Robert Wagner, 96, reveals how he keeps the fires burning with wife Jill St John, 86… weeks before 45th anniversary of Natalie Wood’s death

Robert Wagner, 96, reveals how he keeps the fires burning with wife Jill St John, 86… weeks before 45th anniversary of Natalie Wood’s death

By JENNIFER PEARSON 21:51 19 Oct 2026, updated 21:51 19 Oct 2026 Wagner, 96, whose wife Natalie Wood mysteriously drowned off the coast of Catalina Island during a Thanksgiving boat trip in 1981, said that maintaining an active presence and a deep curiosity about each other has kept the fires burning all this time. ‘Being interested in life and in your relationship,’ Wagner told Entertainment Weekly just weeks before the 45th anniversary of Wood’s death. ‘I mean, I find Jill very interesting, a very interesting person.

I think interest is important in a relationship,’ the Hart to Hart alum said. The couple initially met as young contract players at 20th Century Fox in the late 1950s. Their careers intertwined in 1967 when St John was cast in a supporting role in Wagner’s sports drama Banning and they starred together in the made-for-television flick How I Spent My Summer Vacation.

St John would go on to play Bond girl Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever opposite Sean Connery as 007, while Wagner built up a solid acting resume with It Takes a Thief, Switch and Hart to Hart co-starring his friend Stefanie Powers. They reconnected in early 1982 following Wood’s passing and after St John sent the grieving widower flowers and a sympathy card. They began dating on Valentine’s Day that year before tying the knot in 1990.

The couple left Los Angeles in 2007 and have resided at their Aspen, Colorado, home full time ever since. Wagner has regularly commemorated their major milestones with affectionate tributes and photos on social media. ’36 years of love and laughter with my beautiful Jill.

Happy Anniversary, my love,’ he gushed in the caption. Wagner celebrated St John’s 86th birthday in August by posting a throwback photo of the couple standing by a lake. ‘Wishing the happiest of birthdays to my beautiful wife Jill.

I’m so blessed to love you and to do life with you. Happy Birthday, beautiful,’ he wrote alongside a pair of pink hearts. I’m Andrew Court, LA Showbiz Editor and celebrity connoisseur.

I’ve spent the past decade chasing down celebrity scoops and scandals, and now I’m bringing the best of them straight to your inbox. Wagner’s tributes have also extended to his children and grandchildren. The I Love Her in the Movies author recently posed for a picture with Wood’s daughter Natasha, who is her mother’s spitting image and whose biological father was British film producer Richard Gregson.

‘Please join me in wishing a very Happy Birthday to my wonderful daughter, Natasha,’ Wagner wrote in celebration of her 56th milestone. ‘Jill and I are so proud of the woman you are and the joy, laughter, and love you bring into our lives. We love you and wish you the happiest of birthdays.’ The star helped raise Natasha from the time she was a toddler and legally adopted her after Wood died.

Natasha affectionately calls him ‘Daddy Wagner.’ In November 1981, Wood had gone on a Thanksgiving weekend excursion with Wagner and her Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken aboard the yacht Splendour. The only other person on board was the ship’s captain, Dennis Davern. Wood went missing from the yacht after an evening of drinking, and her body was found floating in the Pacific Ocean the next morning.

Her death was originally ruled an accidental drowning but the case was reopened in 2011 after Davern admitted he had lied to police during the first investigation. The captain then revealed that Wood and Wagner had an explosive, volatile argument on the deck right before she vanished. Wood’s cause of death was changed to ‘undetermined’ after The Los Angeles County Coroner amended her death certificate to include bruises and scratches on her arms, legs and face.

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