LA Sheriff Reopens Natalie Wood Case

After reviewing the death of famed actress Natalie Wood Wagner in 1981, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department ruled it accidental.

Now authorities are reopening the case, according to an announcement from the department issued late Thursday afternoon.

"Recently Sheriff's Homicide Investigators were contacted by persons who stated they had additional information about the Natalie Wood Wagner drowning," according to the LASD.

Interesting Natalie Wood trivia:

Spouse
Robert Wagner (16 July 1972 - 29 November 1981) (remarried) (her death); 1 child
Richard Gregson (30 May 1969 - 1 April 1972) (divorced) 1 child
Robert Wagner (28 December 1957 - 27 April 1962) (divorced)

Trivia
Her sister is Lana Wood. Her half-sister is Olga Viriapaeff.

Mother of Natasha Gregson Wagner and Courtney Wagner.

Named after director Sam Wood.

Favorite actress was Vivien Leigh. Favorite singer was Bob Dylan.

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. On her grave, marked Natalie Wood Wagner: Beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother & friend “more than love”.

Was commonly listed as 5’ 3” wearing heels in movie magazines, though her actual height was 5’ 0”.

On Suturday, April 23rd, 1966, she made Harvard history when she became the first performer voted the year’s worst by the Harvard Lampoon to show up and accept her citation.

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.

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.

Had planned to produce as well as star in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), but the leading role of Deborah went to Kathleen Quinlan by the time the film was made.

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.

Wood knew screenwriter Gavin Lambert as both were intimates of director Randy Suhr. In the early 1960s, he wrote a novel about a Hollywood child star in the 1930s, Inside Daisy Clover (1965). After reading the book, Wood telephoned Lambert and said, “I’d kill for that part.” He assured her she was his first choice for the movie, for which he was writing the screenplay. She got the part and Ruth Gordon got her first Oscar nomination as an actress for portraying Daisy’s mother.

Both she and her sister Lana Wood have played the love interest of Richard Beymer in 2 separate films: she as Maria opposite Richard’s Tony in West Side Story (1961), and Lana as Karen opposite Richard’s Dean in Scream Free! (1969) (aka Free Grass).

She is the inspiration of High School Musical (2006) (TV) star, Vanessa Hudgens.

Biography in: “The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives.” Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 889-890. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1998.

People Magazine (USA) named her one of “The 25 most intriguing People of 1976” for the January 3 1977 issue.

Entertainment Weekly placed her on the “100 greatest stars of all time” list, at #70.

Voted one of the top sex stars of the 1970s in Playboy magazine.

Called “The Most Beautiful Teenager in the World” by Life magazine in 1956.

Once interviewed Arnold Schwarzenegger, before his career took off, for the magazine “Hollywood Reporter” in 1979 two years before her her death. The article was entitled “The Body meets the Face”.

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

Don Henley wrote the song “Dirty Laundry” to express his outrage at the tabloid press for their treatment of her after her death.

Met Robert Redford at Van Nuys High School when she was a sophomore and he was a senior. Natalie was Redford’s leading lady in his first starring role, in This Property Is Condemned (1966).

“Natalie’s Song” by David Pack, was written about Natalie Wood.

“Eyes Like Natalie Wood” by Kathy Fleischmann, was written about her.

Former stepmother of Katie Wagner.

Started smoking at age 16. She remained a heavy smoker until her death at age 43.

Godmother of her daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner was Ruth Gordon, who played Natalie’s mother in the film Inside Daisy Clover (1965).

She starred in over 40 theatrical films between ages 4 and 27. She went into semi-retirement afterwards, only appearing in five movies between age 28 and her death at 43.

Was scheduled to make her stage debut in “Anastasia” in February 1982 and play the love interest of Timothy Hutton in a film called “Country of the Heart.” Unfortunately, both projects were canceled due to her death.

Her sole niece, Evan Taylor Maldanado, born on Sunday, August 11th, 1974.

Her mother, Maria Gurdin, died of pneumonia on January 6, 1998 at age 85.

Sister Lana Wood wrote the best-selling book about her titled “Natalie: a Memoir by Her Sister”.

Her father, Nick Gurdin, died of a heart attack on Tuesday, November 18th, 1980 at age 66.

Her best friends included actresses Stefanie Powers, Dyan Cannon and Carol Lynley. She was a childhood friend of her widower’s current wife Jill St. John but they were not close as adults.

