Natalie Wood's daughter confronts very painful way she learned Hollywood icon had died at 11
· Fox News
Natasha Gregson Wagner was just 11 years old when an ordinary childhood sleepover turned into a moment that shattered her world.
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While staying at a friend's house, she heard the devastating news on the radio: her mother, Hollywood actress Natalie Wood, was dead.
"As a child, I always knew my mom was home because her Jungle Gardenia scent arrived before she did," Gregson Wagner, now 56, wrote on the website for her fragrance brand, L'Amour Mere. "After she died, I spent hours lying in her bed or sitting in her closet among her clothes. If I could somehow keep her fragrance alive, perhaps she would not be entirely gone."
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In the immediate aftermath of Wood's death, Gregson Wagner said the two father figures in her life — her biological father, British film producer Richard Gregson, and her stepfather, actor Robert Wagner — came together to support her.
"Luckily, I had these two men, Daddy Gregson and Daddy Wagner, who came together and rose to the occasion and completely put me first," Gregson Wagner told the Daily Mail. "They got me into therapy right away, and I had that same amazing therapist here in Beverly Hills until my 20s."
Wood, who was nominated for three Oscars and starred in "West Side Story" and "Rebel Without a Cause," was on the family's yacht with Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and captain Dennis Davern during Thanksgiving weekend in 1981. Her body was found floating in the water off Southern California's Catalina Island. She was 43.
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Investigators initially ruled Wood's death an accidental drowning but reopened the case in 2011 to determine whether Wagner or anyone else played a role after the yacht's captain said he heard the couple arguing the night of her disappearance, The Associated Press reported. The Los Angeles County coroner's office amended Wood's death certificate in 2012, changing the cause of death to "drowning and other undetermined factors."
In 2018, Los Angeles County sheriff's investigators described Wagner as "a person of interest" in Wood's death. In 2022, the department said it had exhausted all leads in the case, and Wagner was no longer considered a person of interest. Wagner has long denied having any involvement in his wife's death.
Gregson Wagner said that while she was growing up, her two fathers were determined to give her a normal upbringing away from the glaring media spotlight.
"I had to do my laundry," she told the outlet. "We had dinner on the table at six o'clock. I learned how to cook in their kitchen. I learned how to do laundry. I learned how to take a bath with a hot tap and a cold tap, putting it in a pot and pouring it on my head and all these things."
Gregson Wagner also told the outlet she avoided the drugs and alcohol that have troubled some children of famous parents.
"I've definitely felt pressure in my life," Gregson Wagner said. "I know what's right, I know what's wrong. I'm not saying I haven't had very, very painful things in my life.... But in the home, it was all very safe and secure and warm. So, I got lucky in that way."
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Still, Gregson Wagner said she continues to feel the impact of losing her mother.
"When I was younger, I would get stopped on the street by people who would say things like: 'You look so much like this actress, you've probably never heard of her, but her name was Natalie Wood,'" Gregson Wagner recalled. "Most of the time I wouldn't admit I was her daughter, and just say: 'Oh, I hear that a lot!'"
"We looked so much alike and had so much in common. Where did the mother end and the child begin? We were so completely connected — and she was so sharp and perceptive — that I sometimes believed she could see right into my mind."
Gregson Wagner has been married to "7th Heaven" alum Barry Watson, 52, since 2014. They share a daughter, Clover. Gregson Wagner also launched the fragrance brand L'Amour Mere, which she says was inspired by her mother and their connection through scent.
Gregson Wagner has previously spoken about her mother's legacy.
In 2020, Gregson Wagner appeared in the HBO documentary "Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind," which featured interviews with Wood's family, close friends and confidants.
Wagner, now 96, also appeared in the documentary and discussed his relationship with Wood and her death.
The couple married in 1957 but divorced in 1962. They remarried in 1972 and were together until Wood's passing. Wagner helped raise Gregson Wagner, and he and Wood had a daughter, Courtney Wagner, who also appeared in the documentary.
"I am always blown away by his courage," Gregson Wagner told Fox News Digital at the time.
"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. He was everything that I know 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."
Gregson Wagner said she still has vivid, joyful memories of Wood.
"My mom made being a mom feel really effortless," Gregson Wagner said. "She loved it so much. She was always singing songs with us. We were always painting and reading. She was always there to talk to. I hear her voice a lot when I talk to [my daughter] Clover. Like, 'What are we going to do today? Are we going to take a walk?' Just the little mundane things. I can hear her voice in my ear when I talk to my own daughter."
"My parents wanted their children to have that constant feeling of being loved and nurtured — the joy of childhood," she continued. "And that's what they did. Friends came over all the time and sometimes they went out. But the focus was really on us. I think we felt really safe in their world and around them. They were able to create just a bustling, joyful, jubilant kind of atmosphere for us to grow up."
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At the time, Gregson Wagner said she hoped the documentary would give viewers a fuller picture of her mother. She said the special was ultimately a celebration of Wood's life and what she accomplished both in Hollywood and as a parent.
"I hope that audiences will get a very clear picture of this woman who was so strong, funny, joyful, empowered and courageous," she said. "She had a great life. It wasn't a long one, but it was the one she wanted to have. She was the architect of her own life."