In an intimate reflection on her mother's enduring legacy, Natasha Gregson Wagner shares how actress Natalie Wood continues to captivate audiences more than four decades after her untimely passing.
"It's just unbelievable that there's a relevancy to her all these years later," says Natasha, now 54, who was only 11 when her mother died by drowning on November 29, 1981. "People really feel that they knew her or that they feel this protectiveness toward her."
The daughter of Wood and Richard Gregson has embraced her role in preserving her mother's memory, though it took nearly three decades before she could openly discuss the loss. In recent years, Natasha has authored a memoir titled "More Than Love," produced an HBO documentary about her mother's life, and launched a gardenia-inspired fragrance line honoring Wood's signature scent.
"If someone had told me that I'd be doing this 10 years ago, I would've laughed because I so wanted to forge a path that was separate from my mom," admits Natasha, who previously pursued acting herself. "But I think I surrendered to whatever the universe had in store for me."
The continued fascination with Wood, star of classics like "Rebel Without a Cause" and "West Side Story," stems from audiences watching her grow up on screen, starting with "Miracle on 34th Street" when she was just eight years old. "I think that so many of her characters, she embodied so much humanity," Natasha explains.
Now a mother herself to 12-year-old [/news/star-wars-setback-peaky-blinders-creator-exits-daisy-ridleys-new-film Daisy Clover], named after Wood's film "Inside Daisy Clover," Natasha finds new meaning in sharing her mother's legacy. She's teaching her daughter about "Grandma Natalie" while processing her own grief in constructive ways.
"It's just really amazing for me to help Clover understand, help myself understand, and to turn my grief into something positive," she reflects, noting how her perspective on loss has evolved, particularly as her stepfather Robert Wagner, who raised her after Wood's death, approaches 95.
For Natasha, her mother's ability to touch people's lives has only grown stronger with time, suggesting that perhaps "her ability to touch people is larger with her not being here on earth."
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