Varla Ventura: Natalie Wood's Dark Waters

Last year the LA Times reported that the case of Hollywood starlet Natalie Wood's death was reopened and is now under new investigation, officially being classified as undetermined. In February of this year it was officially ruled as"drowning and other undetermined factors."

The mother of theRebel Without a Cause star, Maria Stepanovna, was a superstitious Russian woman who had been told by a fortune teller to fear "dark waters." As a child, Natalie was terrified of water, and her fear was intensified by several mysterious water-related accidents on movie sets. While shooting The Green Promise, young Natalie had to walk over a bridge during a thunderstorm. When she did, the technician flipped a switch prematurely, and the bridge collapsed, throwing Natalie into the treacherous waters and breaking her wrist. When Natalie married Robert Wagner, their honeymoon cruise was cancelled when a violent storm arose. Natalie drowned late one night in 1981 while on a yacht trip off the coast of Catalina Island. The "dark waters" had claimed her at last.

Our modern culture is obsessed with celebrity deaths and a celebrity death with a mystery attached takes the cake. We'll never let go of our Marilyn Monroe, and what did happen to Amelia Earhart?

Who can forget the tragedy of beautiful Isadora Duncan, whose neck broke when her long silk scarf wrapped around a tire of a car and pulled her from the car? Or the sad story of Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind, who was hit by a car while crossing busy Peachtree Street in Atlanta, and died in the hospital several days later. Mark Twain was born when Haley's Comet could be seen from the earth (1835) and died when it was visible again some 76 years later (1910).

In 1913 famed horror writer and critic Ambrose Bierce died. Or at least, people think he died. He left the United States and traveled to Mexico. He had hoped to gain first-hand experience of the Mexican Revolution. Bierce disappeared without a trace while traveling among rebel troops in Mexico. You may know him for his great work The Devil's Dictionary. Perhaps the Devil got the best of him after all.

For more mysterious and tragic celebrity deaths, including Fatty Arbuckle and Anna Nicole Smith, read this article. They will continue to haunt us as they once haunted the silver screens and newspapers of their time.