http%3A//latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/natalie-wood-investigation-prompted-by-boat-captain-comments.html
- What kind of wood doesn't float?
- We're on it.
Hart%20to%20Hart
- Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken are FUCKED.
- what "additional info" has cropped up 30 years after the incident? weren't all of the details reviewed and every witness within 10 miles of Catalina interviewed back in '81?
I know Wood's sister Lana has been jonesing to have the case re-opened for a long time (she believes there was perhaps foul play involved). but what new info could possibly be dredged up now?
- Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken FUCKED.
- Wasn't one of the stories that Wood found Wagner and Walken in bed together and that's what the argument was about?
- This is interesting (from book at link).
Detective Rasure flew to the island to talk with the captain.
Davern [the Captain mention in the article] had just left the decompression chamber, used on the island by divers, where Natalie's body lay on a cold metal table with her red down jacket placed across her chest. Devastated by the sight of Natalie, bruised and dead, Davern was in no mood for Rasure. Rasure pressed Davern further than he had Wagner, but Davern's responses to Rasure's questions invariably echoed Wagner's. Rasure had no reason to suspect that Wagner and Davern might have contrived the similarities.
Rasure asked Davern if he had spent Friday night on the island in Avalon with Natalie. Davern defensively gave two different answers before claiming, "I want to talk with R.J. or see my attorney before answering any questions."
http://ereads.com/ecms/book_title/Goodbye-Natalie-Goodbye-Splendour%23
- I smell a sequel to my TV movie!
Peter Bogdanovich
- [quote]What kind of wood doesn't float?
What kind of wood didn't get shoved up Christopher Walken's rectum the night of November 29th, 1981?
- yes that was the gossip then and years afterwards (about Wagner & Walken) but even if proven true how does it lead to NW's death being re-opened as a *homicide* all these years later...what new evidence of foul play has emerged now. If Wagner got mad and threw her overboard in a fit, wouldn't that have been obvious at the time?
Even if she found the two guys together, got upset and tried to take off in the dinghy, drowning in the process, it still isn't homicide. There has to be some new proof of foul play here for the LAPD to re-open.
- The captains version now is different than RJ -
Wagner admitted his jealousy in his book "Pieces of My Heart," also published in September 2009. He acknowledged that there had been a fight with Wood, writing that he smashed a wine bottle on a table.
After Wagner argued with Walken and broke the wine bottle, Wood left in disgust and went to her stateroom, Davern told CNN last year. Walken also retired to a guest room, Davern added, and Wagner followed his wife to their room. A few minutes later, Davern said, he could hear the couple fighting.
Embarrassed, Davern said he turned up the volume on his stereo. At one point, Davern recalled, he glanced out of the pilot house window and saw both Wagner and Wood on the yacht's aft deck. "They'd moved their fight outside ... you could tell from their animated gestures they were still arguing," he said.
A short time later, Wagner, appearing to be distraught, told Davern he couldn't find Wood. Davern searched the boat but couldn't find her. He noticed the rubber dinghy also was missing.
Wagner shrugged and poured them both drinks, Davern said. He suggested his wife had probably gone off in a temper.
Wagner's story, as told in his book, differs from Davern's. He maintains that after the argument with Walken, Wood went to her room and prepared for bed while he and Walken sat on the deck, cooling off.
Wagner writes that he went to check on Wood, but she wasn't there. He maintains that he and Davern searched the boat and noticed the dinghy was missing. Wagner wrote that he assumed his wife had gone ashore on her own.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/17/justice/california-natalie-wood/
- I wonder if that old queen Mart Crowley finally turned on RJ?
- I've seen photos of that boat/yacht (the Splendour?) and it doesn't look hardly big enough to have that many bedrooms and "staterooms". Unless I'm looking at a different boat, it looks barely big enough to house 2 people, never mind 4, with any privacy.
Whatever happened on the boat that night is well-known by all 3 survivors (Wagner, Walken and the captain). Was Walken ever interviwed by the detectives?
- Wasn't there speculation that Natalie was having or had had an affair with the captain? Another probable cause for the argument with rj.
What ever happened to the yacht? Who now owns it?
- [quote] I know Wood's sister Lana has been jonesing to have the case re-opened for a long time (she believes there was perhaps foul play involved)
Lana never trusted Wagner and tried to talk her sister out of re-marrying him. In her book she states that she told Natalie "A boy like that will give you sorrow. You'll meet another boy tomorrow. One of your own kind. Stick to your own kind."
Or%20was%20it%20Anita%3F
- Oh no Lana, no
Lana no.
It isn't true, not for me;
It's true for you, not for me
Natalie%20Wood
- R15 Lana has been like Sharon Tate's sister in that she has always tried to keep the public aware of a thing or two in her own way.
- How coincidental that not only is this the 30th anniversary of Natalie's death, but the 50th anniversary of the release of the film version of West Side Story, which is out this week on Blu-Ray.
And there's nothing for me but Maria....
- The LAPD is going to have a press conference tomorrow at 11am. This is very interesting; I wonder what it all means.
- [quote]A law enforcement source added that the department had recently received a letter from an unidentified "third party" who said that the captain had "new recollections" about the case.
New recollections, 30 years later, claims an "unidentified third party."
Yeah. Right. Sounds perfectly reasonable.
- The one person who has NEVER talked about that night is Walken. Maybe he's the "third party"?
- [quote]I've seen photos of that boat/yacht (the Splendour?) and it doesn't look hardly big enough to have that many bedrooms and "staterooms". Unless I'm looking at a different boat, it looks barely big enough to house 2 people, never mind 4, with any privacy.
I agree, and I've been on that boat. They're tossing around "yacht" as if this was something owned by Onassis. It's really just a large cabin-cruiser type boat... hardly the spacious yacht they make it sound like at all.
- She would have be an old fat bloated hag like Liz Taylor if she was still alive.... whoever pushed her did her a favour.
- Photo of the boat at link. I too always assumed it was much larger.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/14/article-1145430-001AD4CB0000044C-528_468x286.jpg
- The Splendour:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/14/article-1145430-001AD4CB0000044C-528_468x286.jpg
- Natalie was deathly afraid of water; she would never have taken the dinghy.
A nearby boater reported he heard a woman shouting for help from the water.
- You might be right, but that would mean Walken is in contact with the captain. It's not unfeasible though and would really make this very interesting.
- [quote]A nearby boater reported he heard a woman shouting for help from the water.
And what did this nearby boater do when he heard shouting for help from the water?
- Unfortunately, MGM really messed up the transfer on that blu ray.
- R28, he turned up the volume on his stereo, of course. He did not notify the police.
- I wonder if the unidentified third party is author of that book Goodbye Natalie, Farewell Splendor or whatever it is called. I read it when it came out and the theory that Wagner and Wood had taken their argument outside on the edge of the boat seemed plausible.
- It was reported that several people heard the screams. Sad.
- already?
Ghost of Natalie
- Rumor has it that Natalie divorced Wagner the first time (1962) after finding him in bed with a man.
- She was so tiny, Wagner probably didn't hear the splash.
