Robert Wagner Net Worth : Robert Wagner is an American actor who has a net worth of $20 million. That’s a net worth combined with his wife of decades, actress Jill St. John. Wagner is best known for starring in television series such as “It Takes a Thief,” “Switch,” and “Hart to Hart.”
The first years of life : Robert John Wagner Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan on February 10, 1930. Hazel’s mother was a telephone operator. His father, Robert Sr. was a traveling salesman who made a small living selling paint to the automotive industry and varnish for Fords that was used on dashboards. When he was 7, the family moved to Los Angeles. Apparently his father is making money to retire in sunny Southern California. They even built a custom home in Bel Air overlooking the Bel Air Country Club that took over a year to complete.
Robert Jr. was actually sent to California ahead of the families. He was put on a solo train and literally shipped out of the Hollywood Military Academy. Robert would attend four different military schools in Southern California, and many of his classmates were the children of famous actors. Wagner graduated from St. Monica Catholic School in 1949.
Career: In the 1950s, Robert began working as an extra. His film debut was in an uncredited role in 1950’s The Happy Years. He signed with Twentieth Century Fox when he was only 20 years old. His first film for Fox was “Halls of Montezuma,” a 1951 World War II film. Richard Widmark starred alongside Wagner in a supporting role. He played another supporting role later that year in “The Frogmen” starring Widmark. 1952’s “With a Song in My Heart” was when Wagner first came to attention when he played a small but effective role as a shell-shocked soldier.
After appearing in several small roles in various films, he began to win leading roles, and by 1953, he starred in such films as “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef”, “Prince Valiant”, “A Kiss Before Dying” (for which he received tons of critical acclaim) and “Between Heaven and Hell.” In 1954, he starred in the popular Western ‘Broken Lance’. Wagner was then loaned out by Paramount for 1956’s The Mountain, where he was cast as Spencer Tracy’s brother. Back at Fox, he starred in “Between Heaven and Hell” and “The True Story of Jesse James,” playing the title role for director Nicholas Ray, both of which were box office disappointments. He tried to start his career by acting in the film “All the Fine Young Cannibals” by then-wife Natalie Wood in 1960.
(Photo by Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
In 1961, Wagner and Wood formed their own production company, Rona Productions. Wagner made The War Lover in 1962 with Steve McQueen, who filmed in England. After Wagner and Wood broke up, he moved to Europe for a few years. There, he appeared in The Longest Day, The Condemned of Altona and The Pink Panther, which was a huge hit in 1963, but Wagner’s role was so minor it was largely overlooked. .
In the late 1960s, he landed the first of three roles that would make him a bona fide star, as Alexander Mundy in the hit series “To Catch a Thief.” The show aired on ABC from 1968-1970. It marked his comeback, co-starring with Fred Astaire and earning him an Emmy nomination for Best TV Actor.
In the mid-1970s, he would star in another hit television series as Pete Ryan in “Switch.” The late 1970s saw him star in the hit TV series, Hart to Hart. He would go on to be nominated for four Golden Globe Awards for his work on the show. In the 90s, he enjoyed a comeback, playing No. 2 in the “Austin Powers” franchise. Since then, he has starred in shows like “Seinfeld,” “Boston Legal,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Hustle,” and “NCIS,” among others.
Personal life: Wagner claimed in his memoirs that he had affairs with Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Collins and other very popular entertainers. He married Natalie Wood in December 1957 and divorced in 1962. Wagner married Marion Marshall in July 1963 and had a daughter, Katie. They divorced in 1971. Wagner was engaged to Tina Sinatra from 1970 to 1972, and after they broke up, Wagner rekindled his romance with Wood and they remarried on July 16, 1972. They had a daughter, Courtney.
Natalie Wood died when she drowned next to the yacht Splendor while it was anchored off Catalina Island on November 29, 1981. Also on board were Wagner, Christopher Walken and Dennis Davern, the captain of the Splendor. It was never explained why Walken’s wife, Georgianne, was not present on the trip. According to Wagner, when he went to sleep, Wood was not there. The autopsy report revealed bruises on Wood’s body and arms and scratches on her cheek and that her blood alcohol content was 0.14% and that two types of medication, or a motion sickness pill and a pain reliever, were present.
In his memoir Pieces of My Heart, Wagner said he had an argument with Wood before she disappeared. Two witnesses from a nearby boat reported hearing a woman screaming for help during the night. The Los Angeles Medical Examiner ruled her death an accident by drowning and hypothermia. The case was reopened in November 2011 when Davern, the boat’s captain, publicly stated that he had lied to police during the first investigation and that he had seen Wood and Wagner arguing that evening. He claimed that Wood flirted with Walken and that Wagner flew into a jealous rage, and that after Wood disappeared, Wagner refused to let Davern turn on the spotlight and inform the authorities. Davern claimed Wagner was responsible for Wood’s death.
In February 2018, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department named Wagner a person of interest in the investigation into Wood’s death. Wagner has denied any involvement. After Natalie’s death, Wagner became stepfather to his then 11-year-old daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner.
A few months after Woods’ death, Wagner began dating actress Jill St. John. After eight years together, they married in 1990.
immobility : In 1983, Robert paid $220,000 for a 1+ acre property in LA’s Brentwood neighborhood that was originally built in 1940 by famed architect Cliff May for use as his family’s personal residence. At some point, he bought the property next door and created a 1.6-acre compound complete with a large main house, guest house, tennis courts and horse stables. Wagner also contacted Cliff May and hired him to complete or renovation and a full expansion.
In August 2007, Wager and St. John sold the property for $14 million. The buyers were Rita Hogan – heiress to a Japanese video game empire and her husband Richard Edlund – an Oscar-winning cinematographer. For some reason, Richard and Rita never moved into the house, which remained empty for the next 12+ years. Sadly, Rita passed away in 2019. The Wagner/St. The John mansion was sold in January 2021 for $11 million.
After selling Brentwood, Robert and Jill St. The Johns packed up and moved full-time to Aspen, Colorado, where they have owned a home since 1995. They also continue to own an apartment in Los Angeles.
