by John Walters

Wood and Wagner were married twice….

Robert Wagner may have played No. 2 in the Austin Powers films, but LA homicide detectives have always wondered if, in the case of his spouse’s death, he’s Dr. Evil. On the night of November 29, 1981, actress Natalie Wood apparently fell overboard from a yacht that was moored off Catalina Island. Wood, Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and the yacht’s captain were onboard.

The death was ruled accidental but has long been shrouded in suspicion as Wood was found with bruises on her arms. Also, the most popular high school joke of the next few months was, Q: What type of wood does not float? A: Natalie.

Anyway, at the time of Wood’s death Wagner co-starred in a hit ABC series titled Hart To Hart in which he and his onscreen wife (played by Stefanie Powers) were wealthy sleuths. The tagline for the show was, “When they met, it was murder.”

That’s what LAPD seems to want to know now, after all these years.  He has officially been named a “person of interest” in Wood’s death for the first time. Remember, there is no statute of limitations on murder. Don’t know what new evidence has, um, surfaced for his status to have changed. We’ll have to stay tuned.

Wood, by the way, wasn’t just any actress. She’d been America’s sweetheart since childhood, with prominent roles in Miracle On 34th Street, Rebel Without A Cause, The Searchers, Splendor in the Grass and of course West Side Story.