James Farentino, the veteran tube star perhaps best known for a recurring role on TV’s Dynasty and playing George Clooney‘s estranged dad on ER, has died.

He was 73.

A family spokesman told the Los Angeles Times that Farentino passed away Tuesday at L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a long illness.

MORE: Jaws Star Roy Scheider Dies

Farentino shot to fame at the tail end of the studio system in the 1960s as a contract player for Universal Pictures.

After winning a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for his performance in the 1967 comedy The Pad and How to Use It , the thesp earned a number of parts in such TV series as The Fugitive, The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, and Police Story. He also played Simon Peter in the 1977 miniseries Jesus of Nazareth.

His most prominent big-screen appearance came shortly thereafter opposite Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen in 1980′s sci-fi adventure The Final Countdown.

Farentino made his most memorable mark with younger audiences in a recurring role on ABC’s Dynasty as well as briefly starring in the 1984 tube series Blue Thunder, playing the character Roy Scheider made famous in the movie.

MORE: M*A*S*H Star Harry Morgan Dies

The next decade however saw Farentino’s career hit the skids after he pleaded no contest in 1994 to stalking on-and-off girlfriend Tina Sinatra, the youngest daughter of Frank Sinatra. Aside from harassing her with a slew of phone calls, the Brooklyn-born actor violated a restraining order barring him from contacting her. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to undergo psychiatric and alcohol counseling.

Despite the bad press, Farentino still managed to get jobs, most notably playing Doug Ross’ father on NBC’s megahit ER. In 1998, he also appeared on Melrose Place.

No word yet on funeral plans.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths: 2011′s Fallen Stars

The story of Ben Breedlove, an Austin, Texas, teenager who suffered from a heart disease for the duration of his life before he died on Christmas day, touched the hearts of all, namely rapper Kid Cudi, with his YouTube videos that have gone viral since his death.

Breedlove, 18, died on Christmas after years of battling a heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, according to NBC news affiliate KXAN, which causes the heart muscles to thicken making blood transportation difficult.

The teen started his own YouTube channel, “Breedlove TV” and “OurAdvice4You,” to chronicle his which has since gone viral and captured the attention of Kid Cudi.

Here’s the story.

In one of the videos, Breedlove talks of the multiple times he “cheated death, naming Kid Cudi as part of a vision he saw while in the hospital one month before his death.

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“There was this big bright light above me,” Breedlove said. “I told my mom, ‘Look at the bright light’ and pointed up. She said she didn’t see anything.”

Breedlove said during the experience at the emergency room, he was wearing a suit and the rapper was present.

“Why he was the only one there with me, I’m still trying to figure out,” Breedlove said of Kid Cudi while his favorite song, “Mr. Rager,” played in the background.

“I then looked in the mirror, I was proud of myself of my entire life, everything I have done. It was the BEST feeling,” he said.

His story was picked up by many major news outlets and garnered the attention of Cudi, who posted his sentiments on his Tumblr blog following the death of Breedlove.

“I am so sad about Ben Breedlove,” Kid Cudi wrote. “I watched the video he left for the world to see, and him seeing me in detail, in his vision really warmed my heart. I broke down, Iam to tears because I hate how life is so unfair. This has really touched my heart in a way I cant describe, this is why I do what I do. Why I write my life, and why I love you all so much. Life is really @!$%#ed up sometimes, but I know Ben is at Peace, and I hope he gets a chance to sit and talk with my Dad. We love you Ben. Forever. Thank you for loving me. To Ben’s family, you raised a real hero, he’s definately mine. You have my love.”

On Dec. 18, Breedlove recorded a final video series videos in which he talked about death, feeling at peace with the inevitable, and his battle to postpone death through a series of placards he used to tell his story. Breedlove also used his YouTube series to offer teens advice on dating and hardships that they face in life.

“One of the things I noticed about that video is he was very confident in what he was sharing that day. And he wasn’t sad when he made that video,” his dad Shawn Breedlove told KXAN. “I spoke to a friend who was in the room with him when he made that video and he was just enjoying what he was doing but it was obviously a very serious subject matter for him to discuss and for him to share with other people.”

After his death, a family friend named David Murff started a fundraising effort to help Breedlove’s family.

“Even though this video is getting tons of attention, people are being touched and inspired, and Ben has even been called a HERO by KID CUDI, the Breedlove family lost their son,” Murff wrote. “We think getting a fundraiser going and sending the money down to the family would be a good start. My cousins and their family are close friends with the Breedloves.

“Also, a friend of a friend was very close with Ben and she thinks it’s amazing and that Ben would LOVE it. Ben’s family will receive the money and will be able to donate it to whatever charity or cause they feel drawn to in Ben’s name. This way, Ben will be remembered for his incredible impact on so many and the selfless giving he inspired. It will be Ben’s last Christmas present to the world. This is also a way to show how much Ben meant, how many people he is touching with his videos, spread this incredible story, and that his family is in all of our thoughts and prayers!”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the fundraiser has earned $240 in donations toward its $1,000 goal.

View Ben Breedlove’s final videos one week before he died on Christmas below.

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When news broke late Sunday night that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il had died, there was pretty much an instant sense of uncertainty and nervousness in Asian markets. The reason for this unease is not hard to ascertain; North Korea is a desperately poor country with a huge military. If the new leader, Kim Jong Un cannot quickly cement his power and authority, there is the threat and risk of civil war, military provocation against South Korea and/or Japan, and a continuation (or escalation) of the brinksmanship that Kim Jong Il used to keep world powers ill at ease.

What will this change in power mean for the markets, both in Asia and in the United States?

Markets Generally Hate UncertaintyIt was not surprising to see markets in South Korea and Japan sell off on the news of this change in North Korea. More than anything, markets hate uncertainty and there is now a gigantic red question mark where North Korean policy is now concerned. To that end, it is perhaps a bit surprising that gold was barely up as of early Monday morning.

In the short term, investors should expect South Korean equities like POSCO (NYSE:PKX – News), SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM – News), and KB Financial Group (NYSE:KB – News) to be soft. The South Korean military is on high alert and it is going to take a little time for South Korean investors to feel comfortable with even their own equities.Again, this comes back to uncertainty. Will the new leadership feel the need to “test” missiles near South Korean territory, provoke another dust-up at sea, or otherwise flex its muscles as a reminder that nothing has really changed in terms of North Korea’s strength and its views towards it neighbor?

