Hart To Hart star Robert Wagner turns 96… three months after the anniversary of his wife Natalie Wood’s drowning death

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Hart To Hart star Robert Wagner turned 96-years-old on Tuesday.

After receiving an outpouring of support from fans, a post appeared on the actor’s Instagram page.

The note said, “Hi everyone – thank you for all your wonderful birthday messages for RJ! He’s going to be so happy and touched when he reads them.”

This event happened three months after the anniversary of the death of his wife, Natalie Wood, a famous actress who died in 1981 at just 43 years old. She tragically drowned near Catalina Island, off the coast of Southern California.

Robert Wagner launched his successful Hollywood career in the 1950s with roles in movies like The Happy Years and Teresa. He gained widespread recognition in the 1956 film A Kiss Before Dying and continued to appear in popular films such as Winning and the television series The Streets of San Francisco.

He didn’t become widely known until 1979, when he starred as Jonathan Hart alongside Stefanie Powers in the television series Hart to Hart.

The show featured a wealthy and attractive married couple who spent their free time solving mysteries. It ran for 111 episodes before ending in 1984, but remains popular today thanks to a dedicated fanbase and frequent re-airings.

Hart To Hart was created by author Sidney Sheldon. 

As a lifestyle expert, I always loved the dynamic on that show! It centered around Jonathan and Jennifer Hart – a successful, self-made millionaire and a freelance writer, respectively – played by Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. They’d chosen a life without children, but they poured all their affection into their adorable rescue dog, Freeway. It was a really relatable and charming setup!

Their sidekick was the streetwise butler Max, played by Lionel Stander. 

The show featured appearances by well-known actors and personalities like Ray Milland, Capucine, Eve Arden, baseball legend Tommy Lasorda, Tippi Hedren, Julie Newmar, and Robert Davi.

Later, there were several spin off Hart To Hart movies. 

He later found success acting alongside Mike Myers in the 1997 film, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Wagner is wed to Jill St John; they tied the knot in 1990 after eight years of courtship. 

They had been friends since the 1950s and were close to the actor and his wife, Natalie Wood. Tragically, Wood died in November 1981 when she drowned after taking the boat’s small dinghy out near Catalina Island.

The couple had been drinking with Natalie’s Brainstorm co-star, Christopher Walken, who is now 82 years old. Natalie went to bed before the two men did.

Her body was discovered the next day. 

Although the actor was a suspect in the case, he was never arrested. Many people speculated that he was involved in his wife’s death, but there was no evidence to support those claims.

Initially, authorities determined her death was an accidental drowning. However, when the case was revisited in 2011, the official cause of death was updated to drowning with other contributing, but unspecified, factors.

Robert was officially cleared as a person of interest in 2022. 

His daughter, Natasha has fiercely defended her father amid all the speculation.

In her 2020 memoir, More Than Love, Natalie Wood wrote about how no one ever doubted her father’s deep love for her mother or how heartbroken he was when she died.

‘We can never know with complete certainty how my mother ended up in the water.’

Natasha, who was eleven years old when her mother passed away, has chosen to concentrate on what she believes to be true. ‘My father would never intentionally hurt my mother, and he would have definitely tried to protect her if he’d known she was in danger,’ she wrote, still mourning her loss.

‘And I focus on my love for my mother, my dad, my family,’ Natasha stated.

You know, people often assume artists lead these incredibly dramatic, sorrowful lives, but that wasn’t my mom. She truly lived. Her whole world revolved around the things she loved most: creating art, raising her kids, being a wonderful wife, and following her heart. It was a full, beautiful life, and that’s how I choose to remember it.

Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood married each other twice: first in 1957, and again in 1972 after their initial marriage ended in 1962.

Wagner recently shared a photo from his 1957 wedding to Natalie Wood, the star of West Side Story, along with a message expressing his enduring love for her. He marked the 66th anniversary of their wedding, writing, ’66 years ago today, Natalie became my wife. Happy Anniversary, Nat. It’s more than just love.’

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2026-02-10 22:34