ENTERTAINMENTRobert Wagner Reflects on Natalie Wood's Legacy 44 Years After Her Death: 'Forever Cherished'
Natalie Wood drowned off the coast of California on November 29, 1981, at the age of 43.
Nov. 29 2025, Published 8:30 p.m. ET
When screen legend Natalie Wood died on November 29, 1981, the world seemingly stopped turning.
She mysteriously drowned during a boat trip to California’s Catalina Island at time and died when she was just 43 years old.
The late West Side Story icon's husband, Robert Wagner, posted a tribute to her on Saturday, November 29 — 44 years after her passing.
Robert Wagner shared a sweet tribute to Natalie Wood on November 29.
Wagner, 95, shared a photo on his Instagram account of himself and Wood smiling at the 1973 Academy Awards.
"Thinking of Nat today. Her warmth, beauty, and love remain with us through our children and grandchildren. Forever missed, forever cherished. More than love," he captioned the throwback snap.
At the time of the incident, actor Christopher Walken, as well as the couple’s boat skipper, Dennis Davern, were also on board.
Natalie Wood died in November 1981 at the age of 43.
The Rebel Without a Cause actress and the NCIS alum first married in 1957. However, they divorced in 1962 but later reconciled and tied the knot again in 1972. They stayed married until Wood's death.
In between her first and second wedding to Wagner, Wood was married to Richard Gregson, with whom she shared a daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner. The Hart to Hart star adopted Natasha, now 55, after Wood passed on.
In his 2016 memoir, I Loved Her in the Movies: Memories of Hollywood’s Legendary Actresses, Robert got candid about how the time shortly after Natalie’s death was particularly painful for him.
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The 'West Side Story' actress mysteriously drowned in California.
“When Natalie died, I thought my life was over,” he wrote. “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," he said.
Natasha also opened up last year about losing her mother and how she didn't know if her stepfather would actually make it through.
Robert Wagner adopted Natasha Gregson after Natalie Wood's death.
Natasha was just 11 years old when the Splendor in the Grass actress drowned. “I thought, 'The first thing I need to do is I need to go see her,'" she told People in 2024. “And that's what I told my dads. ‘I need to go see my mom.' And they called in a psychiatrist."
"Then my Daddy Gregson took me, and I wrote her a letter and I put it under her hand," she recalled. "That was the first step I took on my walk of acceptance. And from there, I've just gone into the heart of it.”
She also noted how Robert always told her he was "proud" of her. "He told me this once when we were having some therapy together. He said, ‘I never thought you would make it when your mom died,’ because I was so close to her. And so he's always blown away that I am totally okay," Natasha said.