The Ramifications to the NeighborsWhile outright war seems highly unlikely, investors in South Korea and China cannot rest completely easy. A war against an external foe is a time-tested way of papering over internal squabbles and tensions. Likewise, a true breakdown in the chain of command could lead to a grab for power that spills over.

Outright war would be a nightmare for South Korea. Companies like Samsung, Hynix, and Hyundai have become significant multinational corporations and such a massive disruption in South Korea would have ripples throughout markets like consumer electronics, technology, heavy industry and automobiles.

This uncertainty could also be a problem for China. China has been propping up and abetting North Korea for quite some time, garnering the benefits of not only putting South Korea, Japan and the U.S. on edge, but also cheap imports and resources from North Korea. It is an exaggeration to say that China depends on North Korea for irreplaceable inputs, but China is fighting its own battles with inflation, and needs all of the cheap inputs it can get. By the same token, North Korea is critically dependent upon China for its hard currency and food, so China has the opportunity to impose a certain degree of stability on the situation.

For Japan, it’s all about that stability. Trade between Japan and North Korea is insignificant, but Japan does worry about the unpredictability of North Korea and the military threat it represents. Japan is not going to step up its military spending overnight because of this transition, but a more bellicose North Korea may well force Japan to reassess its needs; something it can arguably ill-afford, given its high debt and demographic problems.

What Does This Mean for North American Investors?In the short run, the death of Kim Jong Il means relative little for North American investors, other than those who hold stocks and funds heavily exposed to the South Korean market. Like as not, the market is going to assume that North Korean policy is going to remain more or less unchanged and that the consolidation of power will involve a few volleys of overheated propaganda and threats.

Should there be signs of actual internal instability or real military mobilization, the markets in North America will almost certainly drop significantly, not only because of the implicit damage to South Korea, but the expense of having to come to that ally’s defense. Perhaps that would be a short-term boon for companies like Boeing (NYSE:BA – News) or General Dynamics (NYSE:GD – News), but the overall market performance would be generally poor.

Longer term, there seems to be more upside than risk from this transition. The worst-case scenario, actual military attacks on South Korea, is highly unlikely, as it seems that North Korea has long accepted that that would be a near-suicidal decision. The most likely scenario is that things go on as before; North Korea remains a gadfly and does its level best to convince the world it’s crazy and unstable, so as to get bought off with much-needed aid.

There is another possibility, however vanishingly small it may be. This new North Korean leader was educated outside of North Korea and may appreciate just how isolated and backward the country has become. Is it impossible to think (or hope) that eventually North Korea could ease up and become a better global citizen? Countries like Vietnam have rehabilitated and taken a more capitalistic outlook, though countries like Cuba and Laos have been more stubborn and slow-to-change. Progress on this front would be a great development for South Korea, but it is unlikely to happen for at least five or ten years (if ever).The Bottom LineScary as it may sound, what happens to investors in South Korea and North America is largely in the hands of Kim Jong Un and the North Korean military. If order is maintained and if the new leader demonstrates more rationality than former heads of state, there will be little more than provocative language and a few maneuvers. The South Korean market will sell-off a bit, the country will be nervous, but things will get back to normal in a month or so.

If North Korea gets aggressive, then all bets are off for the South Korean markets and investors in Japan and the West will likewise worry and sell off shares (and buy gold). However, if North Korea decides to take a new path, perhaps the long-term outcome of this change will be a positive for investors and the world at large.

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PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Even as the world changed around him, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il remained firmly in control, ruling absolutely at home and keeping the rest of the world on edge through a nuclear weapons program.

Inheriting power from his father in 1994, he led his nation through a devastating famine while frustrating the U.S. and other global powers with an on-again, off-again approach to talks on giving up nuclear arms in return for energy and other assistance. Kim was one of the last remnants of a Cold War-era that ended years earlier in most other countries.

His death was announced Monday by state television two days after he died. North Korea’s news agency reported that he had died at 8:30 a.m. Saturday after having a heart attack on a train, adding that he had been treated for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases for a long time. He was 69.

Kim, who reputedly had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but he had appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country documented by state media.

His longtime pursuit of nuclear weapons and his military’s repeated threats to South Korea and the U.S. stoked worries that fighting might break out again on the Korean peninsula or that North Korea might provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorist movements. The Korean War ended more than 50 years ago in a cease-fire, and the two sides remain technically in a state of war.

Kim Jong Il, who took power after the death of his father, unveiled his third son as his successor in September 2010, putting the twenty-something Kim Jong Un in high-ranking posts. On Monday, the North Korean news agency dubbed the son a “great successor” as the country rallied around him.

Few firm facts are available when it comes to North Korea, and not much is clear about Kim Jong Il, the man known as the “Dear Leader.”

North Korean legend has it that Kim was born on Mount Paektu, one of Korea’s most cherished sites, in 1942, a birth heralded in the heavens by a pair of rainbows and a brilliant new star. Soviet records, however, indicate he was born in Siberia in 1941.

His father, Kim Il Sung, is still revered as the founder of North Korea. The elder Kim fought for independence from Korea’s colonial ruler, Japan, from a base in Russia for years. He returned to Korea in 1945, emerging as a communist leader and becoming North Korea’s first leader in 1948.

He meshed Stalinist ideology with a cult of personality that encompassed him and his son. Their portraits hang in every building in North Korea, and every dutiful North Korean wears a Kim Il Sung lapel pin.

Kim Jong Il, a graduate of Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung University, was 33 when his father anointed him his eventual successor.

Even before he took over, there were signs the younger Kim would maintain — and perhaps exceed — his father’s hard-line stance.

South Korea has accused Kim of masterminding a 1983 bombing that killed 17 South Korean officials visiting Burma, now known as Myanmar. In 1987, the bombing of a Korean Air flight killed all 115 people on board; a North Korean agent who confessed to planting the device said Kim had ordered the downing of the plane.

