Investigation Discovery Explores Suspicious Death of Hollywood Icon in “Natalie Wood: An American Murder Mystery”

One-hour Special Premiering Monday, April 16 at 10/9c, Only on ID

In the early morning hours of November 29, 1981, Hollywood star, Natalie Wood vanishes from the yacht of her actor husband, Robert Wagner, into the open waters off Catalina Island. Hours later, a search party finds Wood’s body floating outside of a cavern with the cause of death then declared to be, drowning.

Police spring into action but have little information about the moments before she disappeared. What happened to one of Hollywood’s most famous rising stars? Investigation Discovery (ID) explores fact versus fiction with the world premiere special, NATALIE WOOD: AN AMERICAN MURDER MYSTERY premiering Monday, April 16 at 10/9c.

Natalie wood dies (Photo LATimes article)

ID retraces the events that led to that fateful night, from her rise to fame to her tumultuous relationship with her famous beau, to exclusive interviews with those who were on the scene, hoping to finally uncover what really happened during her final moments. Initially deemed an accident, Wood’s case was officially re-opened in 2011 due to dramatic new eyewitness testimony, and more recently, Robert Wagner has been deemed a “person of interest” by the LA County Sheriff’s Department.

“The suspicious death of Natalie Wood is one of those controversial cases that continues to resonate as one of Hollywood’s greatest tragedies,” said Henry Schleiff, Group President, Investigation Discovery, Destination America and American Heroes Channel. “There are still so many unanswered questions surrounding her death that we hope this special will, once and for all, provide some insight into what really happened that fateful night to Natalie Wood.”

NATALIE WOOD: AN AMERICAN MURDER MYSTERY is an extensive, 360-degree look into the suspicious circumstances surrounding Natalie Wood’s drowning more than three decades ago. The latest installment in ID’s record-breaking AMERICAN MURDER MYSTERY franchise, this 60-minute special features interviews with key people in Natalie’s life – including her sister, Lana Wood, and hair dresser, Ginger Blymer, in addition to an all-new, never-before-seen interview with Doug Oudin, the acting harbor master the night Natalie died. Additional commentary on the case is provided by legal experts, historians and journalists who have followed the case from the very beginning.

NATALIE WOOD: AN AMERICAN MURDER MYSTERY is produced for ID by American Media, Inc. and Jupiter Entertainment with Allison Wallach, Tim McConville, Matt Sprouse, David Pecker, Patrick Reardon and Dylan Howard as executive producers. For ID, Pamela Deutsch is senior executive producer, Sara Kozak is senior vice president of production, Kevin Bennett is general manager, and Henry Schleiff is Group President of Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel and Destination America.

About Investigation Discovery

Investigation Discovery (ID) is the leading crime and justice network on television, delivering the highest-quality programming to approximately 85 million U.S. households. From harrowing crimes to in-depth investigations and heart-breaking mysteries behind these “real people, real stories”, the always revealing network challenges our understanding of culture, society and the human condition. The #1 network for women in all of cable, ID’s programming is available in both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD), as well as anytime and anywhere through the network’s TV Everywhere offering, IDGo. For exclusive web content and bonus material, fans can follow ID on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or check out the network’s true crime blog, CrimeFeed.

Investigation Discovery is part of Discovery, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world’s #1 pay-TV programmer reaching 3 billion cumulative subscribers in 220 countries and territories to satisfy curiosity and captivate viewers with a portfolio of premium nonfiction content brands. For additional information about ID, please visit InvestigationDiscovery.com

HRTS Panel Speaks Glowingly About the Rise of Documentary on TV

Liesl Copland

By Nathan Wildes

Beverly Hills, CA (The Hollywood Times) 03/25/2018 – The Hollywood Radio & Television Society (HRTS) hosted a great panel Wednesday morning entitled “Who’s Buying and Watching Documentary on TV”.

The panelists included Alex Gibney, Academy Award winner for Taxi to the Dark Side, Dawn Porter whose work has appeared on HBO, PBS, Discovery and more, Liesl Copland, a partner at Endeavor Content financier for documentary films, and Vinnie Malhotra, Senior VP Unscripted Programming for Showtime Networks. Continue reading “HRTS Panel Speaks Glowingly About the Rise of Documentary on TV”

2018 WGA Awards

Brendan McCarthy – Grace and Frankie

By: Pete Borreggine

Peter.HWoodTimes@gmail.com

What a night!  This was my very first red-carpet assignment and let me tell you, it was not only fun but who can say that on their first assignment, they got to interview the legendary Glenn Close?  More on that later.

THE HOST

The event was hosted by Patton Oswalt. He has been headlining at comedy clubs all over the United States since 1996, as well as appearing in his own standup specials on Comedy Central and HBO. He was chosen as Entertainment Weekly’s “It” comedian in 2002. He is a regular on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (1993). His other television credits include appearances on Seinfeld(1989) and NewsRadio (1995).
As a writer, Oswalt spent two seasons on MADtv (1995) and has also written for the MTV Music Video Awards. He is currently writing screenplays and has appeared in the feature films Starsky & Hutch (2004), Man on the Moon (1999) and Magnolia (1999).* Continue reading “2018 WGA Awards”

Path of Totality

Astronaut Mike Massimino, STS-125 mission specialist, is photographed from an aft flight deck window of the Space Shuttle Atlantis during the mission’s fourth session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as work continues to refurbish and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA astronauts from space shuttle Atlantis repair the Hubble telescope – May 2009 (Photo by REX/Shutterstock)

The Science Channel – The Great American Eclipse

“I think the fact that there’s social media now that can put all of this into people’s hands within seconds live is really helping get this kind of science out to people who otherwise might not have experienced it before…” Amir Caspi

By Valerie Milano

Beverly Hills, CA (The Hollywood Times) 8/22/17 – On August 21, 2017 the sun and moon aligned perfectly and cut a swath of shadow across the heart of America. The Science Channel retrofitted its documentary machine to pre-prepare a solar profile explaining the science and history of the eclipse merged with live coverage of the super bowl of solar events throughout the day on multiple platforms; an uncontroversial merger of Media, Science and Community conjoined in a looky-loo ritual as ancient as mankind itself.  In human history, the total eclipse was so traumatic and profound an event, it jump started predictive astrology as far back as the Babylonian Empire.  Continue reading “Path of Totality”