


Also this story has been in the news for 30 years pointing accusing fingers at RW. It's not a typical story. Even if she was a child when this happened, thinking that she not only rejects the accusations but is estranged from her Mother's sister speaks a lot to how she feels.

If you look at this link it does say she has resumed acting and producing--and she's a grandmother. [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lana_Wood"]Lana Wood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
At some point along the way during the past 30 years I thought I read she was an antique dealer but I can't verify that.

"How Natasha feels" about Lana may have been induced by years of hearing her vilified and being rejected by her dad.

I'm not here to fight with anyone. I haven't agreed with some of what you've said, but your posts are good. In fact, I'm starting to view Davern differently because of the discussion here.

 

[Cazzie]

BBM what has she done?


Also this story has been in the news for 30 years pointing accusing fingers at RW. It's not a typical story. Even if she was a child when this happened, thinking that she not only rejects the accusations but is estranged from her Mother's sister speaks a lot to how she feels.

If I'm following...

It wouldn't be unheard of for a child's "reality" (and even memories) to be swayed by someone, especially a custodial parent, against the other parent and whomever else the CP wanted to discredit. :twocents: Who would want to believe that their parent could have caused/been negligent in their other parent's death?

She may have been sheltered from any disagreements, arguments, worse, between her parents, so thus, couldn't believe it. Plus, she may be blocking true memories that would substantiate something indicating that there was tension between her parents. Just sayin'.

 

[Chewy]

She was sheltered?

How many websites have this story? And have had this story for years? She's not a child any more. If someone put all this information out about your mother's death you wouldn't take a look at it?

She's obviously had a chance to see all the accusations and refuses to have anything to do with Lana Wood and stands by RW.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

He explains how he had been on his boat, the Splendour, with Natalie – who he had married twice – and Walken when an argument broke out.

Wagner wrote: ‘Chris [Walken] began talking about his 'total pursuit of a career', which he admitted was more important to him than his personal life. He clearly thought Natalie should live like that, too.

‘I got angry. 'Why don't you stay out of her career?' I said. 'She's got enough people telling her what to do without you.'

As the argument escalated, Natalie left for bed.
‘The last time I saw my wife she was fixing her hair in the bathroom while I was arguing with Chris,’ he said. ‘I saw her shut the door. She was going to bed.’

He described how he and Walken moved up to the deck as ‘things were threatening to get physical’ and they were calmed by the fresh sea air.
He said he waited up a little longer before going to bed – but his wife was not there.

He noticed the dinghy had gone, but he would have heard its motor fire up had she taken it. They called the coast to see if she had gone there in the dinghy.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-boat-claims-Dennis-Davern.html#ixzz1eOZH3cbn


So how did his wife get by him if he and Walken were out on the deck? The boat was tied off with ropes on both ends. So she's out there unhooking two heavy ropes and he doesnt see or hear anything? Captain Davern said he had just secured the dingy thirty minutes before Natalie went missing.

I thought he told the Coast Guard when they showed up to look for her that she was probably screwing around on someone else's boat because that is the kind of woman she is?

He tells it as if not much time had lapsed at all even though the ear witness said she heard someone screaming because they were drowning and it was around 11:00 pm.

I find his supposed conversation with Walken absurd. No one breaks a wine bottle over that, imo, and then takes the argument outside that almost results in a physical altercation between these men. Imo, that was a self serving statement.

IMO

 

[Chewy]

If you look at this link it does say she has resumed acting and producing--and she's a grandmother. Lana Wood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At some point along the way during the past 30 years I thought I read she was an antique dealer but I can't verify that.

"How Natasha feels" about Lana may have been induced by years of hearing her vilified and being rejected by her dad.

I'm not here to fight with anyone. I haven't agreed with some of what you've said, but your posts are good. In fact, I'm starting to view Davern differently because of the discussion here.

She's done nothing that has had her name in the news except continue to peddle this story.


I'm glad that I'm making people think differently about Davern. I am not here to fight with anyone either, I tend to post in a strong way but I'm not trying to start a fight or anything.

The key to me is not to debate bits and pieces of what has been said but to take everything that he has said and to corroborate it with what others have said and see what story makes the most sense.

Granted not all crimes or tragedies do make sense or unfold in a logical way.

It just strikes me as very odd that Davern has not been looked at in a critical way.

And what I just said about him harming NW is something that just occurred to me.