Campaigned for the roles that went to Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People (1980), Jessica Lange in Frances (1982) and Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice (1982).

Turned down the role that went to Faye Dunaway in The Towering Inferno (1974) because she thought the script was “mediocre.”.

While taking classes at UCLA, she turned down the role of Elaine in The Graduate (1967) that went to Katharine Ross.

Jane Fonda and Faye Dunaway turned down the role of Carol in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) before Natalie got the part. Natalie turned down Katharine Ross’s role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) so she could star in the film.

If she lived, she would have two grand-nephews, Nicholas (born 1998) and Max (born 2003), and a grand-niece, Daphne (born 2000). Their mother is Evan Maldanado, who is the daughter of Natalie’s sister Lana Wood.

According to a biographer, 43-year old Nicholas Ray wooed 16-year old Natalie by adorning a table with pink tablecloth and champagne, her preferred color and drink of choice.

Was the youngest nominee in her category each of the three times she was nominated for an Oscar, the first being when she was 17 and the last when she was 25.

Was one of the many actresses considered for the title role in Norma Rae (1979) which went to Sally Field.

Has multiple connections with the James Bond franchise. Her sister, Lana Wood, was a Bond girl in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Jill St. John, who was Natalie’s childhood friend and is now married to her widower, Robert Wagner, also appeared as a Bond girl in the same film. Natalie co-starred in Meteor (1979) with Sean Connery, who played the James Bond character in seven films, and in Brainstorm (1983), she co-starred with Christopher Walken, who was a Bond villain in A View to a Kill (1985). Natalie also co-starred in “From Here to Eternity” (1979) with Kim Basinger, who was a Bond girl in Never Say Never Again (1983). Robert Wagner’s character, “Number Two” in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), is a spoof of the character “Largo” in Thunderball (1965).

Was Maureen O’Hara daughter in two movies, one being the classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Natalie referred to Maureen as Mama Maureen till her death in 1981.

Twice appeared in her husband’s television series Switch (1975) (TV) in cameos.

In March 2010, her sister Lana Wood spoke out about her death, announcing that she wants the case re-opened.

Was chosen over Ann-Margret to play the title role in Gypsy (1962).

Often played the love interest of a significantly older man (Frank Sinatra, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Gene Kelly and Tony Curtis) or one that was several years older (James Garner, James Dean, Michael Caine, Tab Hunter and Steve McQueen). With the exception of Dean and McQueen, all of these actors ultimately outlived her.

Columbia Pictures secured the film rights for the Henry De Vere Stacpoole novel, “The Blue Lagoon” in the mid-1950s, with Natalie in the role of Emmeline Lestrange. However, the project was shelved for many years and wasn’t filmed until the late 1970s and the film The Blue Lagoon (1980), released in 1980, ultimately starred Brooke Shields.

Personal Quotes
You get tough in this business, until you get big enough to hire people to get tough for you. Then you can sit back and be a lady.

[in 1961] In so many ways I think it’s a bore to be sorry you were a child actor - so many people feel sorry for you automatically. At the time I wasn’t aware of the things I missed, so why should I think of them in retrospect? Everybody misses something or other.

I felt a little funny when we were going to do the bed scene, all four of us, in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). I’m open to suggestions, I’m no prude, but four is a crowd in my book. Fortunately, Dyan Cannon was there. The thought of another woman being in there in the bed helped get me through it. It’s not like it sounds. It’s just that I don’t think I could have done it if it had been me and three men.

[on being a child actor] I spent practically all my time in the company of adults. I was very withdrawn, very shy, I did what I was told and I tried not to disappoint anybody. I knew I had a duty to perform, and I was trained to follow orders.

[shortly before her death] You know what I want? I want yesterday.

[on dating Elvis Presley] Elvis was so square, we’d go . . . for hot fudge sundaes. He didn’t drink, he didn’t swear, he didn’t even smoke. It was like having the date that I never had in high school.

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

[on Marilyn Monroe] When you look at Marilyn on the screen you don’t want anything bad to happen to her. You really care that she should be all right...happy.

Salary
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) $250,000 + 10% of the net profits.
Penelope (1966) $750,000
The Great Race (1965) $7,000 (Director Blake Edwards and co-star Jack Lemmon each gave her half of his respective salary)
Sex and the Single Girl (1964) $750,000
West Side Story (1961) $250,000
All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960) $150,000
Cash McCall (1960) $150,000
Just for You (1952) $6,500
Dear Brat (1951) $2,333

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

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