More than 35 years after the mysterious death of Hollywood star Natalie Wood, the actor’s 1981 drowning has returned to headlines.
On Thursday, responding to interest generated by an upcoming 48 Hours report on the matter, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles sheriff confirmed that new witnesses who have come forward since the case was reopened in 2011 have provided investigators with a different story of what happened during Wood’s final hours. The witnesses’ accounts have prompted Los Angeles Country officials to deem the actor’s death “suspicious” and name her 87-year-old former husband Robert Wagner as a “person of interest.”
Who was Natalie Wood?
Natalie Wood circa 1980 in Los Angeles, California. Images Press—Getty Images
Wood was an actor who rose to prominence during her childhood with a co-starring role in the classic 1947 Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street. She then transitioned into more mature work at 16 years old with an Academy Award-nominated performance in Rebel Without a Cause, alongside James Dean. She went on to achieve stardom in two musical films, West Side Story and Gypsy, before going on to Oscar nominations for her performances in Splendor in the Grass and Love with the Proper Stranger. In total, she earned three acting nominations by 1963, when she was just 25 years old.