He may have passed a polygraph but we don't know what questions were asked of him and he may have convinced himself over the years that what he said is true.

But consider that CW said she went to bed and so did RW. If Natalie got up to fix the banging dingy I doubt she'd try to fix it on her own. Especially because she had her fear of water.

I would think by habit she'd go to the Captain and ask him to fix it. And say she did and he had a little thing with her, maybe he in his drunken state tried to have sex with her and this shows why she had bruises on her.

Might also explain why he himself didn't do anything. Then he feels the need to cover up the story because Lana keeps asking him for details so he makes up the story that RW was physical with her as a way of explaining the bruises.

Maybe he is the one who said "Don't worry we're coming to get you, and panicked because he knew she'd get him in big trouble."

Honestly that story makes more sense than what he's peddling.

 

[Columbo]

He explains how he had been on his boat, the Splendour, with Natalie – who he had married twice – and Walken when an argument broke out.

Wagner wrote: ‘Chris [Walken] began talking about his 'total pursuit of a career', which he admitted was more important to him than his personal life. He clearly thought Natalie should live like that, too.

‘I got angry. 'Why don't you stay out of her career?' I said. 'She's got enough people telling her what to do without you.'

As the argument escalated, Natalie left for bed.
‘The last time I saw my wife she was fixing her hair in the bathroom while I was arguing with Chris,’ he said. ‘I saw her shut the door. She was going to bed.’

He described how he and Walken moved up to the deck as ‘things were threatening to get physical’ and they were calmed by the fresh sea air.
He said he waited up a little longer before going to bed – but his wife was not there.

He noticed the dinghy had gone, but he would have heard its motor fire up had she taken it. They called the coast to see if she had gone there in the dinghy.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-boat-claims-Dennis-Davern.html#ixzz1eOZH3cbn


So how did his wife get by him if he and Walken were out on the deck? The boat was tied off with ropes on both ends. So she's out there unhooking two heavy ropes and he doesnt see or hear anything? Captain Davern said he had just secured the dingy thirty minutes before Natalie went missing.

I thought he told the Coast Guard when they showed up to look for her that she was probably screwing around on someone else's boat because that is the kind of woman she is?

He tells it as if not much time had lapsed at all even though the ear witness said she heard someone screaming because they were drowning and it was around 11:00 pm.

I find his supposed conversation with Walken absurd. No one breaks a wine bottle over that, imo, and then takes the argument outside that almost results in a physical altercation between these men. Imo, that was a self serving statement.

IMO

And if I remember correctly from 30 years ago, the original story was that he and Walken remained in the room drinking and talking, while Natalie had retired to their stateroom. This does not match up with what he says in the above quote.

I'm editing this because: RW says Natalie was in the bathroom fixing her hair,and then she shut the door.That is the last time he saw her. She shut the bathroom door? I was under the impression that she had to leave the room they were in, and go to their stateroom to sleep. ???

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Natalie Wood trivia.

She suffered from a deep fear of drowning after having barely survived an accident when she was a little girl, during the filming of The Green Promise (1949). Her fear was so great that Elia Kazan had to lie - promising a double - and trick her into doing the scenes at the water reservoir in Splendor in the Grass (1961). She also had to do her own swimming scenes in "From Here to Eternity" (1979) despite her protests.

Interred at Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, USA, Section D, #60.

Reportedly turned down Warren Beatty's offer to play opposite him in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) because she didn't want to be separated from her analyst while the film was on location in the Midwest.

Splendour, the name of the yacht Wood was on the night she died, was named after her movie Splendor in the Grass (1961). She co-starred in the film with former love Warren Beatty.

An accident on a movie set (she fell into a river and almost drowned) when she was 9 years old left her with a permanently weakened left wrist and a slight bone protrusion, which, for the rest of her life, she hid with large bracelets. Regardless of the movie role, or anytime that she was out in public, she always wore a large bracelet on the left wrist. * This deformity shows up in her autopsy report.

The rubber dinghy "Prince Valiant" she'd allegedly been trying to board after falling from husband Robert Wagner's yacht that fateful Thanksgiving weekend in 1981, was named after Wagner's movie Prince Valiant (1954), a film the actor considered among his worst.

Attended ballet classes as a child with Jill St. John and Stefanie Powers. All three women would go on to have long-term relationships with Robert Wagner. Natalie was married to Wagner at the time of her death and St. John is now married to him. Powers was his costar on the 1979-1984 television series "Hart to Hart.".

