ACTOR
Robert Wagner
43 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (43)
- #001
While filming the bathtub scene in The Pink Panther (1963), Robert Wagner was submerged in an industrial-strength foaming agent and was left blind for four weeks. The studio wanted to replace him, but director Blake Edwards stayed loyal to him and finished the film.
- #002
His wife Jill St. John, his late ex-wife Natalie Wood and his Hart to Hart (1979) co-star Stefanie Powers all took ballet lessons together when they were young.
- #003
He was portrayed by Michael Weatherly in The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004). He later played Anthony DiNozzo Sr., the father of Weatherly's character Tony DiNozzo, on NCIS (2003).
- #004
For many years his bungalow at Universal Studios was a stop on the studio tour. He was a major star for the studio, having launched three successful television series. Lucille Ball, another star with long-running television success, had the same bungalow and tour stop before Wagner.
- #005
His wife Jill St. John appeared in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever (1971), which also featured his ex-wife's real-life sister, Lana Wood. During a September 1999 Vanity Fair photo shoot reuniting Bond girls, an argument broke out between Wood and St. John when photographer Annie Leibovitz asked for a picture of the two together. St. John reportedly strongly denied the idea that she made Wood cry. However, the couple's publicist, Alan Nierob, said it was Wagner himself who vetoed the photo because he preferred that his current wife not be shot with his former sister-in-law.
- #006
He made seven films with his wife Jill St. John: Banning (1967), How I Spent My Summer Vacation (1967), Around the World in 80 Days (1989), The Player (1992), Something to Believe In (1998), The Calling (2002) and Northpole (2014). On television she appeared as a guest star in the pilot episode of Hart to Hart (1979), and they appeared together as guest stars on Seinfeld (1989).
- #007
In June 2000 he filed a $20 million lawsuit against Aaron Spelling Productions, claiming he had been cheated out of his share of the profits from Fox's Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990). He claimed he was entitled to profits as part of a decade-old deal between producer Aaron Spelling and Fox that gave Spelling the right to produce "Beverly Hills, 90210" in exchange for "Angels 88," a series that was never produced and in which Wagner also held a stake. According to the lawsuit, the dispute dates back to 1973, when he and his then-wife Natalie Wood made a deal with Spelling to pitch pilot ideas to ABC. One idea the couple pitched led to the action series Charlie's Angels (1976). Under the terms of the deal, Spelling, Wagner and Wood shared the profits from the series equally. In 1988 Spelling developed a new series called "Angels 88." Under the contract terms, Wagner was to receive a 7.5% profit share whether or not he provided services. Fox committed to the series without his knowledge and then pulled out, giving Spelling "Beverly Hills, 90210" instead. Because "Beverly Hills, 90210" was given to Spelling in exchange for an asset in which Wagner held a stake, Wagner claimed he was entitled to the same profit share on "Beverly Hills, 90210" as on "Angels 88." The suit included claims of breach of contract and fraud and sought 7.5% of the gross profits from "Beverly Hills, 90210" plus damages of no less than $20 million.
- #008
Robert Wagner is the father of Katie Wagner (born 1964) with Marion Marshall and of Courtney Wagner (born 1974) with Natalie Wood.
- #009
He recently sold the Brentwood ranch he had shared with Jill St. John since 1983 for 14 million dollars and moved to Aspen, Colorado.
- #010
He appeared in six films with Jeffrey Hunter: The Frogmen (1951), White Feather (1955), A Kiss Before Dying (1956), The True Story of Jesse James (1957), In Love and War (1958) and The Longest Day (1962).
- #011
Despite what the shared surname suggests, he never legally adopted his former stepdaughter Natasha Gregson Wagner.
- #012
In mid-October 1981, Wagner reportedly made a series of phone calls to the Los Angeles/Long Beach Coast Guard base in San Pedro, CA, to learn about search and rescue procedures.
- #013
When he was seven years old, his family moved to Los Angeles, where he attended military academies and Harvard School.
- #014
In his memoir, he revealed that he had relationships with Yvonne De Carlo, Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Anita Ekberg, Shirley Anne Field, Lori Nelson and Joan Collins.
- #015
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reopened its investigation into Natalie Wood's death in November 2011 after statements by the yacht's captain, Dennis Davern, that he had disappeared the night Wood drowned. Lana Wood and Marti Rulli claim the investigation was still ongoing as of 2017. In May 2022, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officially cleared Wagner, stating there was no evidence of any wrongdoing.
