The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Wagner not a suspect in Natalie Wood's death: Police Posted: 18 Nov 2011 08:40 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Homicide detectives who have reopened an investigation into the death of Natalie Wood after three decades said on Friday that the film star's husband, actor Robert Wagner, was not considered a suspect. The new inquiry into Wood's mysterious drowning off the California coast in 1981 comes amid new attention to the case on its 30th anniversary. The captain of the yacht she was on before her death now says that he lied to police at the time and holds Wagner responsible for her death. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. John Corina told reporters at a news conference on Friday that two homicide detectives had been assigned to reexamine new tips. "Recently we have received information which we felt was substantial enough to make us take another look," Corina said. He declined to elaborate on the new information. Asked by reporters if the now-81-year-old Wagner, one of three people on board the "Splendour" with Wood that night, was a suspect, Corina responded: "No." Wood's body was found floating in a Catalina Island cove on the morning of November 29, 1981. The 43-year-old actress was dressed for bed in a long nightgown and socks, but wearing a red down jacket over her nightclothes. The Los Angeles County Coroner at the time ruled the "West Side Story" star's death an accidental drowning, but questions have lingered for 30 years. Corina said her death remained classified an accidental drowning, but added: "If our investigation at the end of it points to something else, then we'll address that." Sheriff's officials have asked that anyone with knowledge about the case contact homicide investigators. 'TERRIBLE DECISIONS' In an interview with NBC's "Today" show on Friday, "Splendour" captain Dennis Davern said Wagner fought with Wood in the hours before she went missing and showed little interest in trying to find her. Davern, who co-wrote a 2010 book, "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour," about Wood's drowning, told the show that he made "terrible decisions, terrible mistakes" at the time and lied on a police report. Asked by an interviewer if he considered Wagner responsible for her death, he said: "Yes, I would say so. Yes." Wood, who had spent the night before her death dining and drinking with Davern, Wagner and her "Brainstorm" co-star Christopher Walken, was said to have a lifelong fear of drowning and dark water. A spokesman for Wagner has said in a statement that the actor's family had not been contacted by the sheriff's officials but "fully supports" the department's efforts. The family members trust that the sheriff's department "will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid and that it comes from a credible source or sources, other than those simply trying to profit from the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death," spokesman Alan Nierob said in the statement. The opening of the new investigation coincides with a TV special airing Saturday on the CBS-TV news show "48 Hours," which in conjunction with Vanity Fair magazine purports to have new findings which "make it clear that there was reason to reopen the case," Vanity Fair said in a statement. The TV special, called "Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal" is based on revelations first reported in a 2000 article in the magazine that is being republished this week in a special edition. Vanity fair said "everything seemed to come together at once." Wood, who was born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko to Russian immigrant parents in San Francisco, appeared as a child in such films as the Christmas classic "Miracle on 34th Street" and "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir." She was nominated for a best supporting actress Academy Award as a teenager for her role opposite screen legend James Dean in the classic 1955 film "Rebel Without a Cause." Wood was also nominated twice for best actress Oscars, for parts in the 1961 film "Splendor in the Grass" and "Love with the Proper Stranger" two years later. She never won the award. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Peter Dinklage jumps from 'Thrones' to indie film comedy Posted: 18 Nov 2011 05:44 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With a leading role in a hit television series and an Emmy under his belt, actor Peter Dinklage returns to his indie movie roots in the dark comedy "Pete Smalls Is Dead." Pairing up with director and good friend Alexandre Rockwell, Dinklage plays the role of K.C., a former screenwriter led into the seedier side of the Hollywood film industry as he tries to save his kidnapped dog. Dinklage, 42, was initially drawn to the optimist character of Jack, eventually played by Mark Boone. It was Rockwell who persuaded Dinklage to play the jaded K.C. "He knew me better than I knew myself creatively," laughed Dinklage, adding, "I'm glad I ended up doing K.C. because it was much more of a challenge for me as an actor." "Pete Smalls is Dead", now playing in U.S. theaters, is a quirky comedy that follows friends Jack and K.C. as they try to find K.C.'s kidnapped dog and attend the funeral of their friend and Hollywood director Pete Smalls, only to find that there's more to his death. Dinklage is a regular on the off-Broadway theater scene and has appeared in numerous films including Christmas comedy "Elf," "Lassie" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." Due to his height, 4 ft. 5 in. (1.35 meter), Dinklage is often typecast into dwarf roles, but the actor is keen to work outside stereotypical roles. "I've definitely done projects that I shouldn't have, but I've always been very protective of my fragile self," said the actor. "I just want to be happy with my choices at the end of the day and have no regrets." Dinklage recently gained wider recognition after being cast as the cunningly witty Tyrion Lannister in HBO's hit fantasy series "Game of Thrones," a role that he believed broke the mold, and for which he won a supporting actor Emmy award this year. "I love the idea that for someone of my size, it was very different to what we've seen before," said Dinklage of Tyrion, adding. "My shoes didn't curl up into little points at the end and I didn't have to have a long beard. I don't know what it is about dwarves having long beards." LA Weekly film critic F.X. Feeny called Dinklage "one of the subtlest and most magnetic actors now working." DIFFERENT VIEW OF HOLLYWOOD "Pete Smalls Is Dead" takes a journey through the underside of Los Angeles and Dinklage, a New Jersey native, was keen to portray a different view of Hollywood. "I could relate to the cynicism of the Hollywood system, and how the indie film world has gotten a little bit stale, and the writer isn't celebrated as he or she used to be," said Dinklage. The "Game of Thrones" actor stepped into a producer role for the film, with the intention of protecting Rockwell's artistic vision. "I really wanted to protect him and make sure he was able to make the movie he wanted to make, "said Dinklage. While the producing role taught Dinklage lessons in patience and curbing his time expectations, the actor found pleasure in meeting "pockets of great neighborhood characters," and exploring the quieter parts of Los Angeles. "There's a beauty to the underbelly of Los Angeles," said Dinklage. "Ugly can be beautiful. Those areas outside of Beverly Hills, the ones with the alleyways, they can be quite lovely." Along with season two of "Game of Thrones," the actor will also be seen in upcoming romance "A Little Bit of Heaven" with Kate Hudson, and comedy horror film "Knights of Badassdom," a genre that Dinklage was excited about. "I don't ever want to bore or repeat myself," said the actor. "Great writing is great writing, no matter what the genre is, and I just like working with great, challenging scripts." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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