Pallbearers at her funeral were Rock Hudson, Frank Sinatra, Laurence Olivier, Elia Kazan, Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Fred Astaire.
Daughter: Courtney Wagner (b. 9 March 1974). Father is Robert Wagner.

Daughter: Natasha Gregson Wagner was born on Tuesday, September 29th, 1970. Natasha's father is Richard Gregson.

Her death was kismet, as she always cited a fear of water.

Her and co-star Richard Beymer's singing voices were both dubbed in West Side Story (1961). The woman who dubbed Natalie, Marni Nixon, also dubbed Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964) and Deborah Kerr in The King and I (1956).

The daughter of a Russian architect and a French ballerina could do a proper plié before she could barely walk.

Her mother, Maria, claimed that the family was closely related to the Romanov dynasty.

Spoke Russian and English.

Though some people cite her mother as being French, her mother is Russian. The source of this misconception comes from the studio that Natalie worked at when she was a child -- people noticed her mother's accent and when asked if she was French, Maria replied: "Oh yes", a white lie that would contribute to this confusion.

Younger sister Lana Wood made a ABC TV special on Natalie's life, The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004) (TV).

Measurements: 32-20 1/2-32 (at age 18), 32B-22-33 (at age 24, "Parade" magazine December 1962), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).

Portrayed by Rebecca Budig in James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997) (TV), by Justine Waddell in The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004) (TV) and by Abi Young in Elvis (1979/I) (TV).

Was offered the role of Daisy in The Great Gatsby (1974). At the time, it had been 5 years since Natalie had made a film. She was asked to do a screen test, and felt so offended that she withdrew from the role. After this, Natalie was no longer offered plum roles due to the fact that she had been forgotten after years away from acting, despite being younger than popular actresses of the time such as Jane Fonda.

Turned down roles in the films Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Barefoot in the Park (1967), Goodbye, Columbus (1969), Love Story (1970), The Great Gatsby (1974) and The Towering Inferno (1974). After the mid-1970s, high-profile plum roles were no longer being offered to her due to the fact that she did not appear in any widely released films for a decade after Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) and was no longer considered bankable.

She was cast as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) (TV) quite unexpectedly, without campaigning for the role. Wood explained that when Laurence Olivier would come to Hollywood, she would often be seated with him at the table at formal sit-down dinners. When Olivier decided to make a version of the Tennessee Williams play, he thought of casting Wood, his dinner companion, and her husband, Robert Wagner, in the husband-wife roles of Brick and Maggie. Naturally, they accepted.

Her death was listed at number 24 on E! Televisions 101 Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment.

Personal Quote:

[In 1981] I've always been terrified, still am, of water -- dark water or sea water, or river water or whatever.


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000081/bio

 

[Chewy]

I do think RW lied about the argument. Probably to avoid media scrutiny not necessarily legal scrutiny.

And I think he feels guilty because he thought she left because of the fighting. If he thought she fell in the water and ignored him that would be a crime. I just can't see him doing that.


But if he really did think she had left and gone to shore he may have been angry with her and not wanted to chase after her. Then later he finds out that while he was waiting around she was drowning. I can see why that would cause him to feel completely guilty over it. To me that is what is at the heart of his demeanor and answers.

 

[Columbo]

She's done nothing that has had her name in the news except continue to peddle this story.


I'm glad that I'm making people think differently about Davern. I am not here to fight with anyone either, I tend to post in a strong way but I'm not trying to start a fight or anything.

The key to me is not to debate bits and pieces of what has been said but to take everything that he has said and to corroborate it with what others have said and see what story makes the most sense.

Granted not all crimes or tragedies do make sense or unfold in a logical way.

It just strikes me as very odd that Davern has not been looked at in a critical way.

And what I just said about him harming NW is something that just occurred to me.

He may have passed a polygraph but we don't know what questions were asked of him and he may have convinced himself over the years that what he said is true.

But consider that CW said she went to bed and so did RW. If Natalie got up to fix the banging dingy I doubt she'd try to fix it on her own. Especially because she had her fear of water.

I would think by habit she'd go to the Captain and ask him to fix it. And say she did and he had a little thing with her, maybe he in his drunken state tried to have sex with her and this shows why she had bruises on her.

Might also explain why he himself didn't do anything. Then he feels the need to cover up the story because Lana keeps asking him for details so he makes up the story that RW was physical with her as a way of explaining the bruises.

