[Omah]

Wood was the star of West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15786944

Police in the US have reopened an inquiry into the death of film star Natalie Wood, who drowned in 1981.

Los Angeles police said they had received new information relating to the case, but have not given details.

Wood was found dead during a boat trip off the coast of California and her death was ruled to have been an accident at the time. She was 43.

Best known for her roles in West Side Story and Rebel without a Cause, she was nominated for an Oscar three times.

She won numerous other awards.

Wood had been partying with her husband, TV star Robert Wagner, and actor Christopher Walken the night before her death, and the coroner ruled she had been drinking and may have slipped trying to board the dinghy.

Wood's body was found floating in a Catalina Island cove. Police reports say she was found wearing a long nightgown, socks, and a jacket.

The post-mortem report said Wood had bruises on her body and arms as well as a facial abrasion on her left cheek.

But questions over the exact circumstances of her death have persisted for 30 years. Family members have previously asked for authorities to re-examine the original findings.

Prior to recent developments, Natalie Wood's sister, Lana Wood, told CBS she was unhappy with the initial investigation

The Los Angeles Times newspaper cited County Sheriff Lee Baca as saying detectives wanted to talk to the captain of the yacht, the Splendour, about comments around the 30th anniversary of Wood's death.

The Times also reported allegations that the captain had remembered new facts about the incident.

And the former captain, Dennis Davern, has published a book entitled Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour, alleging the actress died after a fight with her husband.

In his book Pieces of My Heart, Wagner acknowledged that there had been a fight with Wood, before she had disappeared.