When Kim came to power in 1994, he had been groomed for 20 years to become leader. He eventually took the posts of chairman of the National Defense Commission, commander of the Korean People’s Army and head of the ruling Worker’s Party. His father remained as North Korea’s “eternal president.”

He continued his father’s policy of “military first,” devoting much of the country’s scarce resources to its troops — even as his people suffered from a prolonged famine — and built the world’s fifth-largest military.

Kim also sought to build up the country’s nuclear arms arsenal, leading to North Korea’s first nuclear test, an underground blast conducted in October 2006. Another test came in 2009, prompting U.N. sanctions.

Alarmed, regional leaders negotiated a disarmament-for-aid pact that the North signed in 2007 and began implementing later that year. The process has since stalled, though diplomats are working to restart negotiations.

Following the famine, the number of North Koreans fleeing the country rose dramatically, with many telling tales of hunger, political persecution and rights abuses. North Korea is estimated to hold 150,000 to 200,000 people in political prisons; the government denies operating any such camps.

Kim often blamed the U.S. for his country’s troubles and his regime routinely derides Washington-allied South Korea as a puppet of the Western superpower.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush described Kim as a tyrant. “Look, Kim Jong Il is a dangerous person. He’s a man who starves his people. He’s got huge concentration camps. And … there is concern about his capacity to deliver a nuclear weapon,” Bush said in 2005.

Defectors from North Korea describe Kim as an eloquent and tireless orator, primarily to the military units that form the base of his support.

He also made numerous trips to factories and other sites to offer what North Korea calls “field guidance.” As recently as last week, the North’s news agency reported on trips to a supermarket and a music and dance center.

“In order to run the center in an effective way, he said, it is important above all to collect a lot of art pieces including Korean music and world famous music,” the Korean Central News Agency story read in part.

The world’s best glimpse of the man came in 2000, when a liberal South Korean government’s conciliatory “sunshine” policy toward the North culminated in the first-ever summit between the two Koreas. A second summit was held in 2007 with then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

Standing 5-foot-3, Kim wore platform shoes and sported a permed bouffant. His trademark attire of jumpsuits and sunglasses was mocked in the American film “Team America: World Police,” a movie populated by puppets that was released in 2004.

Kim was said to have wide interests, including professional basketball, cars and foreign films. He reportedly produced several films, mostly historical epics with an ideological tinge.

A South Korean film director claims Kim had him and his movie star wife kidnapped in the late 1970s, spiriting them to North Korea to make movies for a decade before they managed to escape during a trip to Austria.

Kim rarely traveled abroad and then only by train because of an alleged fear of flying, once heading all the way by luxury rail car to Moscow, indulging in his taste for fine food along the way.

One account of Kim’s lavish lifestyle came from Konstantin Pulikovsky, a former Russian presidential envoy who wrote the book “The Orient Express” about Kim’s train trip through Russia in July and August 2001.

Pulikovsky, who accompanied the North Korean leader, said Kim’s 16-car private train was stocked with crates of French wine. Live lobsters were delivered in advance to stations.

A Japanese cook later claimed he was Kim’s personal sushi chef for a decade, writing that Kim had a wine cellar stocked with 10,000 bottles, and that, besides sushi, Kim ate shark’s fin soup — a rare delicacy — weekly.

“His banquets often started at midnight and lasted until morning. The longest lasted for four days,” the chef, who goes by the pseudonym Kenji Fujimoto, was quoted as saying.

Kim is believed to have curbed his indulgent ways in recent years and looked slimmer in more recent video footage aired by North Korea’s state-run broadcaster.

Disputing accounts that Kim was “peculiar,” former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright characterized Kim as intelligent and well-informed, saying the two had wide-ranging discussions during her visits to Pyongyang when Bill Clinton was U.S. president. “I found him very much on top of his brief,” she said.

Kim’s marital status wasn’t clear but he is believed to have married once and had at least three other companions. He had at least three sons with two women, as well as a daughter by a third.

His eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, who is about 40, is believed to have fallen out of favor with his father after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001 saying he wanted to visit Disney’s Tokyo resort.

His other sons include likely successor Kim Jong Un and the heir-apparent’s older brother, Kim Jong Chol. Their mother reportedly died several years ago.

By Mark Savage BBC News entertainment reporter

One of the more surprising facts about Kim Jong-il was his love of cinema. He reportedly owned more than 20,000 videos and DVDs and counted Elizabeth Taylor among his favourite actresses.

“The cinema occupies an important place in the overall development of art and literature. As such it is a powerful ideological weapon for the revolution and construction.”

So wrote Kim Jong-il in his 1987 essay The Cinema and Directing.

Countless leaders have recognised film’s potential for propaganda. But for the North Korean leader, who has died aged 69, cinema was much, much more.

His enormous collection of video cassettes incorporated everything from Hollywood westerns to Japanese monster movies.

Kim also wrote several treatises on cinema, often with surprising insight into the creative process.

Many Hollywood scribes could take note of the following gem: “A film with an untidy plot cannot grip the audience and define their emotional response.”

At other times, Kim’s writings seem more like a thinly-veiled rule book for would-be dictators.

“No production of high ideological and artistic value can evolve out of a creative group whose members are not united ideologically and in which discipline and order have not been established,” he decreed in 1987.

Kidnap

But Kim’s appetite for cinema went to bigger, and stranger, extremes.

In 1978, long before he succeeded his father Kim Il Sung, he ordered the kidnapping of South Korea’s most famous film director.

Shin Sang-ok was abducted during a trip to Hong Kong. Agents shoved him into a waiting car, threw a bag over his head and transported him to Pyongyang.

He was kept in an all-male prison for several years and was forced to survive on a diet of “grass, salt and rice” as punishment for trying to escape.

After four years he was suddenly released and reunited with his wife, Choe Eun-hui, at a lavish government party.

In his autobiography, Shin recalled a conversation with Kim Jong-il over soft drinks at the event.

“The North’s filmmakers are just doing perfunctory work,” said Kim, at the time the country’s culture minister. “They don’t have any new ideas.

“Their works have the same expressions, redundancies, the same old plots. All our movies are filled with crying and sobbing. I didn’t order them to portray that kind of thing.”

And so, Shin and Choe were put to work as film-makers for the regime.

