# Do you care about Natalie Wood's death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933 "2011-11-24T00:06:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/1 "2011-11-24T00:06:33Z")
Natalie Wood drowned 30 years ago. The captain of the boat she was on has come forward with new information and they’ve reopened the investigation. Do you care? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/2 "2011-11-24T00:18:44Z")
I’m more interested in reopening the Virginia Rappe investigation: why did it take three days for them to get her to a hospital, and what \*did \*cause her bladder to rupture? And why was no one ever charged in the William Desmond Taylor murder? And who \*did \*kidnap Little Charley Ross? And where is his body? ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/3 "2011-11-24T00:25:47Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > And who \*did \*kidnap Little Charley Ross? Jim J Bullock has never been able to account for his whereabouts on the night that Little Charlie went missing… (Monkey Faced Man?) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/4 "2011-11-24T00:28:54Z")
Speaking of which, **Eve** , what did you think of the film _The Cat’s Meow_? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/5 "2011-11-24T00:31:42Z")
If there’s a new development I’d be interested. Til there is, I’ll accept the coroner’s version out of lack of interest in investigating it. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/6 "2011-11-24T00:40:31Z")
Do I care in the sense that I think me knowing the answer is at all important or will in any way change my life? No. Do I care in the sense that I’d prefer it be known what happened than not be known? Yes. Do I think reopening the case is likely to provide any new information? Not unless Robert Wagner or Christopher Walken decide they want to expand on previous statements, which doesn’t seem likely. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/7 "2011-11-24T01:57:37Z")
Hella fuck yes, I care. Her mouth looked pretty. And the stories I heard. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/8 "2011-11-24T03:54:49Z")
Kind of. After seeing “Sex and The Single Girl” at just the right age, Natalie Wood was my ideal of the perfect woman when I was growing up. I don’t really care about revisiting her death, but seeing all those images of her takes me back and makes me more than a little sad. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/9 "2011-11-24T05:44:36Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Do I care in the sense that I think me knowing the answer is at all important or will in any way change my life? No. > > Do I care in the sense that I’d prefer it be known what happened than not be known? Yes. > > Do I think reopening the case is likely to provide any new information? Not unless Robert Wagner or Christopher Walken decide they want to expand on previous statements, which doesn’t seem likely. I really didn’t care very much about her death at the time, and I haven’t become more interested in it. I mean, yeah, sad that she died before her time, but really it’s a very, very small incident that won’t change the world. I would also prefer that whatever happened be known, rather than unknown. It’s possible that reopening the case would shed some valuable insight, because we have new tools and techniques, but I think that new insight is unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/10 "2011-11-24T06:50:48Z")
Yes, I would like to know what happened, though I doubt we ever will. Natalie Wood was my favorite actress for much of my life (Sissy Spacek replaced her after I saw **Prime Cut** ). I haven’t seen all her movies, but [Love With The Proper Stranger](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057263/) is my favorite of the ones I have seen. I always thought she was so beautiful in a very accessible way. Not impossibly gorgeous, but cute-beautiful. I loved her voice, her hair, her eyes, her smile, she was so perfect to me. I also thought she was a good actress. Probably not great, but good. I was a truck driver when she died and I’ll never forget standing in front of a magazine rack in a dismal truck stop just staring at the headlines, not believing what I was seeing. Every stop after that for days, weeks, I would scour the racks of newspapers and magazines for any new information. I got over the shock, but felt sad every time I thought of her. **Brainstorm** , while not a great movie, was a pretty good movie and she was so stunning. I saw it over and over in the theater just to watch her. No good things ever come from anyone’s death, but like Marilyn and Diana, at least she’ll always be young and beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/11 "2011-11-24T07:17:05Z")
I like mysteries, and it’s a good mystery. I’d like to see the case solved. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/12 "2011-11-24T07:54:29Z")
> [@Lucretia](#): > > I like mysteries, and it’s a good mystery. I’d like to see the case solved. Sorry, but IMO there’s \*\*absolutely \*\*no mystery here. They were a long-time married couple who had a nasty fight, Wood stormed out, Wagner heard a splash, figured it was her jumping off to swim to shore, he was pissed off & drunk so he said, “fuck the bitch, she wants to swim home, let her!”, Wood either jumped off or fell off (doesn’t matter), she was also very drunk and drowned, next morning Wagner is wracked with guilt over his previous thoughts and inaction. No affair with Walken, no insurance scam, no intrigue of any kind. Just a tragic accident with famous people. Happens to regular people all the time. Occam’s razor. Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/13 "2011-11-24T08:08:53Z")
Not in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/14 "2011-11-24T08:21:26Z")
If Christopher Walken is implicated, I would be torn. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/15 "2011-11-24T09:30:37Z")
In general, it’s good to answer questions. I’m going to be sad if R.J. is implicated somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/16 "2011-11-24T10:56:25Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Sorry, but IMO there’s \*\*absolutely \*\*no mystery here. > > They were a long-time married couple who had a nasty fight, Wood stormed out, Wagner heard a splash, figured it was her jumping off to swim to shore, he was pissed off & drunk so he said, “fuck the bitch, she wants to swim home, let her!”, Wood either jumped off or fell off (doesn’t matter), she was also very drunk and drowned, next morning Wagner is wracked with guilt over his previous thoughts and inaction. > > No affair with Walken, no insurance scam, no intrigue of any kind. Just a tragic accident with famous people. Happens to regular people all the time. Occam’s razor. Case closed. Huh, I missed that bit where the people on the boat were Wood, Wagner, Walken, the Captain, _and_ **Hail Ants**. I have got to start reading more carefully. So, you’ll be contacting the authorities, then, and letting them know the case is solved, no point to investigating any further? ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/17 "2011-11-24T11:44:53Z")
I don’t even know who she is. So no, don’t really care. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/18 "2011-11-24T13:06:49Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > No affair with Walken, no insurance scam, no intrigue of any kind. Just a tragic accident with famous people. Happens to regular people all the time. Occam’s razor. Case closed. Exactly. The only way a murder plot works is if Walken and the Captain are in on it. Making this tell-all book 30 years later (after everyone has forgotten the details) a very bad idea. It was a terrible accident and the Captain is just trying to profit off of it in his old age. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/19 "2011-11-24T13:20:49Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/20 "2011-11-24T13:46:37Z")
If it was Robert Wagner who drowned would anyone have cared? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933.md?page=2)