Natalie Wood died 35 years ago today: Robert Wagner says 'I thought my life was over'

It remains one of the greatest mysteries and tragdies in Hollywood's history.

Some time during the night of November 28, 1971, the famous actress disappeared over the side of the couple's 60-foot yacht, The Splendor, near Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of California. Her lifeless body was fished out of the water one mile away from The Splendor at 8am the following morning. A dinghy from the yacht was found beached close by.

Despite an investigation at the time and another in 2011, the exact circumstances of her death have never been explained.

Her husband, Wagner, who was on the yacht at the time, recently spoke again of his devastation at her loss and how he struggled to carry on with his life.

Wagner said: “When Natalie died, I thought my life was over.

"Luckily I had the help of a great many people who loved her and who loved me as well. I thought I would never get up, you know? My children helped me heal. And my friends were so supportive. And slowly I was able to get up. I got on my feet but it was very, very difficult and a sad time.”

Wood left behind three daughters, step-daughter Katie, then 17, and daughters Natasha, 11, from Wood's marriage to Richard Gregson and Courtney, 7, her child with Wagner. 

Rumours and speculation have centered on the facts that Wood had bruising on her body and had a well-documented fear of water. So, why had she gone out alone in a dinghy at night? Wagner and Christopher Walken, who was also on the yacht at the time, were questioned and have both consistently denied any involvement in or knowledge of the mysterious death. 

The actress was buried on December 2, 1981, in a white coffin at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, She was only 43.

A coroner recorded a cause of "accidental death by drowning and hypothermia." Traces of alchol and medication in her bloodstream led the coroner to state that Wood may have slipped while trying to reboard the dinghy.

30 years later a shocking accusation by the captain of The Splendor forced the case to be opened.

In November, 2011, Dennis Davern, publically stated that he had lied to police during the initial investigation. He went on record saying that Wood and Wagner had an argument that evening, alleging that Wagner was responsible for her death.

Wagner declined to be interviewed by detectives when the case was reopened. 

The fiery nature of the couple's marriage, which has seen them divorce and then remarry, fuelled the rumours of foul play that had circulated years before.

After nine months of further investigation, Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, amended the death certificate with new reports that the brusing on Wood's body was determined to have potentially been caused before her death. 

Also the coroner concluded that the manner in which Wood had ended up in the water had not been "clearly established. Consequently, he changed the cause of her death from accidental drowning to "drowning and other undetermined factors."

It was a tragic epilogue to the end of of one of Hollywood's original fairytale couples.

Before she was 25, Wood had been nominated for an Oscar three times, for Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass and Love With the Proper Stranger. She is probably best remembered, though, as the beautiful and tragic Maria in Stephen Sondheim's big screen adaptation of West Side Story.