- Because it happened to you and Liz Taylor, R23 ?
- Natalie Reopened!! Smart marketing ploy to promote a DVD boxset (WSS 50th Anniversary).
What *will* these young MBA's think of next??
- Ah...it's a little late.
When will they investigate Ronnie Chasen's death?
- I thought Wagner was the bottom?
- Natalie spending a day at the beach in August, 1965, with Paul Newman, Jane Powell, Jane Fonda and Samantha Eggar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSxhLS517ZE
- Where was Kirk Douglas on the fateful night?
- A woman "deathly afraid of the water" would not be spending the night on a small boat like that, especially with a freak like Walken.
- This was 30 years ago? Wouldn't the surviving witnesses all be senile by now?
Madysyn%2C%20age%2013%2C%20watching%20Phineaus%20%26%20Ferb
- I think it may be that Wagner knew she fell, but was too drunk and just said "the hell with her," not realizing she would drown.
If it's really that he pushed her off - that is major.
- Shit! Are we gonna have to write off my dad? On the bright side, I'm probably first choice for a sequel.
Michael%20Weatherley
- The LA Times article
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-natalie-wood-20111118%2C0%2C5141657.story
- Five articles from the LA Times from Nov 1981.
http://documents.latimes.com/natalie-wood/
- [quote] an unidentified "third party" who said that the captain had "new recollections"
After 30 years? Yikes, next he'll be telling us he was one of Jerry's kids.
- Why didn't Natalie Wood take a shower on the boat?
Because she wanted to wash up on shore
- r44, I think it's manslaughter also.
Walken has always really fucking creeped me out, and not in my usual douchebag fetish way either.
To all the people saying "why now?" you never know how a person's circumstances might change over time, i.e. terminal illness, appeal from a family member, etc.
- w&w for r49!
they%20call%20it%20driftwood
-
The boat they showed on the news tonight on tv was much larger than that one in the photo above.
- This is just one reason Roddy McDowell's journals are embargoed.
Dominick%20Dunne%2C%20from%20a%20good%20table%20Beyond%20%20
- USA Today is reporting that the captain has alleged that Wagner is responsible for Woods' death.
- So good in Splendor in the Grass,Love with the Proper Stranger and West Side Story. Wonder how her career would have gone had if she had taken Bonnie and Clyde? Loved her.
- This is why you should never reconcile with an ex.
Plenty%20of%20fish%20in%20the%20sea%2C%20and%20now%2C%20Natalie%20too.
- R40 - amazing footage. Where did you find this? Any idea who the hunk Jane Powell was with was? Paul is beautiful. Doesn't appear Natalie was too terribly afraid of the water in this.
- That whole thing about Natalie Wood being "terrified of water" is bullshit. I remember hearing that also and I think it was just a meme created to add cred to the rumos that Wagnor knew more than he let on.
She wasn't fucking afraid of the water. She was always at the beach, on boats, etc. These aren't things a hydrophobe does.
- Harvey Levin interview of book co-author
http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o28/newsdesk/tmz_audio/1117_interview_2.mp3
- In the first story of the LA Times archive link, Roderick Mann, a LA Times writer and friend, said that NW went out by herself in the dinghy all the time and was very skillful with boats.
Later in the article, RJ said Natalie didn't swim very well.
- [quote]Doesn't appear Natalie was too terribly afraid of the water in this.
Good catch r57.
- R57- Home movies by Roddy McDowell. There are others too.
- Thanks R62. They are quite personal. A look bacvk in time.
R57
- How Walken makes us laugh in fear
Fri Jul 20 2007
Christopher Walken is in a chi-chi hotel suite, staring with bemusement at a huge platter of pineapple and melon slices. He'd asked for fruit to munch on during interviews for Hairspray, his new movie and strangest role yet in a very strange career. He received a mountain of produce.
"You shouldn't have, really," he softly tells the hotel server. "I'm not going to eat all that. You should hand it around."
The server is worried. She apologizes. "But Mr. Walken, it just wouldn't have looked good otherwise."
Making things look good for Walken is no small matter.
The server had likely seen a few of the Oscar-winning actor's more than 90 movies in a five-decade career. She would have remembered – how could she forget? – his intense performances in Batman Returns, True Romance, A View to a Kill or The Deer Hunter. Walken often plays a gangster, schemer or disturbed individual who likes things to be just so – or else.
Is it possible people confuse the real Walken with his scary characters?
"You know, I've never thought about that," says Walken, 64, munching on a pineapple slice.
"I play a lot of those parts, and it's a chicken-and-egg thing. I don't know whether you get scary because you play those parts or did you get those parts because you were scary?
"But I do believe that there's a very close connection to what's scary and what's funny. So I think if you have the ability to do one, you might have the ability to do the other."
He's got ample evidence to prove he has a funny bone. He's a regular on TV's Saturday Night Live, where his singing monologues are an audience favourite. His dance routine – he's a real tapper – in Fatboy Slim's 2001 video "Weapon of Choice" was an Internet sensation. And he happily appears in family movies like Kangaroo Jack and The Country Bears.
Walken is about to challenge his terrifying image yet again by playing the comic role of meek Wilbur Turnblad, the husband of John Travolta in Hairspray, Adam Shankman's film hybrid of the John Waters movie and Broadway musical of the same name.
Walken more accurately plays the husband of Travolta's plus-sized female character Edna, whom he adores despite her mammoth girth: "This heart only beats for a size 60," he coos.
Travolta asked that his Pulp Fiction co-star Walken be cast as Wilbur, since they'd both done Broadway summer theatre in their early days, they'd waddle well together. Walken is flattered, but admits he's not entirely sure why Travolta wanted him.
"I hardly talk to him, except when we worked. But when we were together, we got along very good. And I think you can see that."
Walken has that effect on people, when he's not scaring the living daylights out of them. They recognize that, for all of his talent and fame, he's not given to celebrity vanities.
He's low-key in manner and dress, wearing a plain black sports coat over a V-necked sweater and slacks on this day. He's made no attempt to hide the forehead wound he received while working out.
Walken doesn't own a computer, doesn't do email and lives in rural Connecticut with his wife of many years, casting agent Georgianne Walken, far from Hollywood's madness.
He doesn't go looking for work. It goes looking for him. Screenwriters pen roles referring to "Christopher Walken" characters.
Walken likes that. He likes to keep busy. He admits that he hardly ever turns down a movie role offer, good or bad.
Does it bother him to be cast as the villain so often? "No, no. Typecasting is better than no casting."
Walken loves routine. "I'm a slow and steady person. I don't like to rush. I don't like to work hard. But I do like to forge ahead. I do the same thing every day, at the same time. I stay home a lot. I live in a nice place, filled with trees. I like to stay there."
He thinks he might write his memoirs one day. No rush. "Maybe I'll have my papers in a safe box until I'm gone into the great beyond ... because if I'm not in the great beyond, people will kill me anyway."
Walken laughs a very quiet and very scary laugh.
http://www.thestar.com/article/237944
- [quote] Wagner told The Times in 2008 that the argument concerned how much of one's personal life should be sacrificed in pursuit of one's career; he was upset that Walken was advocating that Wood give her all to her art, even at the expense of her husband and children.