Among the seven movies they released while under Kim’s command was Pulgasari, a communist version of Godzilla, and a drama that included the country’s first on-screen kiss.

Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

I own all the Academy Award movies. I’ve watched them all”

End Quote Kim Jong-il

Their situation was not comfortable – they were essentially under house arrest when they were not on set. But Shin said he had unparalleled access to the reclusive Kim.

“He listened to me because we were from South Korea,” Shin told The Guardian in 2003. “Even though we criticised some things, he wanted us to be honest. Others would have been killed for speaking so honestly”.

Shin and his wife finally escaped during a trip to Vienna in 1986, shortly after completing work on Pulgasari.

The monster movie remains one of the few North Korean films available internationally (it can also be seen on YouTube) and comes complete with an executive producer credit for Kim Jong-il.

The plot revolves around a small doll that magically comes to life when it touches blood.

The doll grows into a giant, metal-eating monster that helps peasants overthrow their leader, only to find themselves enslaved by the creature’s constant desire for resources – a metaphor for capitalism.

Cinematically, the battle scenes – which featured more than 10,000 extras – cannot fail to impress.

But the special effects and “terrifying” man-in-Godzilla-suit are dated, feeling more like that of a 1950s B-movie than the $3m 1980s production it was.

Manipulation

International approval was presumably low on Kim’s list of priorities.

An anonymous defector, interviewed in Kong Dan Oh’s book Through the Looking Glass, described how cinema affected the ordinary Korean citizen.

“This defector recounts how he was moved to tears by a North Korean film, heavily laden with propaganda,” said the author.

“When he saw the movie again after fleeing to South Korea, the work struck him as absolutely silly.”

Propagating an image of successful, ordered, prosperous North Korea was always Kim’s main goal.

Similarly, TV and film footage from the South generally portrayed protests, unrest and misery – making democracy and defection seem unappetising prospects.

Kim’s micro-management of the movie industry even extended to the art departments.

“As an actress, they force you to wear certain things and not others,” says Kim Hye Young, a former North Korean movie star who fled the country in the 1990s.

“People always seem to be dressed in uniforms. The state even tells you what make-up you are allowed to have.”

But the films produced under his watchful eye were not all heavy-handed communist allegories.

Indeed, one sign outside the Ministry Of Culture demanded: “Make more cartoons.”

Bond goes bad

Defectors from North Korea have been able to shed some light on Kim’s personal taste in movies.

Shin Sang-Ok told Newsweek that Kim liked horror movie Friday the 13th and Hong Kong action films.

He also revealed to the Seoul Times that the leader’s favourite actor was Sean Connery, particularly in the Bond series, and his favourite actress was Elizabeth Taylor.

The first Western film to be publicly screened in North Korea was Bend It Like Beckham, watched (in edited form) by 12,000 people at the Pyongyang Film Festival in 2004.

Kim was also said to have been a fan of Ealing comedies, inspired by their emphasis on team spirit and a mobilised proletariat.

Former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright also gleaned a direct insight into the Korean cineaste’s habits during a state visit in 2000.

According to the New York Times, Kim asked Albright if she had seen any recent films.

When she replied “Gladiator”, Kim said he had seen Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, which he described as “very sad”.

He also told Wendy Sherman, who was in Pyongyang as a special advisor: “I own all the Academy Award movies. I’ve watched them all.”

But Kim was less than enamoured by Hollywood’s portrayal of his own regime.

When his beloved James Bond was captured and tortured during a North Korean mission in Die Another Day, the government called it “insulting to the Korean nation”.

But most scathing of all was Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Team America: World Police, in which a marionette of Kim Jong-il with a crudely-impersonated Korean accent sits at a piano singing: “I’m so ronrery [lonely].”

This parody of a vain and isolated leader is, to many Westerners, the presiding impression of Kim Jong-il.

Indeed, Team America became a trending topic on Twitter within hours of his death being announced.

Kim may not have approved of the caricature. But he would certainly have appreciated cinema’s power to shape people’s minds.

10.20am Konstantin Pulikovskiy, the Kremlin’s former special representative in the far East, has spoken about when he met Kim Jong-il, both pre- and post-stroke. For his money, he does not see any regime change on the horizon:

I saw Kim Jong-il before his stroke, I was travelling with him, and at the time he did not have any health problems. I saw him after the stroke and it was like night and day. I think that the main reason for his death was precisely the consequences of his stroke…

It seems that there will not be any upheaval in North Korea in the short term. Kim Jong-il managed to do everything to preserve his regime by appointing his son as his heir.

10.18am France has become the latest country to react to Kim Jong-il’s death. Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, has echoed William Hague’s sentiment:

We are very watchful of the consequences of this succession, hoping that one day the people of North Korea will be able to find freedom.

10.13am Telegraph Pictures has compiled a picture gallery of how North Korea is coping with the death of the ‘Dear Leader’. It starts with the newreader, wearing black breaking down in tears. Street reaction is not much better.

Pyongyang residents mourn the death of leader Kim Jong-il

9.44am The Telegraph’s Obituaries team have compiled a fascinating read about the Dear Leader. On the one hand, he was a spoiled playboy, with a passion for Rambo and Daffy Duck videos, but on the other, he developed an all-pervasive personality cult, shielded the whole country from the rest of the world, and held on to power for nearly five decades:

Kim il Sung had maintained his grip on power through “Juche” – a philosophy based on an eccentric blend of Stalinist repression, an all-pervasive personality cult, total isolation from the outside world and paranoid hostility towards South Korea and its capitalist allies. Over nearly five decades in power he had reduced his country to a destitute fortress-state with a standing army of 1.2 million out of a population of some 20 million. The combination of barbarism, isolation and eccentricity was an Orwellian nightmare beside which Enver Hoxha’s Albania seemed a bastion of liberal enlightenment.

9.40am Telegraph TV has more video on hysterical grieving in North Korea. It begs the question, how do you react when your ‘god’ dies?

9.22am Aiden Foster-Carter, a British expert on North Korea, has spoken about Kim Jong-un, the ‘great successor’, and his complete lack of experience.

Kim Jong-un is completely untried, indeed he has been plunged into this, with only two years to prepare.

So far we have no reason to think he has the abilities to exercise power in his own right.

