Robert Wagner recently wished Courtney, his youngest daughter, a happy 49th birthday. He marked the occasion with a heartfelt Instagram photo titled, “Please join me in wishing a happy birthday to my beautiful daughter, Courtney. You are such a blessing, and we love you so much.”
After the terrible death of his wife, Natalie Wood, Wagner was forced to raise his three kids, Katie, Natasha, and Courtney, on his own. Yet, the actor has shown himself to be a devoted parent.
Wagner and his daughter enjoyed three wonderful moments. The first image on the actor’s carousel was of him, Wood, and Courtney as babies.
Wood looked stunning in a gorgeous white off-the-shoulder lace gown and a big necklace. Courtney matched her mother in a peach lace ruffled gown, while Wagner looked dashing in a black tuxedo.
The final two photos show Courtney as an adult with her dad, with the youngest of the actor’s three kids shown reclining on Wagner’s chest with a grin. The second photograph depicted another tender embrace between father and daughter.
In 1981, Wood and Wagner were on a boating outing aboard their 55-foot yacht when the actress drowned and died. Courtney was just seven years old at the time.
Although, her father was a suspect in her mother’s death investigation at one time, yet Courtney has stayed quite close to Wagner.
Yet, Wagner made it a point to deny any involvement in his wife’s death. The family also created a documentary with HBO called “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind,” in which viewers learn more about the couple’s youngest daughter.
After Wood died, Wagner made certain that he and his daughters had the strongest link possible, which has remained unbroken to this day.
Wagner became a single parent overnight in 1981. During his first marriage, he had his daughter Katie. Wood also had a daughter from a previous marriage, Natasha, who was just 11 years old when her mom died, and the pair welcomed Courtney together.
Before the disaster, Wagner had already adopted Natasha. In their HBO documentary, the father and daughter have a focused talk about the day Wood died.
Their link is stronger than any type of glue, Katie, the oldest of the siblings, said. Katie, as the older sister, recognized how hard it was for a seven- and eleven-year-old to deal with the loss of a parent, so she did all she could to help her family cope with the sorrow.
Wood’s death was unique, with many questions regarding how the actress died. As a result, 30 years after her death was ruled an accident, the case was revisited in 2011.
Wagner was identified as a person of interest in the inquiry by Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives in 2018. This sparked various allegations that the actor was involved in his wife’s death.
Wagner, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned about what others thought about him, and his daughter Courtney shut down any charges leveled against her father.
Courtney returned to emphasize how much she, her siblings, and her father had grown intertwined, making all of the claims leveled against Wagner exceedingly difficult. Her first instinct was to shield and support her father even more.
The 49-year-old said that she understood who was responsible for framing her dad for such a heinous crime and that her mother’s death was exploited to abuse her family. Courtney also voiced her surprise that false information about her dad was still being circulated after so many years.
Wood’s youngest daughter spoke candidly about her mother’s death. Courtney acknowledged using medications to dull her anguish and claimed that she did so for many years.
Courtney’s dependency on drugs had gotten to the point that she didn’t even contemplate exploring alternative holistic methods of processing her sorrow; instead, she drowned, “…life was going on without me,” she stated.
She saw her sisters become moms, and it became impossible for her to conceal her humiliation and remorse for missing out on these beautiful moments. Yet most of all, Courtney despised how much her dad was suffering.
Courtney resolved to alter her life after seeing how much pain she was giving her father. While she acknowledges it was a difficult path to recovery, she is pleased with the effort she put in to get herself back on track.
Courtney also expressed gratitude to her sister Natasha for being included in Wood’s documentary. She was proud of the masterpiece her sister had crafted to honor their mom, and she was certain Wood was as well.