This is the kind of shit actors have heated arguements about?
- No, and how is Bob Wagner's health these days?
- OK, play this out.
She winds up dead, drowned on the beach. The boat 300 feet away reports they heard repeated cries for help. This means she was alive when she went int the water, so Wagner/Walken/Whoever didn't kill her on the boat. She was well enough to scream and scream loudly enough to be heard from a distance. This implies she was in reasonable physical condition.
If you want to murder someone this sounds like a rather shoddy plan, since it seems to be basically, put her in a rubber boat and hope she drowns. Instead, it seems like the worst that can be said is that Wagner/Walken/Whoever acted like absolute bastards by ignoring her plight. That's asshole behavior to be sure, but not murder.
Someone make the case for murder. Is the boat a red herring? Was she pushed into the water to drown and the boat cut loose later?
- OK, I put this on a message board on IMBD and those jerks deleted it!
There was once a local gossip TV program in the San Fransisco Bay Area hosted by gossip queen and movie critic, Jan Wahl. She was interviewing Laurie Jacobson who wrote books about old Hollywood, and she is also a producer. Laurie Jacobson said it is well known in Hollywood that Natalie and Robert Wagner invited people who attended their parties to join them in their bedroom.
Laurie Jacobson said everyone was drunk the night that Natalie Wood died. Natalie walked in on RJ and Christopher creepy Walken having sex. Natalie was furious by what she saw. Natalie wasn't upset that RJ was having sex with Walken, but they didn't included her. Natalie Wood fell into the water by accident and was screaming for help ,but Walken and RJ were too busy having passionate sex. Laurie Jacobson is extremely creditable.
- Just saw the captain being interviewed on "Today". Very weird. Why is this coming out 30 years later? Just to sell his book? One does wonder.
- [quote]This is the kind of shit actors have heated arguements about?
In a word, yes.
Former%20theater%20major%2C%20typing%20TPS%20report
- I also saw the captain interviewed by David Gregory on the Today Show. He came off as bizarre and not very credible. He refused repeatedly to say what it was that he saw, and instead said that it was for the investigators to examine and report on. Gregory then turned to the book's author. Everything the captain should have and could have said was already contained in the book, so why he clammed up at this point was odd at best.
- Poor David. He tried asking the same question and the guy (captain) simply would not answer.
What a struggle.
- I am surprised that neither Wagner or Walden's network of connected Hollywood "fixers" haven't figured out a way to shut down stat this budding maelstrom of bad publicity. Doesn't money and influence still talk?
Jill%20St.%20John
- So what? Even if hes telling the truth there's no way a DA is ever going to take this to trial, and even if they do there's no way a jury will convict on this.
Unless there are canceled checks that say "Hush money to keep quiet and not tell anyone I killed her" this isn't going anywhere.
- Robert Conrad a three way with Wagner and Wood and, not surprisingly, told a number of people about it. Apparently he was very disappointed to find out that he wasn't special, he was something like #246.
- [quote]Unless there are canceled checks that say "Hush money to keep quiet and not tell anyone I killed her" this isn't going anywhere.
lol
- Back in 2010, Wood's sister, Lana Wood, appeared on CNN and pleaded with authorities to re-open the case. Wood said she believed an argument between her sister and her husband, Robert Wagner, on the yacht's back deck preceded her drowning.
- One of the old LA Times articles they link to said her body was badly bruised.
I'm not a CSI fan, but maybe someone who is can comment--I was under the impression that you didn't bruise after death, so wouldn't that mean she was beaten before she went into the water rather than being pounded against rocks by the waves or something?
- What does her daughter think? I've always wondered about that. I don't know if she ever talked about it in an interview. I remember when it happened, you just knew the Hollywood fix, was in.
- Did Dominick Dunne ever write about it?
- R77
Lana has done things like that for a great many years now. There is no real reason for her to have done that for as very long as she has if she did not think something was up from the break.
Siblings have a certain bond. That sounds corny, but it is oftentimes true.
- I never paid attention to this story (I was too young when it happened, so I didn't know who she was at the time). This morning was the first time I had ever heard that Christopher Walken was on the boat and that he and Wagner were fighting. Does Walken know anything?
- Natalie WAS afraid of water. She nearly drowned on the set of a film she did as a young child. She was rescuing a lamb or goat in a flood and nearly drowned on the set.
- I always figured it was Wagner who killed her accidentally. Walken is a flake, but I never suspected him. It usually boils down to the spouse.
Nancy%20Graceful
- The CNN report today said she had over 30 bruises and abrasions on her body when they found it.
Police say Wagner's "not a suspect" but were cagey about whom they'll be talking to (obviously, Walken).
Other people have come forward besides the Captain. The Captain says Wagner told him not to put on the searchlight, and waited four hours before calling the Coast Guard. Wagner said "We don't want to do that right now" about putting on the searchlight.
- I wonder of the boat was named Splendour after the poem that Natalie's movie was named after, or if that's only a coincidence?
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind
- What's bizaare is that the boat was named Splendour after Splendour in the Grass, the film in which Natalie met Warren, who broke up her marriage to Wagner.
-
Both Lana Wood and the Marti person who wrote the book claim Natalie was deathly afraid of water, pools, the ocean, etc. So then why the hell do Natalie and Robert have a boat??? This doesn't make sense.
- This AM, ABC showed a clip of NW saying that she was deathly afraid of the water -- especially deep, dark waters...
- Wagner not a suspect . . . but . . . the information also came from another party besides the Captain.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Investigators reopened the case of Natalie Wood's 1981 drowning after receiving new information they deemed credible enough to warrant another look at one of Hollywood's most enduring mysteries.
A detective said Friday, however, that the three-time Oscar nominee's husband, actor Robert Wagner, was not a suspect.
Los Angeles Sheriff's Lt. John Corina said nothing has yet changed the official view that Wood's death in the chilly waters off Southern California's Santa Catalina Island was anything but an accident.
"Right now, her death is an accidental drowning," Corina said.
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20111118/D9R3ERI00.html
- Yeah, people who are deathly afraid of deep water do not go out in boats.
- Fox News reporting Chris Walken has hired an attorney to handle the investigation.
- As I said on the other Natalie Wood thread, I think it would be hilarious if some reporters hounded Courtney Love for her comment about this story.
- Wait - Walken has gotten a lawyer?
WTF?
- Do you think they'll exhume Natalie's body? Would it be too decomposed after 30 years to get any evidence?
Ghoul
- Ghoul, you mean that Robert Wagner wasn't smart enough to have the body cremated?
Courtney%20Love%2C%20who%20was%20smart%20enough
- Has anyone in natalies family commented yet?
- I think it has been said that Natalie's sister has always wanted it investigated.
I would guess that Courtney Love would know more than you think, about the feelings of the family.
- How did they know Natalie Wood had dandruff?
Her head and shoulders washed up on the beach.
- She was afraid of DARK water, not water in general and not "deep" water.
