Robert Wagner Turns 96 Amid Natalie Woods Tragedy

Hart To Hart star Robert Wagner turned 96-years-old on Tuesday.

A message was shared on the Hollywood veteran's Instagram account after thousands of fans wished him well.

'Hello everyone... Thank you so much for contributing to the Birthday Wishes!! I know RJ will be thrilled and honored when he reads the messages,' the note read.

This comes three months after the anniversary of the passing of his movie star wife Natalie Wood in 1981 at the age of 43. She drowned off the coast of the Southern California island Catalina.

Wagner had a big Hollywood career that began in the 1950s with films such as The Happy Years and Teresa. He starred in the 1956 hit film A Kiss Before Dying then was in films like Winning and TV shows such as The Streets Of San Francisco. 

But he didn't find big fame until 1979 when he played Jonathan Hart opposite Stefanie Powers on the TV series Hart To Hart.

The show was about a rich, good-looking married couple who solved murders as a hobby. It had a total of 111 episodes and went off the air in 1984. The series still does well in re-runs as it has a cult following. 

Robert Wagner - who was the star of Hart To Hart with Stefanie Powers - turned 96 on Tuesday

A message was shared on the Hollywood veteran's Instagram account after thousands of fans wished him well. 'Hello everyone... Thank you so much for contributing to the Birthday Wishes!! I know RJ will be thrilled and honored when he reads the messages,' the note read

Hart To Hart was created by author Sidney Sheldon. 

Each episode revolved around self-made millionaire Jonathan (played by Wagner) and freelance writer Jennifer (starring Powers) who are the child-free Harts, though they do dote on the rescue dog Freeway.

Their sidekick was the streetwise butler Max, played by Lionel Stander. 

Famous guest stars on the series included Ray Milland, Capucine, Eve Arden, Tommy Lasorda, Tippi Hedren, Julie Newmar and Robert Davi.

Later, there were several spin off Hart To Hart movies. 

He subsequently had success opposite Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery in 1997.

Wagner is wed to Jill St John; they tied the knot in 1990 after eight years of courtship. 

The two had known each other since the 1950s, and was a good friend of the actor and his late wife, Wood, who died by drowning when taking their boat's dinghy out off the coast of Catalina Island in November 1981.

The actor seen as a movie star in the 1950s 

The couple had been drinking with Natalie's Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken, now 82, and the actress went to bed before the men. 

Her body was discovered the next day. 

The actor was considered a 'person of interest' in the case, but he was never arrested, though there was a lot of speculation, without proof, that the Splendor in the Grass star had somehow orchestrated his wife's death.  

At the time, the coroner ruled her death an accidental drowning, but after the case was re-opened in 2011, the death certificate was changed to reflect 'drowning and other undetermined factors.'

Robert was officially cleared as a person of interest in 2022. 

Natalie Wood died in a boating accident off the coast of Catalina Island in November 1981. Much speculation followed her drowning. Wagner was officially cleared as a person of interest in 2022 and Natasha has fiercely defended him

Robert after his 1957 wedding to Wood 

Seen here in 1974

The Hollywood veteran with Wood's daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner and her child last year

His daughter, Natasha has fiercely defended her father amid all the speculation.

In her 2020 book, More Than Love, An Intimate Portrait of My Mother, Natalie Wood, she wrote, 'No one in my world questioned my dad's love for my mom or his utter despair at her loss. 

'We can never know with complete certainty how my mother ended up in the water.'

Instead the still-grieving daughter has chosen to 'focus on the things I do know - My father would never have harmed my mother or failed to save her if he knew she was in danger,' wrote Natasha, who was just 11 when her mother died.

Wagner with Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery in 1997

Wagner and actress Jill St. John arrive at Hallmark Channel's annual holiday event premiere screening of Northpole in Los Angeles in 2014 

'And I focus on my love for my mother, my dad, my family,' Natasha stated.

'My mother was not a tragic, doomed person. Her life was devoted to her art, her children, her husband and her heart.'

Wagner and Wood were married twice, from 1957 to 1962, and they walked down the aisle again in 1972. 

In December Wagner posted a photo from his 1957 wedding to the West Side Story actress, expressing his continued love for her. '66 years ago on December 28th 1957, Natalie was my girl and now she was my wife. Happy Anniversary, Nat. More than love.'