Natalie Wood

Born July 20, 1938, Natalie Wood would have turned 72 today had she survived a November 1981 cruise she took with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, her Brainstorm co-star, Christopher Walken, and her yacht captain, Dennis Davern. All three of the surviving men of that cruise lied to the police during an investigation into why Natalie Wood was found in her nightgown, socks, and red down jacket, floating in the Pacific with over 25 bruises to her body.

In current times we turn to the Internet for information about famous people. We Google names and usually read the Wikipedia info on people and things we research. Here's what it says at Wikipedia about Natalie Wood's death: (a summary filled with inaccuracies).

In September and October 1981, Wood and Wagner stayed in Raleigh, North Carolina, while Wood did location work for the science-fiction film Brainstorm. Wood then spent most of November in California shooting interior scenes with Christopher Walken and other cast members on the MGM lot in Culver City.


The day after Thanksgiving, Wood, Wagner and Walken went to Catalina Island for the weekend and on the night of November 28 their yacht (Splendour) was anchored in Isthmus Cove. Also on board was the boat's skipper, Dennis Davern, who had worked for the couple for many years. Wood apparently either tried to leave the yacht or secure a dinghy from banging against the hull when she accidentally slipped and fell overboard. A woman on a nearby yacht said she heard calls for help at around midnight. The cries lasted for about 15 minutes and were answered by someone else who said, "Take it easy. We'll be over to get you". "It was laid back," the witness recalled. "There was no urgency or immediacy in their shouts". An investigation by Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi resulted in an official verdict of accidental drowning. Noguchi concluded Wood had drunk "seven or eight" glasses of wine and was intoxicated when she died. There were marks and bruises on her body which Noguchi speculated could have been received as a result of her fall. Noguchi later wrote that had Wood not been intoxicated, she likely would have realized her heavy down-filled coat and wool sweater were pulling her underwater and would have removed them. Noguchi also wrote that he found Wood's fingernail scratches on the side of the rubber dinghy indicating she was trying to get in. Wood was 43 at the time of her death and is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

The only way to correct inaccuracies at Wikipedia is to keep trying, and sources must be cited for the new information you include. Anyone can try to update and correct info, and sometimes your corrections are maintained, and sometimes erased within a day. Many have tried to correct info at Natalie's Wiki page, only to see the info erased within 24 hours. Maybe we can all form a group and post the same facts at the same day. It's something to consider. In any case, maybe by Natalie's 75th birthday (hopefully sooner), the correct information about her death will be available at these Internet pages that should be accurate. Wouldn't it be nice to see a footnote stating that Noguchi had no idea it was the down jacket that kept Natalie afloat rather than the object he claims "dragged her under"? My down jacket test, indeed, is important!
 
We all wish Natalie had survived that fateful cruise. The world was robbed of one beautiful, decent woman that day in November 1981. She was robbed of the opportunity to have spent this day with her children, celebrating her legendary career and life. 
 
Some people will never be forgotten. Natalie Wood is one of them.