# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/21 "2011-11-24T13:55:35Z")
It’s difficult to get interested in reopening a thirty year old drowning case. Especially one that was investigated so thoroughly at the time. Memories don’t improve with time. I’d trust the original witness statements a lot more than anything they say in a tabloid book today. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/22 "2011-11-24T14:06:03Z")
I was about ~11-ish when she died. Her death didn’t ping my radar at the time, and until her death made the news again a few days ago I hadn’t given the matter a single thought. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/23 "2011-11-24T14:17:32Z")
No, but that’s only because I don’t even know who she was. The first I’d heard of her was this news story. I mean, I hope justice is done, but I only care as much as I would about any other story the death of someone I don’t know. Or even less so, since this one is so old. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/24 "2011-11-24T14:34:36Z")
In some odd way, I think part of what colors the perceptions of this case is Wagner’s role as Bud Corliss in A Kiss Before Dying. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/25 "2011-11-24T14:57:03Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > If it was Robert Wagner who drowned would anyone have cared? Wagner has had a reasonably successful Hollywood career. A lot of movie appearances, a pretty successful TV series, etc., but he is by no means a mega-star. People would probably have cared less had it been Wagner than Wood, but even her death wasn’t a huge deal. Interestingly, Wagner was on NCIS this week, as Anthony DiNozzo, Sr., a role he’s played a few times before\*. This time, he was busted for MOIDER (as the late great character actor Lionel Stander would say). Curious timing! - Also, Michael Weatherly (Anthony DiNozzo, Jr.) once played Robert Wagner in a TV-movie about Natalie Wood’s death. (Cue Twilight Zone violins) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/26 "2011-11-24T15:05:43Z")
To late to edit: Make that SEVERAL pretty successful TV series. “It Takes a Thief”, “Switch” (with Eddie Albert), and “Hart to Hart”. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/27 "2011-11-24T15:44:26Z")
I don’t have any emotional attachment to the case, but I am OK with reopening the case in the light of new evidence. ---
**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 25, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/28 "2011-11-25T02:00:11Z")
> [@Lucretia](#): > > 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? Well, yeah. I think the case is solved, was solved, 30 years ago! What part is mysterious? The only thing unusual is the fact that it involved movie stars. That some how means there has to be a mystery attached? **Alcohol [COLOR=“Black”]+ married couple + fight + water = drowning**[/COLOR] Solve for _x_, wait, there is no _x_! ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/29 "2011-11-25T05:08:28Z")
I do. West Side Story is one of my favorite movies ever. I was in love with Maria from that movie when I was a teenager. ---
**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 25, 2011, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/30 "2011-11-25T09:29:01Z")
ED! You have to have to HAVE TO [watch this](http://youtu.be/k5SkhvoV_7c). Make sure your speakers are on. The saddest part of this thread, but understandable given the name of the thread, is all the people who are so seemingly proud that they’ve never heard of Natalie Wood. Mainly because they’ve missed out on seeing some good/interesting movies, but also because she’s so magnetic even in iffy movies. She made the so often hard transition from child star to teenager to grown woman parts look effortless. She was good in comedy, drama, musicals. She could act, dance, sing, a true star of the studio system. It’s such a shame that she’s mainly known now, and flippantly dismissed, as a drowning victim. Here’s a [nice overview](http://youtu.be/9tv9twMvJwA) of various parts she played at various stages of her life. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/31 "2011-11-25T14:19:05Z")
[From the L.A. Times](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/natalie-wood-detectives.html): _“A law enforcement source added that the Sheriff’s Department recently received a letter from an unidentified “third party” who said the captain had “new recollections” about the case.”_ While there is no evidence I was greatly affected by Wood’s death 30 years ago, my new recollection is that I was devastated. :dubious: ---
**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 25, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/32 "2011-11-25T14:24:55Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > The saddest part of this thread, but understandable given the name of the thread, is all the people who are so seemingly proud that they’ve never heard of Natalie Wood. Not proud, just too young. It’s like the go-to argument for old folks when it comes to pop culture: “Why don’t you know about this? It’s only 40 years old! It’s a new movie!” And the response is always the same: “Something 40 years ago isn’t new! And you’re old!” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/33 "2011-11-25T16:01:45Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > The saddest part of this thread, but understandable given the name of the thread, is all the people who are so seemingly proud that they’ve never heard of Natalie Wood. It’s not that sad. It’s just time and age. I’m 43 and at the time of Natalie Wood’s death, I knew her only as the wife of the guy on _Hart to Hart_. For me, Robert Wagner is a bigger star than Natalie Wood was. Since then, the only movie of hers I’ve seen is _West Side Story_ and that kind of thing is just not to my taste. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/34 "2011-11-25T16:21:16Z")
I don’t really care in the personal sense, but I do care about justice. I’ve heard several scenarios of what happened that night, some of which are pretty damning of Wagner. IF his wife fell into the ocean and he didn’t offer aid, and in fact prohibited the captain from offering aid, then he should pay the consequences. Of course, that’s a big IF. ---
**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 25, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/35 "2011-11-25T16:54:05Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I don’t really care in the personal sense, but I do care about justice. I’ve heard several scenarios of what happened that night, some of which are pretty damning of Wagner. IF his wife fell into the ocean and he didn’t offer aid, and in fact prohibited the captain from offering aid, then he should pay the consequences. The same 48 Hours special that featured the woman in the next boat over also featured an interview with the Captain. He referred to himself as “more of a friend of Ms. Wood’s than Mr. Wagner’s.” Either scenario you posit means the Captain knew about Wagner’s inability to help and then _ **covered up the murder of a friend for 30 years** _. Coming forward now, as he’s trying to sell a book, just stretches his credibility as a “friend” even further. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/36 "2011-11-25T17:02:52Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Coming forward now, as he’s trying to sell a book, just stretches his credibility as a “friend” even further. The segment that I saw was a female author who did her own investigation on Wood’s death, and then forwarded a copy of the book to the police. 3 weeks later, they re-opened the case. Did the Captain write a book, too? ---
**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 25, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/37 "2011-11-25T17:09:46Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > The segment that I saw was a female author who did her own investigation on Wood’s death, and then forwarded a copy of the book to the police. 3 weeks later, they re-opened the case. > > Did the Captain write a book, too? Apparently they co-wrote the book. And published it in 2009. I’m confused now. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/38 "2011-11-25T18:23:51Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Not proud, just too young. It’s like the go-to argument for old folks when it comes to pop culture: “Why don’t you know about this? It’s only 40 years old! It’s a new movie!” > > And the response is always the same: “Something 40 years ago isn’t new! And you’re old!” You’ve never heard of \*anything \*that happened before you were born? Good thing you stumbled upon a site dedicated to fighting ignorance, then. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/39 "2011-11-25T18:25:06Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Speaking of which, **Eve** , what did you think of the film _The Cat’s Meow_? Is that the libelous piece of shit about William Randolph Hearst “killing” Thomas Ince? I wouldn’t sully my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933/40 "2011-11-25T18:30:27Z")
Yes, but in the sense of wanting any suspicious death to be resolved, for the sake of those who loved her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-care-about-natalie-woods-death/603933.md?page=3)