- The captain said Wagner would not let him turn on the lights, to look for her. Tell me, are people really unable to do what's right...when a boss disagrees with them? I mean, this was a woman's life and the captain had no balls.
- I believe the boat and his wanting to spend so much time on it was a source of contention between them. She was really trying to get over that fear. And for whatever it's worth - being on a boat is not quite the same as being in the water. I have that fear a little bit too. So I get it.
But I think she got drunk every time she got on it. I can remember reading that. They were often overheard arguing about it at some restaurant on the shore -where the boat was docked.
I loved Natalie Wood. If he killed her, I really want him to finally pay.
- That's what I thought, R101. What a loser for lying about it after it happens and going along with the coverup. The only way I could understand that is if he and/or his loved ones were threatened.
- [quote] Ghoul, you mean that Robert Wagner wasn't smart enough to have the body cremated?
Since she's buried at the cemetery in Westwood, I'm guessing that's a no.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi%3Fpage%3Dpv%26GRid%3D1124%26PIpi%3D264371
- [quote]Police say Wagner's "not a suspect" but were cagey about whom they'll be talking to (obviously, Walken).
Seems to me a very unfortunate choice for the police: if, instead of Walken, there'd been a "nobody" on the boat with Wood and Wagner like an assistant or waiter or something, they could easily pin Wood's death on that person and call it a day; however, given that the only other person there was another actor as prominent as Wagner (if not more so given that Walken has an Oscar), what do they do? Let one famous actor off the hook just so they can pin it on the other famous actor? Either way, if any shit hits any fan, someone famous WILL go down for this (that is, unless they get really creative and find a way to blame the boat's driver).
- I have a hard time believing that Walken slept through the night without being alerted about Natalie having gone missing/having drowned. If there was no foul play, they would've immediately told him. That is, if he had gone to bed at all.
- [quote]Tell me, are people really unable to do what's right...when a boss disagrees with them?
Yes.
- No witnesses and yet people remarkably have information about two men having sex, a drunken wife staggering about until she falls into the dark water she was afraid of most, and a cover-up concerning a searchlight that was not used. Later. After the men came? After everyone discovered the wife missing? What?
And the sister knows it ALL.
All I know is that the adult Natalie Wood always - always - had the dead Russian eyes of a woman who had a lousy youth and who had sold her soul to men for the hope of redemption and self-regard, and she never found it. Tsk.
- How about the Captain as a suspect?
Follow me here--the book has been out for 2 years, he has nothing new to say that wasn't in the book, but after a 3rd Party writes the Cops suddenly he's on every talk show trying to tag Wagner? Maybe he had something going on the side with Wood while Wagner was boffing Waken, or maybe he tried to make something happen.
It might be a case of "the best defense is a good offense."
- I can understand the fear of dark water. There is something disturbing and primal about it. Deep water itself is not scary, but it is when the water is dark. Regardless of the depth, dark water is scary because you have no sense of it's depth, like something huge could be under it and you couldn't even see it.
It's like being swallowed into oblivion.
- Natalie Wood’s Sister Blames Captain Dennis Davern For Her Death
Posted on November 18th, 2011 at 11:21 am
In the wake of a news conference announcing that the Natalie Wood death investigation has been reopened, Natalie’s half-sister Olga Viriapaeff has exclusively revealed to RumorFix what she believes happened the night Natalie died.
According to Olga, Natalie’s death on November 29, 1981 was a tragic accident and husband Robert Wagner was not to blame. Olga also says she was there when Robert got back to shore the night of the tragedy.
“The whole group went to have dinner somewhere earlier that night,” says Olga. “People kept sending them drinks to their table, so they drank, including Natalie. Then they came back to the yacht and Natalie said she was tired and wanted to go to bed. All the guys were upstairs talking.
Robert went to check on her — he was a very considerate man — but she wasn’t there. The little boat was not tied properly due to the negligence of the captain [Dennis Davern], it was his responsibility and he was getting paid for taking care of that boat. It was his fault and now he’s the one bringing all this up again.
They all thought she took the boat to go home for the kids because I guess the phone on the boat wasn’t working. They looked for her all night, but there was a heavy undertow and she was a very light person and not a good swimmer.”
Olga also says that Robert and Natalie had a strong, loving marriage and Robert was a wonderful husband.
“They were very much in love, ” says Olga. “It was a good marriage. The second time they got together, there was just something special. He was a very good husband. They were a good pair, they finally grew up and got together and then this happened.”
http://rumorfix.com/2011/11/exclusive-natalie-woods-sister-blames-captain-dennis-davern-for-her-death/
- [quote]But I think she got drunk every time she got on it.
I have also read Quaaludes were involved.
Youngins, ask the old timers for an explanation
- There you go.
They will try and blame the Captain for all of it.
- We know about Lana -- what's the story on Olga?
- [quote]They will try and blame the Captain for all of it.
Of course, because he was the only non-famous person on that boat that night.
Famous%20people%20are%20always%20innocent
- Uh R115, ever heard of the Captain & Tennille? The Captain is a billionaire!
Cheryl
- [quote]They will try and blame the Captain for all of it.
They always do.
Capt.%20Smith%2C%20RMS%20Titanic
- One thing for sure, if you give a powerful star trouble, you will have an accident. It has always been that way.
Robert Wagner was a member of that exclusive club...he would get his way. If he did not want the police to investigate, they wouldn't. It is the same, today.
- I second that, R117!
Captain%20Turner%2C%20RMS%20Lusitania
- The captain has admitted to being extremely drunk that night.He probably couldn't remember what happened 30 days after what happened let alone 30 years later. My speculation is that Natalie probably wanted to go ashore in the dingy. The captain was the only one who took the dingy out. He was too drunk to use the dingy, but he did anyway because Natalie insisted. She probably fell overboard from the dingy, and the captain was too drunk to rescue her. The captain goes back to the boat, Robert Wagner has no clue as to what just happened and only notices that Natalie is missing. If Natalie was so afraid of the water, there is no way she would venture out on that dingy all by herself, especially since the captain said that he was the one in charge of the dingy. The captain was too drunk and scared to tie up the dingy properly after he returned alone and that's why it was also missing.
- The captain said he went into Walkin's stateroom but didn't say if Walkin was there?
At the time, a woman told police that she had heard the screams of a woman but no one paid her any attention.
- So they(the captain and Wagner) are both blaming each other, but weren't both sides saying in the past that they weren't sure what happened? Isn't that what they've said for years?
But as soon as one gets accused, the other comes out and says "No, I know that you're the one who did it!"
So presumably one party is guilty.
- R120 - so then 30 years later the captain, knowing he's guilty, decides to write a book and bring it all up again? Nah......
- Sometimes you just have to let the songs speak for themselves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShGrtA17mSg
Bobby Wagner and the Other Pair
- The ores on the dinghy had not been used and the key had not been turned.
- R122 here. Sorry I could be wrong about this, but I presumed that Natalie's half sister is speaking on behalf of Wagner.
- The tension was between Wagner and Walken and Natalie. In fact, the night before, the captain and Natalie Wood had stayed in the Hotel, not on the boat. I guess Walken and Wagner had been on the boat alone.