The military make look at this callow youth and say ok we can use him as a figurehead or it may go the other way and we get a full military regime, a ruling council. The party had rather atrophied under Kim Jong-il until it came together to back Kim Jong-un for the leadership.

There may be some rivalries there that would help him. So it’s a question of whether he will go with the grain or decide to be bold and open up to the international community.

9.14am Kim Jong-il is predictably trending on Twitter. At the moment, the UK’s top 10 trends include: “Kim Jong”, “Team America”, “North Korea” and “Dear Leader”.

Kate Forbes, from BBC news writes:

9.10am The lineage of North Korea’s first family is convoluted and confused, with siblings rising and falling in favour with the politics of the day. The Telegraph’s Julian Ryall breaks down Kim Jong-il’s nearest and dearest.

Kim Jong-il reportedly began an affair with actress Song Hye-rim in 1968 who gave birth three years later to Kim Jong-nam – which was kept secret from Kim Jong-Il until 1975. After learning of his son, Kim Jong-il began to groom him for a future leadership role – although that came to an abrupt end in May 2001 when he was arrested trying to enter Japan on a forged Dominican Republic passport with two women and a boy aged 4. He told Japanese polce that he wanted to visit Disneyland and there are reports that he was a frequent visitor to the red light districts of Tokyo.

Using the Chinese alias Pang Xiong, which can be read as “fat bear,” Kim Jong-nam’s arrest was humiliating for his father, who was forced to cancel a state visit to China.

Kim Jong-Nam reportedly has two wives, at least one mistress and several children and continues to live in exile in Macau. His son, Han-sol, is believed to have been born in 1995 to his second wife, Lee Hye-Kyong, and recently enrolled at the United World College in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzogovina.

Kim Jong-Il’s next companion was Ko Young-hee, who was a dancer born in Osaka in 1953 and the mother of Kim Jong-chul, a member of the central committee of the party, a daughter, Kim Sul-song, and Kim Jong-un, who has been given the task of continuing the family regime.

9.04am For those of you who might not remember what I was talking about regarding Team America (8.10am), please watch this musical masterpiece. Say what you like about South Park’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, but they know how to create a catchy tune – Mormons can testify.

8.42am Benedict Brogan, The Daily Telegraph’s Deputy Editor, comments that Kim Jong-il’s death adds a “whole new element of instability to our already shaky world” in his Morning briefing.

When Kim Jong-il, the North Korean dictator, was born, “a bright star lit up the sky, the seasons spontaneously changed from winter to spring, and rainbows appeared” (according to the North Korean Communist Party).

So far, his death early this morning hasn’t produced any of that, but it does add a whole new element of instability to our already shaky world. William Hague has issued a carefully worded statement…

South Korea has put its military on alert, while Kim Jong-un, the dictator’s 28 year old son, has been promoted. The death is likely to dominate the news agenda.

8.37am We will be monitoring North Korea’s little-known London embassy for reaction. While a lot of embassies have the pick of real estate in Kensington and Knightsbridge, North Korea’s is a little more understated, a former seven-bedroom house built in the 1920s in Ealing, West London. Nick Meo from the Sunday Telegraph, wrote a fascinating piece back in 2009.

Converted from a seven-bedroom house built in the 1920s, the embassy is a far cry from the opulent Mayfair and Kensington mansions that make up most of London’s foreign diplomatic missions. When it first opened in 2003, it was plunged straight into a bitter planning dispute with Ealing Council, which objected to its grandiose portico entrance with pillars.

But in contrast with Pyongyang’s hostile relations with Japan and South Korea, it maintains a good neighbours policy when it comes to fellow occupants of Gunnersbury Avenue.

“The ambassador is a lovely chap, very friendly,” said a man living next door. He claimed that people in the neighbourhood were untroubled by having in their midst the outpost of a nation notorious for slave labour camps and weapons of mass destruction.

8.30am And for those of you wanting a reminder about his father, look no further than Julian Ryall’s profile of Kim Jong-il. Kim was clearly destined for greatness from an early age. He was apparently talking at eight weeks old, wrote six operas and once hit a 38-under-par during his first ever round of golf.

Kim led a privileged life after the war as North Korea made use of its natural resources and received assistance from Moscow and, later, Beijing while the United States increased its commitment to the government in South Korea.

The cult of personality that was built up around his father was equally heaped upon Kim as he was groomed to be the first dynastic successor of a communist regime.

8.28am Kim Jong-un the ‘great successor’, will be thrown into the spotlight more than ever before. For those of you who want to know more about him, The Telegraph’s Danielle Demetriou has done a handy guide. He has been dubbed a style guru thanks to his haircut, which has been labelled the “youth” or “ambition” cut, and he is apparently a massive Michael Jordan fan.

8.10am He may have been a dangerous dictator, but to many younger readers, Kim Jong-il was a widely mocked figure, perhaps best remembered for his star turn in Team America, by the creators of South Park.

Kim Jong-il in Team America

8am William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, has released a statement on Kim Kong-il’s death:

The people of N Korea are in official mourning after the death of Kim Jong Il. We understand this is a difficult time for them.

This could be a turning point for North Korea. We hope that their new leadership will recognise that engagement with the international community offers the best prospect of improving the lives of ordinary North Korean people.

We encourage North Korea to work for peace and security in the region and take the steps necessary to allow the resumption of the Six Party Talks on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

7.57am In the wake of the Dear Leader’s death, this video is going somewhat viral on YouTube. It has been viewed as of now 142,800+ times. Fact number 10: He once attempted to breet giant rabbits to alleviate famine in North Korea. Fact number nine – he claimed to have invented the hamburger… you get the idea.

7.40am Telegraph TV has found some video footage of the aforementioned tearful TV presenter (see 6.55am) announcing Kim Jong-il’s death.

The announcer said that the 69-year old had died of physical and mental over-work on his way to give “field guidance”.

“I’m announcing in the most woeful mind that our great leader Kim Jong-il passed away due to sudden illness on his way to a field guidance on December 17, 2011,” said the news presenter.

