Hey everybody welcome back to Cole Case Murder Mysteries. I'm your host

Ryan Kraus here with you once again to dissect one of Hollywood's most

scandalous and mysterious deaths which is the drowning of 43 year old Natalie Wood.

A bona fide star since her youth, beginning as a child in films such as Miracle on 34th Street,

extending into her teen years with movies like Rebel Without a Cause,

and concluding with Brainstorm at the time of her passing,

Natalie gave audiences the impression of a charmed life with fame and fortune.

But beneath the superficial exterior of that success, Natalie Wood, the beautiful and glamorous

star of hits like West Side Story, was haunted by demons from her past.

By the time of her death in 1981,

she was worth approximately $14 million,

which is the equivalent of about three times that amount today.

She was married to 51-year-old TV star Robert Wagner,

who was well known for the show Heart to Heart at the time.

Plus, Natalie was working alongside Christopher Walken on the film brainstorm,

which she was sure would provide the boost she needed for a career resurgence as a serious actress, given Walken was a hot commodity at the time.

He was coming off an Oscar-winning performance in the Deer Hunter a couple years earlier,

an impressive feat for someone trying to stand out among

greats like Robert DeNiro and Merrill Streep, the ultra-talented leads in that film.

While heart to heart made Robert Wagner quite a bit of money and also brought

him greater name recognition with audiences than he'd ever had, 1981 was a different time.

The movies were the top of the heap and the silver screen was one step below in terms of prestige.

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