- The book came out a couple of years ago. Someone else came forward with information.
- All of them were on drugs and alcohol. No one is really a credible witness.
- [quote] The ores on the dinghy
Oh, dear.
- R127, that makes you wonder if Wagner and Walken were having an affair, and/or if Natalie and the captain were having an affair.
- [quote]The ores on the dinghy had not been used
Iron or copper?
- Oreos on a dinghy? What?
Chips%20Ahoy
- [quote]I can understand the fear of dark water. There is something disturbing and primal about it. Deep water itself is not scary, but it is when the water is dark.
Flying over the Persian Gulf in a military helicopter, I had a seat by a small window. The water in the Gulf seemed dark brown. It suited my mood. My boss, seated inboard, asked, "What does it look like down there?" "Death!" I replied.
- At least they weren't fucking little boys!
Captain%20EO
- She was drunk and fell in the water and drowned. It's sad, but she was a raging alcoholic.
Of course, it's purely coincidental that West Side story just came out ob Blu Ray. Purely.
- I don't see anything in this thread that makes me think there was a murder.
Everyone was drunk and/or high, people were fucking around and getting in and out of a little rubber boat in the middle of the night and in the dark, no seems to have displayed even a trace amount of good judgment, and everyone was clearly lying their heads off the next morning to avoid bad press and cover up their spectacular negligence, but I don't see a murder. I don't even see manslaughter. Unless there's a smoking gun we haven't heard about this ain't going anywhere.
Now tell me that Wagner burned her suicide note and I might believe you, because that fits as well as anything.
- Can anybody write more about the accounts from other people who allegedly heard voices from their own boats?
- R138, here's the LA Times article:
http://documents.latimes.com/heard-cries-for-help-near-wagner-boat/
- R139, thank you very much.
- There were like annual weird deaths of famous women during the early eighties; Wood, Grace Kelly, Karen Carpenter and Jessica Savitch all between the years of '81-'84. They should write a play about it.
- I just read the article. If the story is true, it's infuriating to think that those people didn't respond to the cries of help because they assumed that some other people they could hear would take care of it. Even if the other voices said they were coming to help.
If someone's in danger, you make 100% sure that they are helped, and that means taking the initiative.
- R136 You found it out.
The police were paid a nice fee by the studio to bring this case back up. It seems the cops are all fans of WSS and wanted to do their part to make sure the Blu-Ray is a huge hit. I've heard rumors that the detectives all do the opening dance when it's a slow day at the station!
Wagner and Walken are in on it too. They wanted nothing more than to have suspicions of murder cast upon them by the public. Neither of them have done much lately so this is a great career boost!
- I was in high school from '80 to '84. Those were years of some weird deaths and attempted murders, period. John Lennon got killed my first semester in high school. Reagan was shot the next spring. John Paul II was shot a few months later, which was a big deal since I was in a Catholic school. Anwar Sadat was killed about six months later.
The celebrity deaths you mentioned, plus the cold war stuff that was still going on, created a weird vibe. It's hard to convey now how ominous the nuclear saber rattling was then, when all the references in 80s videos like "Two Tribes" and "99 Luftballons" seem so quaint now.
Looking back it seems the weirdness started in the late '60s and never let up, but I was too young for the earlier stuff.
- Well GE pushed Reagan to telling the American people that Russia was a threat. Of course Russia was dying a slow death and had nothing. GE wanted a lot of money to build weapons that we didn't need. That's why they had to get Carter out of office. He wouldn't spend money we didn't have...so the CIA helped out in Iran.
- Sadat and Indira Gandhi were assassinated as well.
- R145, one wasn't better than the other. You think they actually make the decisions?
- [quote]The celebrity deaths you mentioned, plus the cold war stuff that was still going on, created a weird vibe.
Ahem! What about me?
GRID
- [quote]She was drunk and fell in the water and drowned. It's sad, but she was a raging alcoholic.
She wasn't a raging alcoholic.
- Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood
Natalie Woooood
Molly Shannon
- Jessica Savitch also drowned in a freak accident not too long after Natalie.
- I agree r142. I don't know how they just sat there and let someone scream out for help in water and assume someone else helped them.
- Yes, that obviously contributed to it, R148. I admit though that I was a sheltered Midwestern high school student and that didn't seem as real to me then. That changed quickly when one of my college professors quit in my first semester due to a mysterious wasting disease that no one in the department discussed.
- I think we're missing the real story here.
Wagner was extremely fuckable in his youth!
- This is old news.
The Enquirer reported the cries for help years ago.
Why open this now?
- Young Robert was so pretty.
http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/27/2772/CIWTD00Z/posters/robert-wagner.jpg
- Also, r141, European actress Romy Schneider died in mysterious circumstances in 1982, said to be a heart attack but she was only 44, alcohol and drugs being rumoured to be a cause - and the loss of her 11 year old son the year before (he fell and was impaled on railings). I remember 1982 though what with Grace, Ingrid and Romy all dying ...
- Karen Carpenter's death was a shock. Her anorexia was not public knowledge until she died. At least, that's how I remember it.
Somebody should start a thread about shocking deaths of the 1980s.
- need to see a photo before I make my judgement.
Judge Judy
- I hope they don't dig her up. That was actually discussed on the Ed Show tonight.
- r142/r152:
TELL ME ABOUT IT!!!
Kitty Genovese
- To be outed as a lesbian and the daughter of a crime family really adds layers to the Gervaise murder.
- I guess the difference is that in the Kitty Genovese case, the witnesses didn't go running to newspapers to brag about their role in what happened, like that creepy woman in r139's link.
It's like she's so blinded by the spotlight, and her chance to be connected to a celebrity and grab her 15 seconds of fame, that she's oblivious to how badly she comes off. "You have to be responsible for yourself and your own family"... geez.
- >>Karen Carpenter's death was a shock. Her anorexia was not public knowledge until she died. At least, that's how I remember it.
You remember that wrong. The Enquirer and all the other tabloids had stories about her being thin. I don't think they actually used the word anorexia, but they reported on her weight loss. She took time off from performing because of anorexia. The terms Anorexia and Bulimia didn't really become well known until after Karen died. Her death actually brought it (Anorexia) to the attention of the country. Back then, no one knew what bulimia was. No one ever heard of cutting either. People did it (in secret), there just wasn't a term for it and it was never talked about.
- Gee, r68, I guess Demi & Ashton are lucky their threesomes only got them divorced...
- This is not adding up.
The author of the book said on CNN that the case has been reopened because she sent the sheriff's dept. a "bullet-point" list of the major claims in her book, and that this allowed the sheriff's dept. to see things more clearly.
So, either her book was a shambles when first released, or the sheriffs never read it in the first place, when she sent them a copy when it was first published.
Either way, it appears that the "substantial new evidence" brought forward by a "third party"... is simply claims made by an author in a book published two years ago.
Plus, could this, as some are now questioning, a ploy by the sheriff's dept. to deflect attention away from an internal investigation regarding prisoner abuse at the county jail... an investigation opened on the very day that the dept. announced "substantial new evidence" in a celebrity death case nearly three decades ago to the day?