- #016
He was the first choice for the role of Guy Woodhouse in Rosemary's Baby (1968); he had to turn it down when Paramount Pictures refused to resolve scheduling conflicts with It Takes a Thief (1968). The role went to John Cassavetes.
- #017
Lieutenant Hugo Reynaga announced that the LACSD had cleared Wagner in its investigation into Natalie Wood's death.
- #018
He collaborated with Gavin Lambert (author of the novel and screenplay for Inside Daisy Clover (1965), in which Wagner's late wife Natalie Wood starred) on Lambert's biography "Natalie Wood" (2004). Lambert, a friend of Wood's, believed her memory had been tarnished by the tabloid headlines surrounding her tragic death, with the result that no one remembered his friend as a person, and he wrote the book to correct the public's misconceptions about her. It should be noted that Lambert's book is full of chronological errors regarding Wood's parents' past, as her mother Maria Gurdin subtracted four years from her birth date and misstated that Maria married her first husband, Alex Tatuloff, in 1928 rather than 1925.
- #019
JS International Inc. dismantled and demolished the former 55-meter yacht "Splendour."
- #020
In 2021, the former Brentwood ranch was listed for 10 million dollars, 2 million less than he had bought it for in 2007. Its next owner, video game heiress Rita Kogan, who died in 2019, never moved in and let the property sit empty for about 12 years.
- #021
On July 16, 2002, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- #022
His first break in acting came when one of his friends took him to Warner Bros. to meet a casting director. After an interview and a reading, he was told the studio would use him in two or three small roles in the near future. A strike two days later postponed all production plans.
- #023
He was engaged to Tina Sinatra (June 1970-January 1972).
- #024
In his biography, he recounts that while in Paris for the filming of The Longest Day (1962), he made a mistake one night on his way back to the hotel. He was drunk, and because the employee did not recognize him, he grabbed the man sitting at the desk. It turned out he had entered the wrong hotel.
- #025
His father's grandparents were German, and his maternal grandparents were Norwegian.
- #026
Robert Wagner graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1949. Early in his career he signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox and made his debut in the film The Happy Years (1950).
- #027
Wagner's marriage to Jill St. John lasted longer than his previous six marriages combined. Before marrying her, he had divorced three times, while Wagner had divorced twice and been widowed once.
- #028
As of 2018, Wagner had appeared in two films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Longest Day (1962) and The Towering Inferno (1974).
- #029
Wagner was originally set to appear in The Proud Ones (1956) alongside Victor Mature and Debra Paget.
- #030
Wagner graduated from Santa Monica (CA) High School as Senior Class President.
- #031
Wagner appeared in three films with Debra Paget: Stars and Stripes Forever (1952), Prince Valiant (1954) and White Feather (1955); and in three films with Faye Dunaway: The Towering Inferno (1974), The Calling (2002) and El padrino (2004).
- #032
Wagner is best known to the public for his role as Jonathan Hart in the series Hart to Hart (1979).
- #033
Wagner's longtime publicist is Alan Nierob.
- #034
Wagner and Marion Marshall were engaged for two years before they married in 1963.
- #035
Wagner owns the film production company RJ Productions.
- #036
Wagner has known his wife Jill St. John since 1959. Eight years before their wedding, on Valentine's Day 1982, they became an item.
- #037
Officially together since February 1982, R. J. and Jill St. John reached an unusual milestone in June 2025: they had been together a few years longer than his previous wife, Natalie Wood, was alive.
- #038
Wagner's mother was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin; coincidentally, La Crosse is also the birthplace of Harold Finstad, the father of Wagner's longtime nemesis Suzanne Finstad.
- #039
Wagner is the former stepfather of Peter Donen and Joshua Donen.
- #040
Two of Wagner's four honeymoons took place in the state of Florida: the first in Miami and the fourth in Orlando.
- #041
Wagner served as best man at the wedding of Don Johnson and Kelley Phleger.
- #042
Wagner is mentioned in the sitcom episode The Robbery (1990).
- #043
Wagner is the former brother-in-law of Richard Smedley.
Continue through the archive
- The Pink Pantheras George Lytton
- Midwayas Lieutenant Commander Ernest L. Blake
- Harperas Allan Taggert
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee Storyas Bill Krieger
- The Concorde... Airport '79as Dr. Kevin Harrison
- Hart to Hartas Jonathan Hart
- Switchas Pete T. Ryan
- Around the World in 80 Daysas Alfred Bennett
- Curse of the Pink Pantheras George Lytton
- The War Loveras 'Bo'
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