Maybe he is the one who said "Don't worry we're coming to get you, and panicked because he knew she'd get him in big trouble."

Honestly that story makes more sense than what he's peddling.

The night he (Davern) and Natalie spent on Avalon, they stayed in the same hotel room. I found that odd. No one has really questioned that.

I just don't know anymore! :waitasec:

 

[Cazzie]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, in real life, and according to the TOS on WS.

I just don't understand the stance of "Robert Wagner apologist, no matter what", for lack of a better term. Especially in the face of the circumstancial evidence that was ignored back at the time, and came to light years later (via named people). Apparently, there was some (much?) physical evidence that was never collected back then. JMO (and many others), there was a huge coverup back then.

Apparently, obviously, there is enough reason to re-open the investigation, 30 years later. :twocents:

 

[Columbo]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, in real life, and according to the TOS on WS.

I just don't understand the stance of "Robert Wagner apologist, no matter what", for lack of a better term. Especially in the face of the circumstancial evidence that was ignored back at the time, and came to light years later (with names). Apparently, there was some (much?) physical evidence that was never collected back then.

Apparently, obviously, there is enough reason to re-open the investigation, 30 years later. :twocents:

I'd like to know what the death threat note is all about.

 

[Chewy]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, in real life, and according to the TOS on WS.

I just don't understand the stance of "Robert Wagner apologist, no matter what", for lack of a better term. Especially in the face of the circumstancial evidence that was ignored back at the time, and came to light years later (with names). Apparently, there was some (much?) physical evidence that was never collected back then.

Apparently, obviously, there is enough reason to re-open the investigation, 30 years later. :twocents:

Yet Wagner is not considered a suspect. The reason for reopening the case I think is based on the witness that heard NW in the water.

As far as the accusation of apologist goes, I'm not an apologist for RW. I just see a lot of people googling things that are biased, like the IMDB thing above and posting it up as if they are facts.

Even the document where they ask for the case to be reopened. If you read the entire thing you see at the bottom someone is accusing RW simply because he didn't dedicate his book to NW and feels he's a controlling jerk.

I'm going by what statements were made from that night, witness accounts of all the people on the boat and adding it up to see what makes the most sense.

Most people in this thread are treating DD's statements as the only honest statements from the evening, even though he admits to being a liar and being drunk the whole night. Even though he is the one who legally should have called the cops.

They are treating him like he was a teenager or something under the control of evil RW.

I believe in personal responsibility for everyone, not just people I don't trust.

 

[mikeysmommom]

When RW and Natalie broke up the first time it was written in a book that she walked in on him and another man.He denied it but never sued the author,30 yrs ago Hollywood went to great lengths to hide homosexuality and Bi sexual's.Look at Rock Hudson,Tab Hunter, and so many others.CW was not a name in Hollywood till after Natalie's death.A Lot of people never believed it was an accident from the get go.RW alienated the children from both their grandmother and Aunt Lana,easy to do it happens all the time in divorce cases.How many times do we read about children growing up with a parent later convicted of murdering the other parent.The children even as adults believe the guilty parent and keep ties severed with the other parents family.IMO denial can run strong in these cases.RW owns horrible words spoken after he is told Natalie is dead,he sends another to id her,within months he is shacked up with JSJ,who he later marries,he refuses her family access to her children.None of this speaks of a man who lost the love of his life.

 

[Cazzie]

I'd like to know what the death threat note is all about.

Me too. And if it was true, I hope it wasn't turned over to LE back at the time, KWIM? Or maybe it got lost/misplaced/stolen over the years...

I can understand someone receiving something like that and getting rid of it, out of fear.

Perhaps that these people are coming forward (again) recently, in MSM, may ensure their safety...I hope so. I wish they would all be put into protective custody until LE gets to the bottom of the whole case...

But there's an elephant in the room, need I say more? :angel:

 

[eve]

Why? 5 of I don't know how many possibilities...

Self-preservation? Being overcome by alcohol/drugs (being slipped something or voluntarily taking something you're not sure of the effects)? Being ordered to do so by RW (go to your room)? Denial that anything horrible could happen by doing so? Wanting to suck up to someone with power/celebrity in the industry that you are pursuing?

It's really hinky to me that CW has not been very forthcoming (in the media, at least) about that weekend. I would hope that he is, now, at least, telling everything he knows to LE. :twocents:

People can tune out a lot with the aid of alcohol, drugs and just wanting to stay out of it, imo.

Eve