- [quote]it's infuriating to think that those people didn't respond to the cries of help because they assumed that some other people they could hear would take care of it. Even if the other voices said they were coming to help.
When the woman first said that she heard the screams but hesitated to get involved because the culture of boats is, in port, to leave each other alone, I could sort of understand -- very Kitty Gennovese, but okay.
When she then paused and then insisted she was responsible for protecting her family first, then it was clear she was free to get involved if she wanted, boat culture or not, but was too scared to act and couldn't face responsibility for her fear.
- I belong to the History Channel's Facebook page and some people said on their wall that people are coming have came forward after all these years bring new information to the case.
- [quote]When the woman first said that she heard the screams but hesitated to get involved because the culture of boats is, in port, to leave each other alone, I could sort of understand -- very Kitty Gennovese, but okay.
Okay? What's okay about it?
"Oh, hmmm... someone is screaming for help. Oh well, it's not my concern. You know, "boat culture" and all that. Their problems are just that, "their problems", it's not for me to get involved even when they're screaming for help. Pour me another chardonnay, please."
Well, fuck her and her boat culture and anyone who agrees with her. Her "culture of boats" resulted in someone dying a horrible death practically right under her nose and I can't see what the fuck is "okay" with that.
- I'm agreeing with you, R169. That's why I used the KG reference.
- I agree with you too R169. The woman sounds like some rich bitch who thinks someone screaming for help is an annoying sound in her yachting wealthy world.Its like, close the window daaaaling that noise is giving me a headache.
- [quote]Wagner was extremely fuckable in his youth!
1981 was not his youth.
51-yr-old debutante
- Wagner was always smarmy and plastic, even at his peak. I'll pass.
- Right wingers are all like that..."that's their problem, why should it concern me?" They are really so stupid and short sighted, they don't know why it might concern them.
- Tell me about it, r144.
1968
- Maybe Wagner had been known to beat her, the sister knew about it.
- They mention in passing that Wood had two suicide attempts in her past, but I can't find any details. Anyone know?
- [quote] Wood's on-screen success was marred by personal trauma including a suicide attempt in 1966 in the wake of her breakup from famous Hollywood Casanova Warren Beatty.
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/11/who-natalie-wood-drowning-robert-wagner
- And maybe he should be, R113. If he was on duty, what was he doing drunk? Also, these 2 had divorced once. If they didn't get along, they could have divorced again. There was no need for him to kill her.
- Here's the story:
Wagner and Walker were arguing, supposedly over Wood. All of them had had too much to drink. Wood left the argument and went to her cabin to sleep. The dinghy was bumping against the side of the boat, so she could't sleep. In a hazy, drunken state, she decided to take care of the noise herself and tie it so it wouldn't scrape against the side of the boat. She slipped and fell in the water. She yelled for help. Some people heard her but did nothing. They later said they heard a male voice saying "hold on, we're coming to get you" or something like that, so that's why they did nothing. They should have investigated the situation, anyway. Wagner and Walker claimed they heard no cries for help; drunk and in another area of the boat, they were probably telling the truth. She drowned.
That is the most plausible explanation for what happened. Why is this sad tale being dredged up 30 years later? So people can make money from it. That's the only reason why.
- If that was their boat in the photos that have been linked to, then I really question why they had a Captain on board. It's a decent sized boat, but nothing that the average person couldn't handle with a few lessons, especially on a trip to Catalina. Granted, it's easier now with GPS, but even then getting to Catalina was simple, as was anchoring in the harbor once you got there.
If you've spent any time on boats that size, space is at a premium, and having the Captain along would be like Hilton having a maid sit in the corner of your room all weekend. I can see him working for them full time doing maintenance and being a caretaker, but to take him with on a trip like that makes no sense, especially if you're planning a boozie weekend with sex and drugs.
I mean, they keep talking about staterooms, and on that boat a 'stateroom' wouldn't be much larger than a walk-in closet. I wouldn't want the help on the other side of a wooden wall if I were planning a 3 way.
I don't understand where he fits in all this unless he was also a body guard, drug dealer, or sex partner.
- [quote] If that was their boat in the photos that have been linked to, then I really question why they had a Captain on board. It's a decent sized boat, but nothing that the average person couldn't handle with a few lessons, especially on a trip to Catalina.
People who have money and that like to drink and party don't want to learn how to pilot their own boats.
- What r180 said.
- He wasn't really a captain. He worked for the Wagners. Drove them around, did odd jobs around the home. Helped transport the kids. He maintained the boat when needed. They invited him to go along on that Thanksgiving weekend. But he was clearly an employee.
After Natalie's death, he moved into the Wagner home, RJ paid him money and also helped to get him parts walk ons in TV series shooting in the area. I believe he lived in the home for a year or so after Natalie's death.
- What does Charlie have to say about all of this? He probably knows someone who knew The Wagners, maybe even knew them himself.
- You're story is good, R180, but the boat isn't very big. "Other end of the boat" is only a short distance.
They really couldn't hear her screams from a few dozen yards away?
- >>When the woman first said that she heard the screams but hesitated to get involved because the culture of boats is, in port, to leave each other alone
So when people are DROWNING, the boat culture is "fuck it, let them drown privately "?
- 48 Hours/Vanity Fair are featuring a segment on Hollywood scandals tonight at 10 pm on CBS. Natalie's case is included
http://www.cbsnews.com/2718-18559_162-1351.html
- No mystery here. Drunk fools behaving irresponsibly and one dies as a result. The captain - who shows his alcoholism in his appearance and can't string his sentences together - is full of crap.
- TCM is showing Splendor in the Grass at 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight. Coincidence or does TCM have the clout to reopen cases?
Unrelated, but The Children's Hour is being shown after that.
- CBS has a one hour special on Natalie's death, with source material from this month's Vanity Fair article on her death.
- There were only three people who know what happened on that boat that night. The posters here pretending they know exactly what went on know nothing.
And I would love to know how the police is profiting off of this case. Since some of you are so content to pull out the obligatory "It's all for publicity" bullshit. Did the studio give each detective a percentage of the sales of West Side Story Blue-Ray DVD'S?
- 192...you don't get it. It's easy to prompt something like this. Somebody slips the drunk ex-"captain" some money to come forward with 'new evidence." this whole thing is absurd, and the timing is not coincidental. there is no "new evidence" and I don't believe for a second that the drunken bum "captain" came forward on his own initiative. The police seem to be treating this like it's nothing, which it is. The purpose was to get this in the media, and they accomplished that. sudden;y everyone's talking about wood again..oh, and LOOK, the West Side Story movie is being shown in select theaters across the country and the new DVD is out! which is amusing, because the Blu ray has interviews in which cast members needlessly slag off wood over petty grievances.
Stop being such a tin hat. That 'nobody knows what happened but the three people" bullshit is ridiculous. You had a bunch of active alcoholics drinking and getting drunk, to the point where they were bickering. One was a huge drunk who feared the water, yet apparently tried to take a small boat to shore. She was completely wasted, and slipped and fell and drowned, probably after hitting her head while falling. there's no mystery here at all. Drunks die in accidents all the time- even rich drunks.
