Natalie Wood's Death Explained: Widower Robert Wagner Talks About Her Drowning 35 Years Later

It's been 35 years since classic film star Natalie Wood drowned on the shore of California's Santa Clarita, and her death has remained one of the most mysterious deaths in Hollywood history, with numerous theories pointing to her widower Robert Wagner as responsible. Now, for the first time in 35 years, Wagner is speaking out about the aftermath of the West Side Story actress' death.

Wagner, 86, recently sat down with People Magazine to look back at the life and death of the Oscar-nominated actress, who was one of Hollywood's brightest stars until her untimely passing at 43. In the three and a half decades since the mysterious events that led to Wood's death, he's grown closer with Natasha Gregson Warner, Wood's daughter from a previous marriage.

"My bond with Natasha is very, very intense. We've hung onto each other through the years and she means the world to me," said Wagner. He also added that he and her birth father, Richard Gregson, had decided upon Wood's death that Natasha, then 11, should stay with him. She should be raised in the same environment as when her mother was still alive.

Warner and Wood had one daughter, Courtney, but they also raised Natasha and Warner's daughter from a previous marriage, Katie, together.

Gregson Warner also spoke to People Magazine, as she and sister Courtney created a perfume, Natalie, based on their mother's scent.

Three decades later, the death of Natalie Wood remains one of the most haunting mysteries in Hollywood. It happened during a weekend boat trip to Santa Clarita, in a yacht with only four people: Wood, Wagner, boat captain Dennis Davern and Oscar-winning actor Christopher Walken, Wood's co-star in Brainstorm.

At some point in the night, Wagner was unable to find his wife and the boat's dinghy, so authorities were called about her disappearance. The actress' body and the dinghy were found a mile away from each other, which has prompted many questions.

According to CNN, Wagner wrote a memoir in 2009 called Pieces of My Heart, where he revealed he'd argued with his wife and Walken on the night of her death over a bout of jealousy, but nothing appears to have come out of that.

Wood's death was deemed an accidental drowning.