Robert Wagner: Natalie Wood's death 'shattered' me

Natalie Wood: 1938-1981

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Robert Wagner is opening up about the 1981 death of his then-wife Natalie Wood.

Wood died while on a weekend boat trip with Wagner and Christopher Walken. There has long been speculation regarding the limited details surrounding her death.

"We were all so shattered by the loss, and we were hanging on to each other," Wagner told People magazine.

Wagner discussed his closeness with Natalie Wood’s daughter with Richard Gregson, Natasha Gregson Wagner. Natasha also spoke with the magazine about her mother's death.

"My bond with Natasha is very, very intense. We've hung onto each other through the years and she means the world to me."

He raised Natasha after Wood’s death, explaining he thought it was best she live with her step sister and half-sister.

"They'd always been together," he said. "So Richard [Gregson], her birth father, and I sat down and came to the conclusion that we felt it was best that Natasha stay with her sisters and be raised in the environment that she'd been raised in up to that point – to the point of Natalie leaving us."

Natasha, along with Wagner and Wood’s daughter Courtney, recently created a fragrance called Natalie, inspired by their mother.

"Her mother was a very, very special and loving and caring person," he said. "She meant so much to Natasha. They were so close and she wants to share that."

Natasha, 45, told People she vividly remembers her mother wearing perfume right before she left for the boat trip that would end with her death.

“I remember she was getting dressed and putting on [her perfume] Jungle Gardenia on,” Natasha said. "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."

Natasha added that she told her mom "Don't go.”

"I had a funny feeling," explained Natasha. "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."