On November 29, 1981, actress Natalie Wood died in a tragic boating accident. She drowned off the coast of Catalina Island at the age of 43.
At the time, Wood's daughter with Richard Gregson, Natasha Gregson Wagner, was just 11 years old. In the latest issue of People, Natasha, now 45, opens up about her final moments with her mom, revealing that she didn't want her to leave.
"I remember she was getting dressed and putting [her perfume] Jungle Gardenia on,” she told the magazine. "They were getting ready to go on the boat. I was hugging her and telling her I loved her and to have a great trip. She had an angora sweater on and it was very soft. That's my last memory of her."
She continued, "I had a funny feeling. I don't know if it was just being a child who didn't want her mom to leave or what it was but I didn't want her to go."
Natalie set off on the boating trip with her husband at the time, Robert Wagner, and her "Brainstorm" co-star, Christopher Walken. Her death was initially ruled accidental; it's believed that she slipped and fell into the water after a night of drinking. However, in 2011, the investigation into her drowning was reopened.
Robert, now 86, also spoke to People about the tragic accident, saying, "We were all so shattered by the loss."
"I was in a state of shock for years," Natasha added.
These days, she just wants to keep the memory of her mother alive.
"She was really funny and she was fierce and she was happy," she told People. "That's how I remember her."