7.30am Whilst most of the 24 million North Koreans will be genuinely distraught by the death of the ‘Dear Leader’, the end of Kim Jong-il’s tyrannical reign has increased the chill of uncertainty across the region. The Telegraph’s Peter Simpson writes:

Kim’s regular war and mind games, which saw on one hand overtures towards denuclearisation negotiations, and on the other random torpedoing of submarines and artillery bombardments of the South, regularly put Beijing, the Korean peninsular and Tokyo on red alert.

Yet the leadership acumen of his hereditary successor Kim Jong-Un, his 20-something youngest son, as “supreme leader” and a four-star general, is today causing equally grave concern among Pyongyang’s neighbours and in Washington.

Will the young Kim seek to show off to his new and expectant subjects the same verve and might of his father by launching a symbolic military strike against the “US imperialist-led” South?

7.25am Little is known about the ‘Great Successor’ Kim Jong-un, but al-Jazeera last year posted some footage of his formative years – what is believed to be a young Kim at school in Switzerland.

7.10am China, North Korea’s regional neighbour, has become the latest country to offer its “deep condolences” on the death of Kim.

We were distressed to learn of the unfortunate passing of the senior-most North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, and we express our grief about this and extend our condolences to the people of North Korea.

7.06am Philip J Crowley, the former US State Department spokesman, has give some snap analysis for the future of North Korea via Twitter, putting a dampner who those who think his death might trigger an Arab-Spring-style sweep of reform:

6.55am Here is a picture of the tearful news reader dressed in black as she announces the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on North Korean state television.

6.50am Japan has expressed its condolences over the death of Kim Jong-il. The Telegraph’s Julian Ryall files this report:

The Japanese government expressed its condolences on Monday over the death of Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea, but simultaneously told officials to be prepared for potential instability.

“We express our condolences upon receiving the announcement of the sudden passing of Kim Jong-Il, the chairman of the National Defence Committee of North Korea,” Osamu Fujimura, the chief government spokesman, said after an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.

“The Japanese government hopes that this unexpected development will not have any adverse impact on the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula,” he added.

Yoshihiko Noda, the prime minister, cancelled a speaking engagement on Monday morning and has instructed government officials to be prepared for all possible contingencies.

Monitoring of the situation in North Korea has also been stepped up and officials have been to stay in close contact with their counterparts in the United States, South Korea and China.

Kim’s death has apparently caught analysts off-guard, with Masashi Nishihara, president of the Research Institute for Peace and Security, saying it had been believed that the North Korean leader had been recovering after a serious illness – believed to have been a stroke – three years ago.

6.30am Japan has held a hastily prepared ministerial meeting on national security. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said:

We hope this sudden event does not have an adverse effect on the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula.

Prime Minister (Yoshihiko) Noda told members of the security meeting to strengthen information gathering efforts, work closely and share information with relevant states including the United States, South Korea and China, and to prepare for any unexpected circumstances. The government hopes to take appropriate action as needed.

6.25am UPDATED Obama and South Korea’s Lee have discussed Kim Jong-Il’s death, White House sources have said. Earlier this morning, a White House spokesman said the US was “closely monitoring” reports that Kim Jong-il had died.

6.15am North Korea has described Kim’s youngest son as the “great successor”

6am Here is a profile of Kim Jong-un from The Telegraph’s Malcolm Moore. Kim Jong-un is expected to succeed his late father.

Such is the secrecy of North Korea, the Hermit Kingdom, that until he was 20-years-old, no one even knew that Kim Jong-un existed.

The first mention of Kim Jong-il’s third, and favourite, son, came in the memoirs of a Japanese sushi chef who claims he became a drinking companion of North Korea’s “Dear Leader”.

Kim Jong-un was born to his father’s third wife, Ko Yong-Hi, who reportedly died of breast cancer in 2004.

The only photograph of the younger Kim, who is likely to succeed his father imminently, is a grainy black-and-white snapshot taken when he was 11-years-old.

5.50am North Korea has urged its 24 million people to rally behind 20-something heir-apparent Kim Jong-un as the nation mourned the death of supreme leader Kim Jong-il.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (L) and his son and designated heir Kim Jong-un

5.30am Oil slipped has slipped below $93 a barrel in Asia as crude followed the region’s stock markets lower after North Korea announced the death of leader Kim Jong-il.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was down 78 cents to $92.75 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 34 cents to settle at $93.53 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude was down 45 cents at $102.90 on the ICE futures exchange.

5.15am Here is a gallery of the life and times of Kim Jong-il.

5am UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was among world leaders put on alert Sunday over the death of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Il, officials said.

The United Nations has been desperately trying to raise international funds to provide food for North Korea. It appealed for $218 million dollars this year but less than 20 percent has been raised.

Ban, who is from South Korea, has in turn regularly expressed concern at the deadlock in international talks on the North’s nuclear arms program. He said last week that the mood on the Korean peninsula was almost “frozen”.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told AFP:

The secretary general is aware but of the reports but we don’t have an immediate reaction.

4.50am South Korea has ordered its military on emergency alert and increased border air surveillance after North Korea announced the death of its leader Kim Jong-il, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Seoul also asked its US ally, which stations 28,500 troops in the South, to step up surveillance by planes and satellites, a JCS spokesman said.

No unusual activity had been observed from the North, officials said.

President Lee Myung-bak ordered all government officials on emergency response status, meaning they are restricted from taking leave or travelling.

The North’s state media, in a shock announcement, reported earlier Monday that the 69-year-old Kim died of a heart attack Saturday while on board a train during one of his field trips.

TV news report the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at a Labi Yamada Denki Co. retailer in Tokyo, Japan AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama

4.45am Our man in China Peter Simpson files this report on the death of the “Dear Leader”.

The mercurial and enigmatic longtime leader who ran his nation with an iron rod was 69.

The state-TV announcer, wearing black and fighting back tears, made the emotional announcement on state-run television.

She said Kim died “of fatigue” while on a train.

His youngest son, Kim Jong-un, is likely to be appointed leader to continue the family dynasty that has administrated a tyrannical government since the end of the Korean War.

4.30am North Korea’s Kim Jong-il has reportedle died from “a massive heart attack” while travelling on a train in Pyongyang, state media have said. The military dictator, who was 69, apparently died on Saturday but news of his death was announced early Monday morning.

