Natalie Woods fallout

Natalie Wood's sister says Christopher Walken spoke to detectives working her reopened case, but made them promise not to reveal what he said

• The circumstances around Natalie Wood's 1981 death have long been the focus of intense speculation.
• The actress was yachting with her husband and co-star Christopher Walken when she disappeared and drowned.
• In an interview, Natalie's sister, Lana Wood, told Insider that she doesn't hold Walken responsible.

The 1981 drowning death of actress Natalie Wood has long been one of Hollywood's most persistent mysteries.

Now, 40 years after the tragedy off the coast of Santa Catalina Island, Natalie's younger sister, Lana Wood, 75, is diving back into the unsolved case in her new memoir, "Little Sister: My Investigation into the Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood."

But in a book that frequently accuses and alleges — Natalie's husband Robert Wagner takes the brunt of the blame, though the authorities who initially investigated Natalie's death and the famed celebrity coroner who classified her death as "accidental drowning," face Lana's fury as well — there is one familiar face whom Lana says she does not hold responsible for the tragedy: Christopher Walken.
Lana told Insider the award-winning actor has continued to prove helpful amid the ongoing investigation into Natalie's death, albeit privately.

A mysterious drowning death

The Oscar-nominated Natalie, who starred in Hollywood hits like "West Side Story" and "Rebel Without a Cause," was 43 when her body was found floating in the ocean off Catalina Island on Thanksgiving weekend in 1981. She had been vacationing on a yacht with her husband, Robert [RJ] Wagner, her "Brainstorm" co-star and friend Walken, and the ship's captain, Dennis Davern.

Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi ruled her death an accidental drowning, noting her blood alcohol content was 0.14%, and suggesting the actress may have slipped into the freezing water while trying to tie up the vessel's dingy.
But Lana was skeptical of the proposed explanation due to Natalie's lifelong fear of "dark waters," claiming her sister never would have attempted to re-board the vessel's dinghy on her own in the middle of the night.

In 1992, more than a decade after Natalie's death, the yacht's captain, Dennis Davern, contacted Lana, admitting that he hadn't originally told police everything he knew about that fateful night.

Davern alleged the holiday had been tense from the start and remembered Wagner expressing anger about Natalie inviting Walken on the trip. The captain also told Lana that he heard Wagner and Natalie fighting at the back of the boat before learning Natalie had gone missing.