Natalie Wood Case Updates: Robert Wagner on ‘NCIS’; Christopher Walken Impersonators

Bad timing: Robert Wagner has just re-entered the spotlight with the investigation into the 1981 death of his wife, Natalie Wood, and on Tuesday he’ll appear on an episode of ‘NCIS’ … as a murder suspect. Wagner reprises his role on the CBS drama as Anthony DiNozzo, Sr., father of Tony DiNozzo, Jr. (Michael Weatherly). In the episode, called ‘Sins of the Father,’ Wagner’s character is found with a dead body in the trunk of his car and no memory of the previous night. In their Nov. 18 press conference announcing their re-opening of the case, police repeatedly said they do not consider Wagner a suspect in Wood’s death, which they still believe is accidental. Read on for the latest developments.

* Christopher Walken, who was on board the boat the night Wood drowned, was quoted by the AP about the case: The wire service then ran a retraction after realizing they had quoted ESPN 980’s Marc Sterne doing an impression of the actor on ‘The Tony Kornheiser Show.’ Sterne told Access Hollywood, “I’m sure Julia Roberts does a better Christopher Walken than I do and I’m embarrassed for the AP reporter. Christopher Walken hasn’t spoken about this in 30 years, do they really think he’s calling into a D.C. sports show, to talk about Natalie Wood, and then, by the way, give fantasy football tips? It was absurd.” [Access Hollywood]

* The one time Walken did discuss Wood’s death in any detail was with Playboy magazine in 1997. He offered the theory that Wood wanted to leave the boat to call her children, as the phone on the boat wasn’t working. [Playboy]

* Walken has hired a lawyer, although police have said they do not consider him a suspect. [THR]

* A witness now claims to have heard Wood calling for help as she was drowning, and that she was threatened when she tried to come forward. [THR]

[via THR]

[Photo: CBS]