Natalie Wood drowned off the coast of Catalina Island, but her death — one of Hollywood’s enduring mysteries that sprang back into the headlines this week — and life are both tied to Palm Springs.

A yacht captain said on national television Friday that he lied to investigators about Wood’s mysterious death 30 years ago and blames the actress’ husband, Robert Wagner. That interview came a day after homicide detectives unexpectedly reopened the case that had long been classified as a tragic accident.

Wagner had married Wood twice, and their marriage was on the rocks by the time gossip columnist Rona Barrett reported seeing Wood and Warren Beatty acting romantic in Palm Springs. Wagner said the couple would have split up even without Barrett’s story.

The second time around, Wagner said, their relationship was rekindled in Palm Springs and they eventually remarried and remained so until Wood’s death in 1981, which the yacht captain said Friday on NBC’s “Today” show resulted from a fight between the husband and wife.

More than just a name on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, where she was honored in 2007, Wood is featured prominently on the Palm Springs Racquet Club’s celebrity guest list and in the memories of residents who recall when she and Wagner shared a three-quarter-acre estate on Crestview Drive in south Palm Springs.

After her death, Frank Sinatra gave a funeral wake for Wood at the city’s old Sorrentino’s restaurant.

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective will speak to reporters Friday about the decision to take another look at the Oscar-nominated actress’ nighttime demise in the chilly waters off Southern California on Nov. 29, 1981. Wood drowned after spending several hours drinking on Catalina Island and a yacht with Wagner, fellow actor Christopher Walken and the ship’s captain, Dennis Davern.

Davern, skipper of the Splendour, told NBC’s “Today” show on Friday that he made mistakes by not telling the truth about events leading to the Thanksgiving weekend death and had urged Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide investigators to reopen the case. It is the latest attempt by Davern to change the official account of what happened in the hours before Wood’s death.

(Page 2 of 3)

“Was the fight between Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner what ultimately led to her death?” show host David Gregory asked.

“Yes,” Davern replied.

“How so?”

“Like I said, that’s going to be up to the investigators to decide,” the captain said after a long pause.

Davern said he believes Wagner had intentionally kept the investigation into Wood’s death low-profile and didn’t do everything he could have done. When Gregory pressed Davern for supporting details, the captain said that was the duty of investigators.

The Associated Press could not immediately reach Davern Friday.

Davern has said for years that the official account of Wood’s disappearance was not what really happened, including in a 1992 appearance on a Geraldo Rivera special and in a 2000 Vanity Fair piece. He also worked with author and friend Marti Rulli on “Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour,” a book released last year.

Wagner spokesman Alan Nierob said Friday a statement he released Thursday spoke for itself.

“Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the L.A. County Sheriff’s department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. and trust they 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,” Nierob wrote in the statement.

Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said Thursday the renewed inquiry was prompted by unspecified new information about Woods’ case. The Los Angeles Times reported that Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca said detectives want to talk to Davern and that he had “made comments worthy of exploring.” The paper said the agency had also received information from an unidentified third party.

In the Vanity Fair story, Davern is quoted as saying that Wood and Wagner fought in their cabin before the actress disappeared. Coroner’s officials ruled her death an accidental drowning, perhaps caused by her slipping off the boat while trying to tie down a dinghy.

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Wood’s death sparked tabloid speculation that foul play was involved, but Wagner and Wood’s sister have dismissed any suggestion the actress’ death was anything more than an accident. Coroner’s officials at the time agreed, writing that Wood was “possibly attempting to board the dinghy and had fallen into the water, striking her face.”

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said that to his knowledge, the agency hadn’t been asked to do any additional investigation into Wood’s case.

Sheriff’s officials are also hoping for tips from the public that may shed new light on how Wood, who was afraid of being in the water, ended up drowning.

Wood, a three-time Oscar nominee famous for roles in “West Side Story,” ”Rebel Without a Cause” and other Hollywood hits, was 43 when she died. She and Wagner, star of the TV series “Hart to Hart,” were twice married, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972.

Lana Wood wrote in a biography on her sister, “What happened is that Natalie drank too much that night.”

Wagner wrote in a 2008 autobiography that he blamed himself for his wife’s death.

He recounted the night of Wood’s disappearance, during which the couple and Walken drank at a restaurant and on the boat. Wood went to the master cabin during an argument between her husband and Walken. The last time Wagner saw his wife, she was fixing her hair at a bathroom vanity and she shut the door.

Wagner wrote that despite various theories about what led Wood to the water, which she feared, it was impossible to know what exactly happened.

“Nobody knows,” he wrote. “There are only two possibilities; either she was trying to get away from the argument, or she was trying to tie the dinghy. But the bottom line is that nobody knows exactly what happened.”

Later in the book, Wagner wrote, “Did I blame myself? If I had been there, I could have done something. But I wasn’t there. I didn’t see her.”

He wrote that he has never returned to Catalina Island.

Phone and email messages to Walken’s publicist were not returned Thursday. Walken and Wood were co-stars in “Brainstorm,” which was the actress’ final big screen role.

Desert Sun staff contributed to this Associated Press report

2011-11-18 17:08 by Alicia Rancilio

Los Angeles – A yacht captain said on national TV on Friday that he lied to investigators about Natalie Wood’s mysterious death 30 years ago and blames the actress’ husband at the time, Robert Wagner, for her drowning in the ocean off Southern California.

The circumstances of her death remain one of Hollywood’s enduring mysteries and continue to create renewed intrigue, with homicide detectives on Thursday unexpectedly reopening the case that had long been classified as a tragic accident.

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective will speak to reporters on Friday about the decision to take another look at the Oscar-nominated actress’ nighttime demise in the chilly waters on November 29 1981. Wood drowned after spending several hours drinking on Catalina Island and a yacht with Wagner, fellow actor Christopher Walken and the ship’s captain, Dennis Davern.

Unspecified new information

Davern told NBC’s Today show on Friday that he made mistakes by not telling the truth about events leading to the death and had urged Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide investigators to reopen the case.

“Was the fight between Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner what ultimately led to her death?” show host David Gregory asked.

“Yes,” Davern replied.

“How so?”

“Like I said, that’s going to be up to the investigators to decide,” the captain said.

