Natalie Wood case reopened

A yacht captain said the actress’s husband, Robert Wagner, was responsible for her death 30 years ago, reopening a case that had been classified as a tragic accident.

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Oct. 26, 1949

Actress Jane Wyatt fixes Natalie Wood’s hair ribbon in Hollywood. Wood drowned off the coast of Southern California on Nov. 29, 1981, and her death has long been ruled as a tragic accident. But on Friday, a yacht captain came forward saying Wood’s husband, Robert Wagner, was responsible for Wood’s death.

/ AP

Nov. 15, 1949

Natalie Wood, 11, turns her back to Wendell Corey so he can add his name to the autographs she was collecting on her leather suede jacket in Hollywood.

/ AP

1955

Wood's career began at age 4, when director Irving Pichel gave her a small role in "Happy Land" in 1943. By 1946, she was making $1,000 a week . She also stared in such films as “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947), “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955) and "West Side Story" (1961). She married three times, twice to actor Robert Wagner, who a yacht captain alleged is responsible for her death 30 years ago.

/ AFP/Getty Images

March 21, 1956

Actor Tab Hunter, left, and Wood arrive at the Academy Awards. Wood was nominated for her role in "Rebel Without a Cause.”

/ AP

1955

Wood and James Dean star in the 1955 motion picture "Rebel Without a Cause.”

/ AP

Feb. 18, 1956

With lots of televised hoopla, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the nominees for its coveted Oscars. Wood was nominated for her role in “Rebel Without a Cause.”

Harold Matosian / AP

Dec. 28, 1957

Actress Natalie Wood and actor Robert Wagner cut their wedding cake after their marriage in Scottsdale, Ariz.

/ AP

June 20, 1961

Wagner and Wood pose at a party.

DFS / AP

1961

Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood in "Splendor in the Grass."

/ Kobal Collection

May 1962

Actor Warren Beatty and Wood pose for photographers at the Cannes Festival in France.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Sept. 19, 1964

Wood poses in a Yves Saint Laurent outfit in Paris.

/ AFP/Getty Images

April 1972

Actor Robert Wagner and former wife Natalie Wood on board the Queen Elizabeth II after a hectic storm at sea, where they announced they would remarry.

Steve Wood / AP

July 4, 1976

Wood and her children Natasha, center, and Courtney, right, and her husband, Robert Wagner, arrive at an airport in London.

/ AFP/Getty Images

April 3, 1978

Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood are shown arriving for the 50th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

/ AP

Dec. 1, 1981

Natalie Wood with husband Robert Wagner at the 51st Academy Awards.

/ AP

1981

Natalie Wood is shown with her co-star Christopher Walken during filming of her last motion picture, "Brainstorm." Walken was on the yacht with Wood and Wagner the night the actress drowned.

/ UPI

Nov. 29, 1981

The 55-foot yacht "Splendour," belonging to Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, sits in the waters off Catalina Island in Santa Catalina, Calif., near the site where Harbor Patrol personnel and lifeguards discovered the body of the actress, who drowned, Nov. 29, 1981.

/ AP

Dec. 3, 1981

Robert Wagner reaches for a flower off the bouquet-draped casket of his wife, Natalie Wood, during services at Westwood Memorial Park. The 43-year-old actress drowned off the coast of Santa Catalina Island.

Reed Saxon / AP

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