Natalie Wood's daughter, Natasha, is celebrating her stepdad's birthday by sharing a rare family photo to Instagram. Natasha's stepfather is Robert Wagner, who Natalie actually married twice.
Natasha's dad is Natalie's second husband, Richard Gregson, and Natasha refers to Robert as "Daddy Wagner." She also said that when it came to celebrating Robert's 90th birthday, she and her sisters were at a loss.
"My sisters and I did not know what to give my Dad for his 90th birthday. What in the world do you give a 90-year-old? Katie had the great idea of having her dear friend and pretty rad photographer Greg Gorman take a picture of us. Then we figured why not have Dad and Jill in the photo too."
Jill is Jill St. John, Robert's wife since 1990. Natasha also added a sweet note to the post, saying "Hope we all get to age as gracefully and joyfully as our dad."
Natasha will also be publishing a book in May, called More Than Love, in which she discusses the circumstances surrounding her mother's death.
Natasha and her sister, Courtney, were raised by Robert after Natalie died in 1981. In 2016, Natasha told People, "I grew up always thinking I had two dads. I’m certain because my mom died, my relationship with my stepdad is way deeper than it would have been had she lived, because he had to be my mom and dad."
The circumstances surrounding the death of Natalie have always been suspicious, and the investigation was even reopened in 2018. What is generally agreed upon is that Natalie went out on the yacht Splendour with Robert, Christopher Walken, and Dennis Davern, the captain of the boat, on November 29, 1981.
There were rumors circulating that Natalie and Christopher might be having an affair, though she was married to Robert at the time. The official story is that Natalie went to bed first, and when Robert went to go to sleep with her, he noticed that she and a dinghy were missing. Her body was found floating in the water the next morning, with the dinghy beached nearby.
Natalie's autopsy also revealed that she had "multiple bruises on her arms and an abrasion on her left cheek" but investigators attributed the injuries to her official cause of death, drowning. Everyone believed Natalie's death was accidental until 2011, when the captain of the boat admitted he had left out key details surrounding the events of the night.
He reportedly told investigators that Christopher and Natalie had gotten into an argument the day before she died. "The argument started the day before. The tension was going through the whole weekend. Robert Wagner was jealous of Christopher Walken."
According to the captain, Natalie and Christopher spent several hours at a nearby bar before returning to the boat, and Robert Wagner was angry. Eventually, the captain and Robert joined Natalie and Christopher for dinner, and the four had plenty to drink. Employees at the bar said either Christopher or Robert "threw a glass at the wall at some point."
Originally, everyone had said the fight died down. But in 2011, the captain changed the story. He said that Robert asked Christopher, "Are you trying to [expletive] my wife?" Reportedly, Robert and Natalie went to their room and were heard shouting at one another. Then, the captain said, the couple went out on the deck where they continued fighting until "everything went silent."
When the captain went out to check on the couple, he said that Robert told him, "Natalie is missing" and that the dinghy was missing, too. However, Natalie was notoriously afraid of water, and the captain felt is was unlikely she willfully went into that water on her own. He also added that Robert "didn’t want to turn the boat’s flood lights on nor call for help."
Marilyn Wayne, a witness in the initial investigation, said she heard a woman screaming that night. Around 11 p.m., she heard someone yelling, "Somebody please help me, I’m drowning." She said they called the harbormaster, who didn't answer, and since there was a party on a nearby boat, they thought that the whole thing might be a joke.
Robert eventually called for help at 1:30 a.m., which was several hours after he and Natalie reportedly argued and she "went missing." Natalie's sister, Lana, asserted that her sister never would have just left the boat. "She would have never left the boat like that, undressed, in just a nightgown."
Since the change in the story, Robert has refused to speak with investigators, while Christopher has cooperated with the new investigation. Robert was named a person of interest in 2018. Lieutenant John Corina of the LA County Sheriff's Department said: "As we’ve investigated the case over the last six years, I think he’s more of a person of interest now. I mean, we know now that he was the last person to be with Natalie before she disappeared."
He also added, "I haven’t seen him tell the details that match … all the other witnesses in this case. think he’s constantly … he’s changed the — his story a little bit … and his version of events just don’t add up. We would love to talk to Robert Wagner. He’s refused to talk to us … We can never force him to talk to us. He has rights and he can not talk to us if he doesn’t want to."
