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Robert Wagner didn’t think his stepdaughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner, could endure the death of her mother, Natalie Wood. Neither did she.
Wood, an Oscar-nominated actress known for starring in classic films like “West Side Story,” “Rebel Without a Cause” and “Miracle on 34th Street,” drowned on Nov. 29, 1981. At the time, she was on a yacht with Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and the boat’s captain over Thanksgiving weekend.
After a night of drinking, Wood’s body was found floating in the waters off Catalina Island. She was 43.
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Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner are seen here in an undated photo after they remarried in 1972. (© Supplied By Globe Photos, Inc/Globe Photos/ZUMAPRESS.com)
Gregson Wagner, who was 11 at the time, remembered thinking to herself, “If I don’t deal with this, it will kill me, so I’m going to deal with it.”
Wagner, now 95, raised Gregson Wagner along with her sisters, Katie Wagner and Courtney Wagner. Gregson Wagner told People magazine that the patriarch is “proud” of her.
“He always told me that,” the 54-year-old told the outlet. “He told me this once when we were having some therapy together. He said, ‘I never thought you would make it when your mom died,’ because I was so close to her. And so, he’s always blown away that I am totally OK.”
The documentary “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind” premiered on May 5, 2020. It was produced by Wood’s daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner (pictured here). (Penske Media via Getty Images)
“It was hard for me to find my strength for a long time, but now I do feel it,” said Gregson Wagner.
Over the years, the actress has been determined to keep the late star’s legacy alive. She wrote a memoir published in 2020, “More Than Love,” which was accompanied by an HBO documentary, “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind.” She recently relaunched a fragrance line that pays tribute to her mother.
“… Everything that happened was so public, but grief is so private,” she said. “The truth is I do feel better when I talk about my grief.”
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The outlet noted that Gregson Wagner has remained extremely close to Wagner. He remarried her mother in 1972 when she was a toddler. Wood and Wagner first married in 1957 and divorced in 1962.
“I have had a great life, but I was so broken at that moment,” said Gregson Wagner. “So, I think he feels like if he dies tomorrow, he knows I’m going to be OK, but I’ll miss him a lot.”
“I think that grief is a lifetime of work, but the fragrance is just one little beautiful area of my life that is about beauty and something positive,” she shared. “Like alchemy, turning metal into gold. I turned my sadness and pain into beauty.”
From left: Natasha Gregson Wagner, Robert Wagner and Katie Wagner attend “An Evening with Actor Robert Wagner” on Oct. 2, 2008, in Santa Monica. (Michael Bezjian/WireImage/Getty Images)
For decades, Wagner faced accusations that he was involved in Wood’s death. In 2020, Gregson Wagner told Fox News Digital the patriarch didn’t think twice about participating in her documentary to set the record straight.
A young Natalie Wood in Hollywood, circa 1960. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
“I didn’t have to convince him at all,” she explained at the time. “I told him that [filmmaker] Laurent Bouzereau and I were going to make this documentary. … I told him we wanted him to be in it, and he said, ‘Of course.’ I think my dad really loved Laurent and really connected with him. I think he felt very safe in his hands and safe with me. He could share his memories and tell his side of the story on his own terms, which is the way he wanted to do it.”
Actor Robert Wagner attends the inaugural “Robert Osborne Celebration of Classic Film” event at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills on Oct. 7, 2019. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Gregson Wagner believed her father was courageous in revisiting bittersweet memories of Wood. The family is adamant that Wagner, who was described as being determined to give them a loving upbringing, wouldn’t have harmed their mother in any way. They maintain what occurred that night was a tragic accident.
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Robert Wagner and his wife Natalie Wood, circa 1972. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
“I am always blown away by his courage,” she said. “As my dad and knowing him for basically my whole life, I know him to be such a courageous person. I was just so proud of him. I felt like he was so transparent, elegant, gracious, emotional, connected and present.
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Natasha Gregson Wagner attends the 2019 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019, in New York City. (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
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“He was everything that I knew him to be, so it felt like an incredible experience to bear witness as his daughter. He’s one of the great loves of my life. He moves me every day, and he deeply moved me on those days [of filming] for sure.”
For nearly four decades, mystery and speculation have swirled around Wood’s death, The Associated Press reported. In 2022, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced it had exhausted all leads in Wood’s case, and Wagner was no longer considered a person of interest, Page Six reported.