- I know that while filming The Great Race, that she had some kind of breakdown. (I thought she was great in it and a very funny movie.)
Also, I remember the rumor that Kirk Douglas had raped her when she was a teen/young woman. Anyone know if that was true?
- "Stop being such a tin hat."
LOL. I'm not the one going around proclaiming to know everything that happened. Or pretending to know everyone's motives behind bringing this back up.
And please stop with the WSS DVD connection. You can't expect to be taken seriously if you spout such nonsense. Tin hattery at its finest. Do you really think the detectives have nothing better to do than to reopen this case because a fifty year old movie is coming out on Blue Ray? Are they getting residuals from DVD sales? What's in it for them?
Is R190 right? Was TCM in on this too? Or is it just a coincdence that SPLENDOR is being shown tonight?
I mean really, just stop.
You can say your scenario is what happened, but the only ones who know what really happened are the three who were on the boat. That seems to annoy you, but it's the truth. You're not Columbo, so stop acting like him.
- r194, she was raped by a leading man of the time who she was being set up to appear in a movie with.
His name was never mention but it was said he is still alive. All evidence points to Kirk Douglas but he has never been actually named.
I read the studio forced her to do the Great Race and she was miserable on set.
- All right, Natalie was wearing a down feather jacket. How long did it take for the water to soak in and pull her down? What did the coroner say? If it took a long time for the water to soak in that might be a clue that RJ was lying when the article indicated he said he told her he was coming for her. If the water soaked in at a swift pace, and pulled her down, then there maybe some possible creditability that her drowning happen too fast to do much. Also, why didn't she take her coat off if it was weighing her down?
- Anyone watch the 48 Hours special tonight?
- R195...that's your clever retort? You can't POSSIBLY be gay!
You're the tin hat dear. Promoting a conspiracy where there is none. I'm not "claiming" to know everyone, hunny bunny; it's the conclusion that was reached by investigators. It was an accident, a sad accident. Saying that "no one knows what happened but those people on the boat" is tin hattery at its finest. Her death was INVESTIGATED, hon. It was found to be an accident. YOU need to prove it was otherwise, sweetums, not me. I believe the official explanation because it's the most logical. Wagner had no reason to murder her. They had divorced once before; if things were getting rocky, they could have divorced again. The drunken captain and Walken had no apparent motive to harm her. She was an alcoholic, sweets...surely you're not contesting THAT. They had all been drinking. It's a wonder they didn't all fall in the drink and drown. But feeble minded losers like you always want things left as an open-ended question, because a conspiracy is just SO much fun. Sorry, sweets...no one was murdered. Drunk people have accidents. She fell of the boat and drowned. The findings were that it was an accident. Unless you conducted the official investigation, you're out of gas Tinny.
And you CLEARLY do not understand what a tin hat is if you think that my theory about the DVD release constitutes THAT. Poor dear imbecilic loon. There's no reason for this to be coming up again...NONE. The investigation is long over, and everyone is trying to go on with their lives. Suddenly the drunken bum "remembers" critical evidence that he never revealed before? Uh huh. That seems plausible and logical...NOT. I'm not alleging a conspiracy, I'm alleging a PR scheme. It's not above some PR company to try to raise a ruckus like this in order to get Wood's name back in the public eye. It happens all the time. It seems so oddly coincidental that they are heavily publicizing the new release of the DVD, even showing the film in selected theaters, and SUDDENLY, out of the blue, the bum "captain" who looks desperate for a buck "remembers" that she was murdered. LOL! Just an interesting coincidence...no word about the case FOREVER, then suddenly, POOF, it gets heavily publicized again. Purely a coincidence. Who went to the media with the story, I wonder? Wasn't the police or Wagner. The "captain" looks like he couldn't punch numbers on a cell phone. How could this story go wide, so that all the big press is giving it lots of coverage? No PR person was involved at all!
You're simple.
Logic%20and%20Reason
- 197...can't you pay attention? She was INTOXICATED. That's a rather bad thing to be when you've fallen in the water, and you're pathologically afraid of water. Plus, it's likely she got hurt when she fell. If she fell face down...gulp, gulp, gulp, dead.
Why do people do this, I wonder? This was investigated. We know what happened. This bum coming forward now...how on Earth does this bum have any credibility with any of you? Because you WANT to believe something foul happened? That's ridiculous.
Drunk people have accidents. She died. It's sad. But much worse is an effort to smear her husband when he is not a suspect at all, according to the police.
- Jesus, dial it back a bit R200. Have a cup of chamomile tea and listen to some Enya.
- Robert Wagner refused to allow the boat captain to turn on the search lights to look for Natalie.
And Robert Wagner did not contact the coast guard until two hours after he found Natalie missing.
And contacted the police even later.
- [quote]That 'nobody knows what happened but the three people" bullshit is ridiculous.
Really?
Who? Who else, in addition to the three on the boat, "knows" what happened?
- Wow the timing of all of this - the Vanity Fair crap was already in the bag and now the guy comes forward. Graydon Carder what is going on here? Media manipulation at its worst. Let's put this out there 30 years for Sweeps Month! I hope Wagner and Walken eventually sue somebody because this thing was in the bag and this Johnny Come Lately evidence is not evidence at all. Smells bad.
- A brief time out from this discussion to take a look at Natalie in 1961 which was a banner year for her, movie wise. She was so lovely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWDkdsZQq_c
- DAMN she was stunning. A stunningly beautiful woman.
Take a quick break from the theorizing and speculating...
(And I suggest you kill the sound when you watch it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DGE4nLQow174%26feature%3Drelated
- "YOU need to prove it was otherwise, sweetums, not me."
Nope. I don't need to prove anything. I'm not the one proclaiming to know what exactly happened on that boat that night. You are. And unless you're one of the three who were on the boat that night, you don't know what happened.
Come on, repeat it slowly one more time. YOU.
DONT.
KNOW.
'Kay, sweetums?
"I'm not alleging a conspiracy, I'm alleging a PR scheme. It's not above some PR company to try to raise a ruckus like this in order to get Wood's name back in the public eye."
That is a consipiracy, dearest. And the problem with such stupidity is that you refuse to discuss the issue of the detectives involved in this.
What are the detectives getting out of reopening this case? Are they doing it out of sheer love of Natalie Wood? You mean to tell me they have nothing better to do than to reopen a case because a studio wants to promote a fifty year film coming out on Blue-Ray? What a neat little town they must work in if they have nothing else to do. Crime must be non-existant there.
Bottom line is the detectives have to have a good reason to open the case. If not, every idiot can walk in there and say they have information on Natalie Wood. The case would never be closed.
And furthermore, why WSS? The film is a hit, but she's not the sole reason, or even one of the main reasons. If they were going to reopen it just to shine light on Wood, it would have been more probable to have done it when her breakthrough movie MIRACLE ON 34th STREET had it's fiftieth anniversary? Or when her most famous film REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE had it's fiftieth anniversary? Far more important films in her cinematic resume than WEST SIDE STORY.
