Natalie Wood was a well known actress and had starred in movies such as Miracle of 34th Street, Rebel Without a Cause, and West Side Story. It's no surprise that the world was confused and upset when she was found dead off of Catalina Island, floating in the water wearing her pajamas. She had spent the weekend before on her yacht with her husband Robert Wagner, Christopher Walken, and the ship's captain. At first, her death was labeled as an accidental drowning. This theory makes sense; Wood had drank the whole night, her bruises were superficial and could've been caused by her fall into the water, and the yacht's dinghy had scratch marks on it as if Wood had tried to grab onto it before drowning.
Many people, including her sister, believe that there's more to the story. To start with, she was deathly afraid of dark water her whole life due to her mother's belief it would be her demise one day. Her marriage to Wagner is also very important when considering her death. Although they were Hollywood's golden couple at one point, their marriage could be described as abusive and tumultuous. They were reported to have been arguing so loud that ships passing by could hear them on the night of her death. According to the ship's captain, Dennis Davern, Wood had playfully flirted with Walken throughout the weekend which cause a large outburst from Wagner. Davern stated that they were heard arguing throughout the night, they went out to the dock, Wagner yelled at Wood to get off his boat, and he came back sweating and in a daze. When they realized she was missing, Wagner advised against looking for her. After many stories and conspiracies circulaiting her death, the case was reopened in 2011. The coroner stated her bruises seem to show she may have been a victim of domestic abuse.
What do you think happened to her that night?
I don't know if everything the captain said was true because he didn't reveal this to the public for many years after her death. However, I do think Wagner had a part in her death whether it's by directly throwing her off the boat or causing her to go into a manic state and trying to leave the boat. Regardless of that weekend, his behavior to Wood was abusive.
Do you think it's disrespectful to circulate conspiracies about celebrities like her?
Although it's easy to get swept into conspiracies and everyone has some type of urge to know what really happened, I think it's important that she's known for her life and career more than she is for her death.
Ott, Tim. “The Mystery Surrounding Natalie Wood's Death.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 1 May 2020, www.biography.com/news/natalie-wood-death-mystery.
Replies
Good topic choice and great job Vanessa!
I think that her husband might have murdered her just becasue there is evidence that can back it up but at the same time there isn't enough evidence to say he murdered her its just a game or he said she said. I personaly don't think it is direspectful the have theorys like this of celebirties when there is evidence that can say they did it.
I personally think that she was murder/pushed off the boat because if someone heard them in an argument then it stopped and, he was in a daze and sweating, and come to find out she was missing not even seconds later is definitely suspicious. I don't really think it is disrespectful unless the conspiracies were getting really bad and harsh.
I think Wagner had something to do with her death because you said their relationship was abusive and that she was found with bruises that most likely would not just happen by falling in water. I agree that people should be remembered for what they did in life and not how they died.
I do believe that Wagner played a role in her death. Since you said that she was found with bruises on her body that didn't match up with what would have been left from entering the water, I think that they were probably left by Wagner. Them arguing that night also gives a motive for Wagner to kill Natalie.
I agree that people should be known for what they did not for how they die. In some ways, I do think it is disrespectful to people to start or continue conspiracies about how they die and bring the light off of their life and put it on their death.
I think it is a little suspicious that she went missing after a big arguement with her husband. And hearing that he didn't even look for her makes me think maybe he had something to do with it, but I can't say for sure because there is not enough information to confirm how she died.
I think that her husband definitely had a part inher death becasue they were arguing and her husband is abusive and they might have been drinking a little too much. I think that people should look at her for who she was and not her death cause we don't know what happened for sure.
I wonder if her husband happened to kill her. Maybe he hit her so she could't move well and then pushed her into the water and she wasn't able to move back up to the surface of water. Or maybe she slipped and hit a rock and went into unconccioness.
I think it's sortof the opposite of disrespectful looking into the deaths of people like Natalie Wood. I understand the family and her friends just wanting Natalie to be forgotten about, especially if they've come to terms thinking she died in an accident. But I think it's good to look into her death further. If this wasn't an actual accident then I think that the family -and general public- has a right to know. That's what our court system is set up to do, investigate things and bring justice to people who do bad.
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