Lynn Barber

Natalie Wood’s death remains a mystery

But equally mysterious is why her daughter criticises others for cashing in on private tragedy while appearing to do the same

Natalie Wood in a scene from Splendor in the Grass. Getty Images 
issue 25 July 2020

Are all children of famous parents told they must have a book in them? Since Allegra Huston’s wonderful memoir Love Child in 2009, standards have been slipping. More Than Love is by a minor actress whose only claim to fame is that she is the daughter of Natalie Wood and won’t ever let you forget it.

The book begins with Natasha Gregson Wagner waking up on 29 November 1981 and hearing a voice on the radio saying that Natalie Wood’s body had been found in the sea off Catalina Island. Suddenly the house was full of people and there were mobs of cameramen outside. Robert Wagner (who she always calls Daddy, though he was not her father) came home and told her and her half-sister Courtney that their mother had died but that he was there for them always. Then he took himself to bed, where he stayed for a week.

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