I just finished reading “Natasha,” the new bio of Natalie Wood (the writing’s not awful, but jeez, could she have used a good, strict editor with pruning shears!). Anyway, the author says several things about the still-living Robert Wagner that somewhat stunned me: for one thing, that Natalie found him having sex with another man.
And, Nat’s death: This author says Natalie & RJ were drinking and having a big fight on the boat, she slipped off and was yelling for help and he essentially told her “cool off in the drink, toots,” and by the time he decided the joke was over and to help her, hypothermia set in and she drifted away. She DOES have “witnesses,” but how trustworthy THEY are is questionable.
What strikes me as odd is that RJ knew of this book and didn’t sue Random House. Jesus, if I put something like that in one of MY books, my backside would be in court so fast your head would spin. So, has Robert Wagner become like the Royal Family? The very fact that he hasn’t sued makes one suspicious that the allegations are on-target . . . I can see rising above any sexual matters, but when someone prints in a book that you killed your wife . . . !
The author says she tried again and again to get RJ to talk and he wouldn’t . . . I have never heard this theory before (not that I keep up on “Natalie Wood Death Theories”). But I am amazed that Random House’s legal department OK’d this. True, most book contracts state that the author and not the publisher is liable, but still . . .
One of the more interesting quotes from the article:
He refused to talk to her, which means she just collected various stories he told other people and published them. And her publisher stands by the story. It sounds ridiculous. Especially in light of the fact that the author apparently relied on an unreliable source in her book about Priscilla Presley. The source was successfully sued for defamation by Priscilla.
Perhaps RJ just doesn’t want to deal with the situation anymore. He has denied both the drowning and homosexual relationship allegations through his lawyer.
Now, Diane, you’ll force me to tell you what Grace Kelly had that Natalie Wood could’ve used . . .
Ceejaytee—I am the most suspicious person in the world when it comes to biographical sources. Finstad’s story seems like ONE of several possible scenarios, but certainly not the last word (she has other sources besides Davern whom she quotes). I’ll be interested to see if any changes are made if a second edition or paperback comes out . . .
[P.S. she really chintzed out on the photo section, which always annoys me]
Someone once told me that Christopher Walken was on that boat the night Natalie died. Does your book mention anything about that?
All I know is that if I’ve got Robert Wagner, Christopher Walken, and a dead body all in the same place at the same time, I’d ask Robert to go have a smoke on deck for a minute while I had a word with the King of New York.
Jiminy, Sofa, don’t call it MY book! It would’ve been 100 pages shorter and had MUCH better photo sections . . .
Yeah, scary zombie-like Chris Walken WAS on board (which would be reason enough for ME to abandon ship!). He won’t talk, either . . . Her sources are the captain and a family in a nearby boat who heard a lot of what went on, but were never called by the coroner’s office, despite their offers to testify. Now, I’m not saying I believe her, by a long shot. I’m just surprised this got into print at all, what with RJ still being alive.
I’ve been trying to think of what this could be and all I could come up with are things about her head or those bratty kids of hers. None of which makes a bit of sense.
The way I heard it, they were fighting because RJ thought Nat needed a shower, and she refused to take one.
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She thought she’d wash up on shore.
[sub]God, I’ve been hanging on to that one a while![/sub]
I thought there had always been suspicion about RW’s involvment, but no official suspicion - that is, he was never going to be charged because the police/coroner/whoever didn’t think he was responsible. As far as I know, these rumours resurface every few years, because I know I’ve heard all this before even though I’ve never read the book you refer to. Perhaps RW is resigned to the fact that people are always going to talk about it, and if he doesn’t dignify the rumours with a reaction, they might go away. After all, many people still haven’t heard of the book in question. If RW sued the author, it would be all over the news, it would push sales of the book up, and RW would have to deal with the scandal all over again.
My understanding is that RW thought NW was in bed, but she actually got up and wondered around the deck. She’d had a couple of drinks, and was a little woozy, plus she’d had the fight with RW that is mentioned in the book. She appears to have tried to board the dingy tied up beside the boat, but ended up in the water.
From the IMDB:
I do NOT want to think about what the last moments of her life must have been like.
I remember years ago, back when Letterman was on NBC he had Dennis Hopper on. Letterman was asking Hopper about the wild things that he must have done when he was just starting out in Hollywood. Hopper said that, yeah he did a lot of wild things, and mentioned some of the people he hung around with who were dead and how they died. When he got to Natalie Wood, he said, “And Natalie fell off a boat!” and started laughing hysterically. He apologized almost immediately, and Dave never asked him what was so funny. Kind of makes me wonder.
