What can I say this time
Which card shall I play
The dream is not over,
The dream is just away
-- "Straight Back," written by Stevie Nicks (first appears on Fleetwood Mac's MIRAGE)
Natalie Wood's in the news again.
- Detective's comments ignites new interest in actress Natalie Wood's mysterious drowning more than three decades ago http://lat.ms/2EvmB1p
- When asked whether he believes Wood was murdered, the sheriff’s department lieutenant says, "I think it’s suspicious enough to make us think that something happened" http://thr.cm/YU0lo2
- BREAKING: Investigators say Robert Wagner is a "person of interest" in the drowning death of actress Natalie Wood. @48Hours correspondent @EFMoriarty has covered the case for 6 years and has a preview of Saturday's #48Hours. More at: http://cbsn.ws/2BJ0em8
- "She looked like a victim of an assault.” DEVELOPING: Investigators say Robert Wagner's story about Natalie Wood's last day alive has changed: http://cbsn.ws/2ntafPQ
After the roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin, Beth told me community members were e-mailing about this topic. So let's try to do this.
Did Robert Wagner kill Natalie Wood?
I don't know, I wasn't on the yacht.
I do know she loved him and he loved her.
That I observed.
Did they ever argue? Yes, they did. Like any couple.
Could an argument get physically violent?
It could, I guess.
But Natalie never said a word to me about RJ hitting her. She did acknowledge two or three times where they had argued and she had struck him.
To be clear, arguing was not a pattern in their marriage.
Natalie was very happy in her marriage.
If Robert Wagner did something wrong, I would hope he would be held accountable.
For that reason, I've avoided the urge to say, "Look away! Leave them alone!"
Justice has to take place.
But thus far there is no indication that he did anything to intentionally cause her death.
Natalie was most proud of her children and her marriage to RJ.
Yes, she enjoyed acting (even though she put it on hold for a number of years).
But for her being a really-real and not just a star was what she had wanted and what she and RJ found with each other.
Robert Wagner being dragged through the mud would not make her happy because she was so proud of them as a couple, of what they created together, of the fact that they put behind the trouble in their first marriage attempt to one another. She loved him (and he loved her) and that meant a great deal to her -- more than WEST SIDE STORY or GYPSY or SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS or . . .
The family they created was a source of joy to her and a source of strength.
The last few years of her life were frustrating to her.
She was still trying to return to feature films and a lot of people who would not have had a career without her (Robert Redford, I mean you in particular) were just a little too sure of what a Natalie Wood was and wasn't and would not allow her to even go up for certain roles -- even supporting roles.
But that was her only real frustration and she'd talk about it and vent and then laugh about how truly unimportant it was in the big picture because she'd gotten the life she'd always dreamed about with RJ and their kids.
I will again stress that Robert Wagner loved Natalie Wood. That was observable fact. He loved her deeply.
I cannot see him hurting her.
(Her remarks about the few times she had physically struck him always included that he had either shielded himself or had not -- one time, according to her, he did not -- and that he never struck her back.)
That doesn't mean it couldn't have happened.
I am not saying, "Look away, go about your business."
I am saying that for me to believe that he did something to intentionally harm her physically is going to require proof.
We are all capable of anything, I suppose.
But they loved each other and had a true partnership. Suing Spelling - Goldberg over the monies they were owed (I believe they were owed and I believe they were ripped off) for CHARLIE'S ANGELS is an example of that. This wasn't, "Oh, turn it over to the attorneys." This was them talking about the issue at length, deciding they wanted to do something about it, pursuing that option and not waiting for legal updates from the attorneys but being active participants in their lawsuit.
They were like that on any project. Some of the home projects, Natalie did all her own and RJ trusted her judgment but even on those, they would have long discussions because they truly enjoyed each other's company and truly enjoyed building a life together.
I feel Natalie's death like so many others do. And I understand that she was taken too soon and she was very special. I understand the shock over that and the grief over it.
And I know that can create a desire that goes beyond "WHY!!!" to "someone must be responsible!"
And someone may be. But I've not seen any evidence -- before or after her death -- to indicate that Robert Wagner had anything to do with her death.
Again, in the end, I wasn't there.
We've noted Natalie here from time to time and I know this round of the news cycle creates interest in her death. (Hopefully, also in her life and her professional work for people who are new to her.) So I understand the questions.
I've tried to be as honest and as fair as I can be.
I'll note again that former US House Rep Bob Filner is someone I thought the world of and I was so shocked to learn that he had harassed women. Bob was never anything but kind and supportive to me. I would never have guessed it possible for him to be anything else.
That and the fact that I was not there when she died is why I'm not going to hazard a guess on what happened -- I don't know what happened.
But I will state that for me to believe that Robert Wagner physically harmed Natalie -- in a fit of rage or drunken stupor -- is going to require some evidence to support that.
When she was alive, they were a devoted couple.
I want the truth to be out there regardless of what happened. (Ava and I, use Google, tore apart HOT IN CLEVELAND over an episode where love letters from and/or to Abraham Lincoln were discovered and Melanie decided to destroy them to protect Lincoln. This was an entirely fictional story -- no letters existed in real life. And Ava and I tore the show apart over that. We don't believe you cover up the truth. We don't believe that you have the right to decide what is history and what isn't.)
I hope that helps explain where I stand and that lessens Beth's e-mail load since I've addressed it here.