Hmmm?
I allege no conspiracy. Unlike you, with your braindead "Everything is done for publicity" stupidity. Mr. "Logic and Reason" is really Mr. "Dumb and Dumber".
- After 200 posts the leading theory is that it's a conspiracy to sell more Blue Ray DVD's of West Side Story, and people complain DataLounge is no longer Gay?
- Jesus! The LA cops could'nt solve Ronnie Chasen's Beverly Hills murder from one year ago what makes them think they an solve a crime 30 years old.
- [quote] Jesus! The LA cops could'nt solve Ronnie Chasen's Beverly Hills murder from one year ago what makes them think they an solve a crime 30 years old.
Um, maybe because the Ronnie Chasen case wasn't LA cops?
- She died in Beverly Hills which is as much LA as Catalina Island.
Both are part of Los Angeles County.
- [quote] She died in Beverly Hills which is as much LA as Catalina Island.
Since Beverly Hills has their own police department and is it's own city, not funded by LA city or county taxpayers, I disagree.
- I need a nude pic of Natalie.
Can't find one online.
Help! Someone please, Help Me!
- I remember the story about Natalie crying out for help in the water and the men on the boat laughing and not paying any attention.
Is that murder? Yes, it is. I can also see why everyone would want to ignore that and get this off the front pages as quickly as possible.Wagner had children and money and Walken had a career. They both benefitted by this getting hushed up quickly.
Robert Wagner is really Robert Blake and Phil Specter, but pre-internet. Wagner would never be able to get away with this today.
- This always creeped me out. Natalie Wood, Jill St. John, and Stefanie Powers all grew up together.
- "DAMN she was stunning. A stunningly beautiful woman.'
Yes, she was. And an underrated actress. That was one of her demons; she never thought she was ever taken seriously as an actress and she was probably right about that.
My favorite performance of hers was in a movie that got panned at the time "This Property Is Condemned." It was based on a one-act play by Tennessee Williams. Like I said, it was panned an flopped at the time, but her performance has been reassessed and some people have said she should have been nominated for an Oscar for it. It's really a very haunting movie; it starts out with the teenage little sister of the character Wood played walking the railroad tracks, dirty, disheveled, carrying a "crazy doll" and singing a song called "Wish Me A Rainbow." Very eerie and sad.
As for Wood's death...well, she got drunk and fell in the water, that's for certain. But if you really want to believe something evil happened you would have to believe that the drunken Walken and Wagner heard Natalie crying out for help and thinking it a joke, said "we're coming to get you" but didn't. Does anybody REALLY think they did that? I don't.
- I'm coming home, Robert
Natalie
- I do, R116. It may have been that W&W were so drunk they weren't able to help, but that seems doubtful. Copious amounts of alcohol were consumed. Or RJ may have thought, in his drunken haze, screw her, let her flounder there for awhile since I know she's scared of water. Or RJ may have deliberately pushed her and walked away. Why is it difficult to accept these possibilities?
Actors who have killed their wives: Robert Blake, OJ, William Shatner. Who else?
- William Shatner?!
- So it turns out the "new witness" isn't new at all -- she's the woman interviewed by the LA Times after the accident who heard the screaming and refused to help.
- Oh yes, R219.
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2006/02/08/investigator_claims_1999_death_of_willia/
- {R206} She was stunningly beautiful. Her eyes grabbed you and brought you in. The camera loved her. She has a sexy voice and sense of fun about her. I never thought she got her due.
- I never believed Shatner's wife was an accident. Pool deaths are always a little suspicious.
- Why would Shatner kill his wife? I think that one was an accident.
- Divorce is expensive in California.
- The real crime is how MGM bungled the blu ray release of WEST SIDE STORY. Sloppy. Hope it gets corrected and there is a recall.
- Shatner has been married about 3 or 4 times and is used to getting divorced. Why kill one of his wives?
- There is no need for Blu Ray in the first place. Let's stick with DVD.
There is no need for yet another new system.
- Hello R228 2004 called.
- [bold] Cops: No Evidence of Foul Play in Death of Natalie Wood [/bold]
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KTLA) -- The L.A. County Sheriff's Department says it has uncovered no evidence of foul play in the 1981 death of Natalie Wood.
William McSweeney, the sheriff's chief of detectives, told The L.A. Times that several weeks of new interviews and other investigative work has uncovered no evidence that Wood's death was a homicide.
"At this point, it is an accidental death. Nothing has been discovered to suggest changing that at this time," he said.
Late last year, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department announced it was reopening the investigation into the mysterious death of legendary Hollywood actress.
Natalie Wood reportedly drowned while boating off the Isthmus of Catalina Island with her husband, actor Robert Wagner and fellow actor Christopher Walken on November 29, 1981.
The drowning was ruled an accident by the L.A. County Coroner, Thomas Noguchi.
But her death , at the age of 43, has remained one of Hollywood's most enduring mysteries.
In November, a sheriff's homicide detective told reporters that new information about Wood's death is substantial enough to cause them to reopen the case.
"As a homicide bureau, we are always open to receiving additional information about older cases and current cases," said Lt. John Corina.
Corina stressed that Wagner is not considered a suspect in the investigation.
According to Corina, several sources had come forward with new information that warranted "another look at the case."
One of the people investigators want to talk to is Dennis Davern, captain of Wagner's yacht, Splendour.
Davern, who had worked for the couple for many years, says he has some new recollections about the night Wood died.
He also went on television Friday and admitted lying to investigators 30 years ago about some details of the case.
Wagner and Wood had invited actor Christopher Walken to be their guest that Thanksgiving weekend on Catalina aboard their boat.
On the evening of Nov. 29, they had dinner and drinks at Doug's Harbor Reef.
They returned to the boat and continued to drink until a heated argument erupted between the two men.
According to Wagner's account, the argument concerned how much of one's personal life should be sacrificed in pursuit of one's career.
He was upset that Walken was advocating that Wood give all to her art, even at the expense of her husband and children, Wagner said.
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-natalie-wood-death-investigation-update%2C0%2C2987632.story
- The fact that Wagner didn't even try to save her...that means nothing?
When I want to commit murder, I'm doing it in LA.
- "The fact that Wagner didn't even try to save her...that means nothing?"
How could he have "saved her?" He didn't know she'd fallen into the water. Of course, if you want to believe the worst, then you'd have to belive that Wagner (and Walken) heard Natalie's cries for help and ignored them. But I don't believe that. It was an accident, but for some people it's so much more interesting to believe she died as a result of someone else's actions. And of course stirring up the conspiracy angle can bring in money for sleazebags like that boat Captain and Lana Wood, Natalie's leech of a sister.
- It's lucky that the internet does exist today or there would most likely be a similiar thread about CZJ.
Jeff
- In today's paper:
Detectives have tried at least ten times to interview Mr Wagner but have been refused. He said some of the refusals have come from the actor's attorney, and that detectives at one point traveled to Colorado to try to speak with Mr Wagner but were unsuccessful.
- He was so mean to her in their TV movie, "The Affair".
