Natasha Gregson Wagner, the daughter of actress Natalie Wood, has called for an end to speculation about her stepfather Robert Wagner's involvement in her mother's 1981 death, describing the claims as "falsehoods" that she fears will tarnish his legacy.
In a rare interview, Natasha, who was just 11 when her mother died, said she is "protective" of Wagner, who has long been suspected of being responsible for the drowning. The 96-year-old actor has never been charged with any crime.
Mystery Surrounding the 1981 Death
Natalie Wood died on November 29, 1981, during a weekend boat trip to Santa Catalina Island aboard Splendour, a yacht owned by Wagner. The official investigation at the time concluded it was an accident. In 2011, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reopened the case; in 2012, the coroner changed the cause of death to "drowning and other undetermined factors," and in 2018 investigators called Wagner a "person of interest." None of those reviews has led to charges.
Wagner, now 96, has been the subject of books, TV specials, true-crime documentaries, podcasts, and talk shows over the past four decades, which Natasha says have reopened the family's grief.
Natasha's Defense of Her Stepfather
Speaking to Vanity Fair Spain, Natasha said: "I think it's reckless and dangerous when people make up lies or make assumptions that end up circulating as if they were the truth. My dad is 96 and a half, he probably doesn't have much time left, and I don't want his legacy to be tarnished by those falsehoods."
She added: "Even so, all that speculation brought my family closer: my sisters, my dad, and me. We're very protective of one another. And he is very proud of how I take care of my mother's legacy; he wants me to do it."
Natasha, whose biological father was British producer Richard Gregson, insisted Wagner has been a "force of love and protection" since he became her guardian. "He has been a force of love and protection for me: he raised me as his own daughter and has loved me as if I were his flesh and blood. I know he would have done anything to protect my mother," she said.
Keeping Natalie Wood's Legacy Alive
In recent years, Natasha has focused on preserving her mother's memory. In 2020, she co-produced the documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, directed by Laurent Bouzereau. In 2016, she launched Natalie, a fragrance inspired by Jungle Gardenia, the perfume her mother wore all her life; that creation is now the heart of L'Amour Mère, a fragrance line dedicated to the love between grandmothers, mothers, and daughters.
Natasha also addressed misconceptions about her mother, who starred in films including Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). She said: "Maybe that she was a tragic figure, doomed or overly vulnerable. She had an open heart and was very humanitarian, and you feel that when you watch her on screen. But she was completely in control of her life and enormously powerful as a businesswoman, as a wife, as a mother, and as a friend. She was the one in charge. She was strong, very strong. So the misconception is thinking she was tragic or doomed. I never experienced that with her."
The circumstances of Wood's death remain disputed. On the night she died, the coroner ruled she had been drinking and may have slipped trying to board a dinghy, after partying with Wagner and actor Christopher Walken. Her body was found floating in a Catalina Island cove, wearing a long nightgown, socks, and a jacket. The post-mortem report noted bruises on her body and arms and a facial abrasion on her left cheek. In his memoir, Wagner acknowledged he argued with her before she died.