Davern said he believes Wagner had intentionally kept the investigation into Wood’s death low profile and didn’t do everything he could have done. When Gregory pressed Davern for supporting details, the captain said that was the duty of investigators.

The Associated Press could not immediately reach Davern or Wagner’s representative on Friday.

Sheriff’s spokesperson Steve Whitmore said on Thursday the renewed inquiry was prompted by unspecified new information about Woods’ case. The Los Angeles Times quoted Sheriff Lee Baca as saying recent comments by Davern, who was interviewed for a book project and whose comments from a 2000 article by Vanity Fair are being featured in a new print edition and a 48 Hours Mystery episode that focus on Hollywood scandals.

Foul play

In the magazine, Davern is quoted as saying that Wood and Wagner fought in their cabin before the actress disappeared. Coroner’s officials ruled her death an accidental drowning, perhaps caused by her slipping off the boat while trying to tie down a dinghy.

Wood’s death sparked tabloid speculation that foul play was involved, but Wagner and Wood’s sister have dismissed any suggestion the actress’ death was anything more than an accident. Coroner’s officials at the time agreed, writing that Wood was “possibly attempting to board the dinghy and had fallen into the water, striking her face.”

It is not the first time Davern has contradicted statements he and others made to investigators after Woods’ death, and the magazine notes that he has told his story through tabloids and has been shopping for a book deal for years.

Sheriff’s officials are also hoping for tips from the public that may shed new light on how Wood, who was afraid of being in the water, ended up drowning.

“Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the LA County Sheriff’s department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept. and trust they 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,” Wagner spokesperson Alan Nierob wrote in a statement.

Wood, a three-time Oscar nominee famous for roles in West Side Story, Rebel Without a Cause and other Hollywood hits, was 43 when she died. She and Wagner, star of the TV series Hart to Hart, were twice married, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972.

Lana Wood wrote in a biography on her sister, “What happened is that Natalie drank too much that night.”

Wagner wrote in a 2008 autobiography that he blamed himself for his wife’s death.

‘Nobody knows’

He recounted the night of Wood’s disappearance, during which the couple and Walken drank at a restaurant and on the boat. Wood went to the master cabin during an argument between her husband and Walken. The last time Wagner saw his wife, she was fixing her hair at a bathroom vanity and she shut the door.

Wagner wrote that despite various theories about what led Wood to the water, which she feared, it was impossible to know what exactly happened.

“Nobody knows,” he wrote. “There are only two possibilities; either she was trying to get away from the argument, or she was trying to tie the dinghy. But the bottom line is that nobody knows exactly what happened.”

Later in the book, Wagner wrote, “Did I blame myself? If I had been there, I could have done something. But I wasn’t there. I didn’t see her.”

He wrote that he has never returned to Catalina Island.

Phone and email messages to Walken’s publicist were not returned on Thursday. Walken and Wood were co-stars in Brainstorm, which was the actress’ final big screen role.

Los Angeles homicide detectives will be holding a news conference today to explain why they’re taking a new look at the death of Natalie Wood.

The actress drowned in the waters off Southern California 30 years ago this month, after a stellar career that began when she was a young girl. She starred in classics from “Miracle on 34th Street” to “Splendor in the Grass” and “West Side Story.” She also made headlines by marrying actor Robert Wagner, divorcing him, then re-marrying him years later.

Watch a preview of the special “48 Hours” report now

Special Feature: “’48 Hours’ Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal”

Pictures: Natalie Wood

Capt.: Wagner to blame in Wood death

In 1981, Wagner and Wood invited Christopher Walken to join them for Thanksgiving on their yacht, “The Splendour.”

The official story is that Wood was drinking heavily and somehow fell into the water from a rubber dingy. Her death was ruled an accident. But now, an investigation by “48 Hours” and Vanity Fair magazine has uncovered new evidence.

The captain of the boat that night, Dennis Davern, told “48 Hours” “That story is 100 percent false. Natalie would never, in a million years, take that dingy out by herself. She would’ve gotten me.”

He added, “I just didn’t want my whole life to go by without having the truth come out.”

Sam Kashner, contributing editor of Vanity Fair, said it was difficult for Davern — both confidant and Wood’s bodyguard — to tell this story.

Kashner said, “Dennis Davern’s story has changed — he’s even sold it. Some people question his motives, but others believe he holds a dangerous truth.”

On “The Early Show” Kashner said he spoke with Davern back in 2000 and he told him the account given to police by himself, Wagner and Walken when Wood died was “pretty much bogus” and “not the real account of what happened that night.”

Pictures: Christopher Walken

Kashner said, “Dennis Davern was the only person to come forward because his conscience was bothering him all of these years. He felt he was there to serve and protect Natalie Wood and he was the captain of this boat and so he felt that — he felt compelled to tell what he said was the true account of what happened that weekend.”

Kashner added another person, a woman who was moored near Wood’s boat, said she heard a woman’s cry for help.

“The Early Show” co-anchor Erica Hill remarked, “It’s a story that has fascinated so many people. This gorgeous young woman that we know who had this deadly fear, it was described, of dark water. Ultimately, you know, finding her death in that, it has apparently haunted the captain of the boat. You say he was really haunted by it?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Kashner said. “I think that is why he finally came forward. It was always believed that Natalie Wood just disappeared from the boat during a pleasant weekend with Chris Walken as their guest, and in fact, that’s not what happened. In fact, Dennis Davern characterized that Thanksgiving weekend as the Thanksgiving from hell.”

Co-anchor Jeff Glor remarked, “It was all about this dingy?”

Kashner said, “Well, that was the reason given for why she perhaps fell into the water, that…”

Glor said, “She was trying to secure it?”

“Right. Right,” Kashner said. “But Dennis insists that the dingy was secured with two strong, powerful cables. And it’s a rubber dingy. I mean, how much noise could it have made, you know? And furthermore, he said that she would never have gone in that dingy or attempted to go in the dingy by herself. As you say, she had a dread of dark water.”

The Associated Press notes It is not the first time Davern has contradicted statements he and others made to investigators after Woods’ death, and Vanity Fair magazine notes that he has told his story through tabloids and has been shopping for a book deal for years.

The full report will appear on “’48 Hours’ Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal” this Saturday night at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.